According to the Department of Health, the influenza virus usually begins to circulate actively in late December or early January each year.
One of these people was Aare Uustalu, whose illness began in February 2018. “In the early days, the disease felt like a regular flu. The family doctor told me to take medication according to the symptoms, which I did to prevent pain and fever. My temperature rose to 41 degrees, but after a week it began to decrease, all the pain disappeared, and one evening I felt so good that I was able to go to work, ”recalls Aare about the course of the disease, which happened almost five years ago.
The next morning I continued to feel well. That was until Aare got a runny nose. “The strangest thing is that, having worked in the emergency room for over 13 years, I did not realize that at the moment I was blowing my own lungs. There was a lot of this “material,” said Aare, who later discovered that the gray mass was lung tissue. “About an hour of blowing my nose resulted in me becoming severely short of breath. And then I had no choice but to get dressed and go to the city. I drove into the courtyard of the Rakvere hospital, and the car stopped there.”
When he arrived at the hospital’s emergency room, Aare’s blood oxygen levels were so low that he doesn’t remember much about it. “I only remember isolated moments and that after arriving at the emergency room, everything went very quickly. I was put on a ventilator, put into a coma and rushed to Tallinn, where I arrived in a critical condition. Now, reading my epicrisis, I found out that my lungs by that time were almost 100% affected.
Aare was in a coma for a total of four days and was completely dependent on oxygen therapy. In addition, the epicrisis shows that in the North Estonian Regional Hospital, Aare’s bronchi were repeatedly washed out, and by that time the lung damage was very extensive. “It means that I only took pure oxygen to cope with the situation a bit. After regaining consciousness, I stayed in Tallinn for another three days, and then I was sent back to Rakvere. All this time, figuratively speaking, I was covered in tubes, and the “mustache” (breathing tubes) was on me for almost the entire time that I spent in hospitals. I’ll be honest, death doesn’t seem so terrible, I was tormented by this endless feeling of suffocation,” Aare said.
Upon arrival in Rakvere, one of the small lobes of the lung began to work, which helped to supply a little more oxygen to the body. About a week after arriving at the Rakvere hospital, the man got rid of his dependence on oxygen therapy and soon Aare was transferred to home treatment with the consent of the doctors. “By March 8, I was at home, but the severe lack of oxygen continued for almost a month.”
The continuous recovery phase began longer and gradually Aare began to do simpler household chores. “Of course, it was difficult for me to start cooking again, because after being in a coma, I lost my sense of smell and taste. The only thing I ate during these month and a half was salted herring, black bread and sour cream. I didn’t feel any other tastes, the same can be said about smells, ”he said. Aare returned to work in mid-April, just to get himself moving.
Recalling the hardships he experienced, Aare admits that he perceived the situation very differently than an ordinary person with the flu would perceive it. As mentioned earlier, Aare already has experience in the emergency room. “I have seen so much in my work that in this sense I have hardened in regard to experiences. I didn’t feel fear, I just felt really bad. I can’t say that I lived every day like it was my last, but I didn’t have the strength to do anything except sit in front of the TV, and very soon all the programs were already revised.
Early in his recovery, the man also had muscle pain, probably due to a severe lack of oxygen. In addition, during the “rest” in the North Estonian Regional Hospital, Aare lost an average of one and a half kilograms a day, and in total during his stay in hospitals he lost more than ten kilograms. Now, years later, Aare feels healthy, and this recovery was achieved largely thanks to the intensive care units of the Rakvere Hospital and the North Estonian Regional Hospital and the doctors working there. “In Rakvere, a decision was made to intubate me quickly, and in Tallinn they managed to restore my almost dead lungs. The lungs have recovered today, the lung scans are normal, and I also did control spirography several times. But I certainly have less strength than before the illness. For example, when doing physical work, my strength ends faster and shortness of breath occurs, ”he explained.
In addition to this problem, fortunately, there were no other difficulties during the recovery. According to Aare, there is no clear answer to the question of whether this serious illness could have been somehow prevented. “In some years I vaccinated myself, in others I didn’t. However, after such a serious illness, I am the first in line for vaccination. I have received my lesson and the living teaching material sits in front of you and speaks to you here and now.
In 2022, free flu vaccinations will be available to general and specialized caregivers (24 hours a day and in the community), everyone over 60, pregnant women, children under 7, and minors at risk for influenza. Vaccinations can be obtained free of charge from your family doctor or pharmacy. Vaccinations are carried out in pharmacies that are contractual partners of the Health Insurance Fund. More information about vaccination options at the pharmacy can be found on the website: www.vaktsineeriapteegis.ee/gripp.