Dr Xand van Tulleken (Falling ill made me realise the true wonder of the NHS, 19 March) says he will repeat to his patients the advice that an A&E doctor gave him: “You mustn’t let being ill make you think differently about yourself. You’re still the same person, just one bit of you isn’t working very well.”
I am suffering from long Covid, and if any doctor said this to me I’d be hurt and offended. Part of the agony of long Covid is that you really are not the person you were before. You lose a lot: work, leisure, maybe the ability to walk for a length of time. You may lose friends and relatives who cannot cope with the diagnosis and its implications. You’re undergoing a profound change that will no doubt impact on your sense of self for years. Anyone who says “don’t think differently about yourself” in this situation is a Panglossian fantasist.
I urge medics to remain aware of the unequal power dynamic between patient and doctor, and to resist imposing their view of how the patient should feel about their illness. They must be open to understanding the experience of the person in front of them.
Sean Kenny
London
• Last Thursday, I was slightly hoarse so did two lateral flow tests before going to my choir rehearsal. Both were negative. On Friday, I developed a cough, sore throat and runny nose, but again the LFT was negative so I assumed I had a cold. On Saturday, my only remaining symptom was a slight sore throat, so I planned to take part in my choir’s concert that night – except that this time my LFT was positive.
Thank goodness for the availability of free LFTs, without which I would have spread Covid around my choir. How foolish of our populist prime minister to remove free LFTs from April.
Jennifer Jenkins
London
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