learning to live differently after covid
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck the UK in 2020, Kelly Lowe never expected life as she knew it to be forever changed. Fast-forward five years after the initial lockdown and Kelly is still coming to terms with her new normal, both at work and in her personal life.
the great unknown
After working at Holcim UK (Aggregate Industries) for eight years from 2009 in the sales department, Kelly took a five-year hiatus before rejoining the company as office manager of its Brentford site in 2022.
This role involves overseeing six internal sales staff, two credit management personnel and an apprentice. Her responsibilities extend to other areas of Holcim at a national level, including helping with the implementation of new systems into the business.
Kelly was always on the go outside of her day job as well, enjoying a varied personal life made up of lots of physical activity and social events. But it was in February 2022 when life as Kelly knew it changed indefinitely.
“I caught Covid-19 in February 2022 and suffered severely as a result,” Kelly explained.
“It took me quite a long time to recover and I felt so tired all the time. I remember saying to people that I thought I had long Covid. But I got over that part of the illness and felt much better, so I thought maybe the infection had just knocked my immune system.”
It wasn’t until a year after the first infection that Kelly knew something really wasn’t right, when she caught Covid again in March 2023.
“This time around, I experienced mild symptoms initially and tested negative a week later – I even went back to work,” she said. “But it was when I returned to work that things got worse.
“I was constantly coughing and struggling to talk and then progressively deteriorated. I struggled to breathe and do basic things like showering without gasping for air. In fact, I ended up taking lots of emergency trips to the hospital, which is where the diagnostic challenges started.”
a new kind of normal
It was and has continued to be nothing short of a battle for Kelly to receive a diagnosis for her condition. Initially, she was tested for blood clots and sent for extensive scans and X-rays, which showed Kelly’s lungs were healthy. However, she then suffered from lung shrinkage in the subsequent months.
Kelly said: “After finding out my lungs had shrunk, I tried various medications but the most effective proved to be lung physiotherapy, which expands my airways. Despite the treatment being helpful, my lung capacity is currently at 50% of what it was before I caught Covid, and I’ve suffered permanent damage to my vocal cords that affects the way I speak to people and how long I can continuously talk for.
“My mobility is also severely restricted. I struggle to carry out basic activities like crossing the road and even walking up a single flight of stairs at work.”
Kelly’s sleep requirements have increased dramatically, from previously having three to four hours per night to needing eight to nine hours, while sometimes sleeping for more than 12 hours on the weekend. Despite this, she still struggles with extreme fatigue.
“Another ongoing symptom is the hardening of my airways,” Kelly said. “This prevents a normal breathing response and requires me to adopt specialised breathing techniques. The unpredictable nature of the symptoms mean I experience two or three ‘crashes’ a day and severe flare-ups every three months on average.”
For Kelly, these symptoms have caused significant changes in both her personal and professional life. Prior to contracting the virus, Kelly was highly active and a keen cyclist who would cycle 20 to 30 miles at a time. Her social life was also varied and packed with events; she would attend concerts weekly and was full of energy, which is why adapting to her new way of life has been such a struggle.
But with the help of friends, family and colleagues, Kelly has been able to continue working in a role she’s passionate about while seeing her friends on the days where her symptoms aren’t so severe.
colleagues who care
During her time working at Holcim, Kelly believes she has had incredible management support from both former and current directors as well as everyone in her team. From adaptations to her daily work routine to flexible working-from-home options, Kelly has not had to face the challenges of the past three years alone.
She said: “While the past couple of years have been extremely difficult, I’ve been so lucky to work with a team that genuinely cares about employee wellbeing. My former director, Danny King, supported me emotionally during a crisis period in which I needed to go to hospital. He allowed me recovery time and kept making sure I was OK.
“The same goes for my current director, Jon Collyer. He’s allowed me to make use of flexible working days and I commute to local plant locations to reduce the stress of travelling long distances before work. My whole team is always offering to help me with physical tasks such as sourcing things from different floors in the office – it’s such a caring work environment to be a part of.”
Kelly has had to become used to a new way of living outside of work too. Her lung condition has meant making social plans with friends is incredibly difficult due to the unpredictability of her condition. She has to take each day as it comes and get used to a slower pace of life.
But this hasn’t prevented Kelly from continuing to act as an inspirational and pivotal point of guidance and reference to her team. Despite the challenges of the past few years, Kelly has remained resilient in the face of adversity and can be optimistic that she can tackle whatever the future might hold.
