{"id":247536,"date":"2022-10-30T03:52:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-30T04:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=247536"},"modified":"2022-10-30T10:57:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T10:57:46","slug":"olympic-heros-fear-admission-after-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=247536","title":{"rendered":"Olympic hero's 'fear' admission after diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian swimming<\/a> great Michael Klim has shed light on his new normal as he learns to live with the ailment of a rare and incurable neurological disorder.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020 – a condition where the body attacks the protective covering surrounding the nerve fibres, resulting in sensory loss and absent reflexes.<\/p>\n

Klim \ufefffirst publicised his diagnosis in July<\/a> after his health began to rapidly decline.<\/p>\n

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ULTIMATE GUIDE:<\/strong> Everything you need to know about the 2022 Melbourne Cup\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\"Michael<\/p>\n

"In 2019 I had an ankle fusion operation in Sydney and began IVIG treatment (intravenous Immunoglobulin) to reduce the effect of the inflammatory condition that attacks the immune system," Klim wrote on his blog in July.<\/p>\n

"My health began to deteriorate drastically. I was experiencing issues with my (degenerative) back and CIDP combined.<\/p>\n

"I started to fall over, I couldn't walk up the stairs, I needed to rely on my partner Michelle (Owen) and the kids to lean on, and I found myself laying down in bed all day because the back pain became unbearable."<\/p>\n

Klim has lost all feeling in both his feet and has experienced significant muscle wastage in his legs, causing the triple Olympian to rely on a walking stick or braces to simply move around.<\/p>\n

"Physically, I've lost almost all my calves and muscle tone in my legs," he wrote.<\/p>\n

"I've been fitted with special orthotics and a couple of different braces depending on the activity to help my foot drop.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

"I'm also having frequent massages to keep the circulation moving in my legs. The process of putting all those additional things on gets tiresome."<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald<\/em>, Klim acknowledged that two years on from his diagnosis, he is still learning to manage the effects of CIDP everyday.<\/p>\n

"My counsellor and I have come up with a strategy where I give myself an hour a day to feel sorry for myself," Klim said.<\/p>\n

"I can whinge as much as I want and feel down, but after that, then there are still a lot of things I can do and be functional and still have responsibilities as a parent and a coach and as a partner, and I can still do them effectively.<\/p>\n

"I am trying to not let it consume me completely. But it's hard."<\/p>\n

It's a heartbreaking reality for the man who won two Olympic<\/a> gold medals for Australia, as well as five Commonwealth Games<\/a> gold medals and several world titles in various swimming events.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Klim famously broke the 100m freestyle world record when swimming the first leg of Australia's record-breaking 4x100m freestyle relay victory.<\/p>\n

Now he faces being bound to a wheelchair. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"To a degree, the fear is still there. I think I am a bit better, in the sense I have accepted \u2013 to a degree \u2013 that these are the cards I have been dealt," Klim said.<\/p>\n

"But I am still working through it. When we experience grief, you don't just go one day, 'I am fine, I am better now'. It affects you for much longer, particularly because it is in my face daily.<\/p>\n

"There was a fear because I got bad really quickly. I am now in a remission, stable phase. But there is a fear I may go again at the same rate and if I degrade that quickly again, I probably will need assistance with walking and things like that."<\/p>\n

Currently residing in Bali with his partner and \ufeffthree children, Klim travels to Sydney every six to eight weeks to undergo treatment.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, the swimming great is trying not to let his illness get on top of him and his enjoyment of life.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cj44PnxBDpd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp<\/a><\/p>\n

"I went through a period where I was completely deflated," he said.<\/p>\n

"I was unmotivated, I wasn't looking after myself, eating junk, drinking too much.<\/p>\n

"There was a period where I wouldn't say I completely gave up, but it took an effort. The people close to me and my loved ones, they saw I wasn't really fighting.<\/p>\n

"It is a constant \u2026 I wouldn't say battle, but it is a constant lifestyle for me now.<\/p>\n

"I am working hard at not focusing on the things I can't do anymore.<\/p>\n

"I have to focus on the things I can do."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian swimming great Michael Klim has shed light on his new normal as he learns to live with the ailment of a rare and incurable […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247536"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=247536"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247538,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247536\/revisions\/247538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}