Being there for others as a doctor, father, and husband, offering support and solving problems – this was natural and central for Dr. Michael Dacher before his corona infection. The pediatrician was used to having to give 100% for his practice and family to function. The feeling of being at the limit with one's own resources was not a foreign one – everybody develops their methods to recharge their batteries again and again, for example during vacations with the family. This makes it even more difficult when those methods suddenly no longer suffice. Dr. Dacher was confronted with this in the spring of 2022. Just as he was recovering from a serious illness the previous fall, he became infected with SARS-CoV-2. After a few days of flu-like symptoms, his performance failed to return. Physical symptoms improved, but cognitive impairments which could not be reconciled with a demanding daily routine remained: The much-described "brain fog" made it impossible for the doctor to concentrate for a full day of work as before, to run the practice, and to be there for his family in the evenings and on weekends.
Walks with his family and his dog helped Dr. Dacher clear his head. (Picture: private)
It was only a few weeks after the acute infection that the doctor realized that his complaints had to be related to Covid-19. Since it was clear to him that his practice and family needed him urgently, he sought and found help from his family doctor and psychiatrist. Besides providing him with medical support and friendly advice, they ensured his expectations of the recovery progress to remain realistic. The pediatrician remembered, he received clear signals from his body about what is possible and what isn't. Adhering to those signals has been a learning process. Besides Long COVID itself, the biggest challenge was communication. Explaining to the team in the practice why he suddenly couldn’t be present anymore, that old boundaries no longer apply and that they would have to cushion a lot of work for an indefinite period of time, was demanding. The self-employed doctor suddenly had to radically prioritize and hand over administrative concerns, salary payments and routine duties that arise in the practice. Communicating this situation has been difficult, he says: "It's like sprinting in track training and being held back with a rubber band. In other words, in terms of thinking, it feels like having to move a spoon in honey."
The Thinking: it feels like having to move a spoon in honey.
What helped Dr. Michael Dacher was the greatest possible transparency in communication with his team and family. He said he was always explaining himself, supported by scientific evidence wherever possible. Using medical terms for the symptoms often made it easier, he said: postviral encephalopathy (usually temporary, immune-mediated impairment of the brain by the virus), for example, which is responsible for the inability to concentrate. The fact that there were hypotheses that could explain his Long COVID symptoms had made it easier for him to believe in his recovery, he said, even if the time frame was difficult to estimate.
On August 8, 2022, the doctor recalled, he woke up with a clear head for the first time after the infection: "I will celebrate this day like my second birthday in the future." Although there were a few difficult days after that, things steadily improved from then on, he reports. He gradually increased his workload again and was finally able to thank his team and family for their strong support.
After Long COVID, the doctor was able to devote himself to his hobbies again, including astrophotography. (Picture: private)
From his multiple perspectives as an employer, practicing physician and patient, Dr. Dacher shares with others what has been good for him and his recovery:
- Taking the body's signals seriously and accepting limits
- Relaxation techniques, which can look very different: e.g., autogenic training, yoga
- Incorporating mindfulness moments and reflecting on what leads to progress
- Doing sports only according to your ability to cope with stress
- Consciously not using your head for a change: For Dr. Dacher, watching youtube tutorials on car repairs, for example, contributed to cognitive deceleration and calmness
- Communication: Explaining why you're currently not performing as usual to those around you, or bringing in people who can take over this function
Today, Dr. Michael Dacher is feeling much better again, he says. He has been able to resume his hobbies: In addition to volleyball in the club, the doctor is engaged in astrophotography. What fascinates him about it is that he can use simple means to make galaxies that are thirty or a hundred million light years away visible from his backyard. "For me, it puts our daily hassles into perspective," he explains. Dr. Dacher has also been looking at his health and his family's everyday happiness from a different point of view since Long COVID: "You can't really feel how pleasant it is to be healthy until it's almost taken away from you."
