‘I was a bit resentful … a bit angry at the card I’d been dealt’: How Michael Klim came to terms with his neurological disorder

Michael Klim spent two years grieving after being diagnosed with the debilitating neurological disorder CIDP in June 2020. Now he’s back swimming, despite the fact his “legs are just kind of dangling along”. He’s also using his profile to help others.

Swimming great Michael Klim is using the mental toughness that earned him Olympic gold and world records during his career to fight the neurological disorder that has profoundly changed his life.

The one time seemingly invincible athlete was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a neurological disorder that can cause weakness, wasting and sensory loss in the legs and arms, in June 2020.

“My symptoms were pretty severe even before my diagnosis,” Klim said.

“In the space of six months at the end of 2019 I lost the ability to walk and by June (2020) I was in need of something drastic.

Michael Klim at the Lifeblood Brunswick Donor Centre. Picture: Ian Currie

Klim suffers from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and relies on plasma donors to treat his condition. Picture: Ian Currie

“I had already started IVIG treatment (the plasma derived treatment intravenous immunoglobulin) and I have been having IVIG since then, but I had to get fully invested into getting better.”

Klim, who relies on plasma donors to treat his condition, is an ambassador for Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and was in Melbourne last week meeting donors. He is calling for more people to sign up as blood and plasma donors.

Klim said he went through a long grieving period coming to terms with what he had lost physically because of his CIDP condition and accepting the changes in his life.

“The grieving period, for me, took close to two years,” he said.

“At the time, I did not know I was grieving, at the time I was just existing.

“I was a bit resentful, I was a bit angry at the card I had been dealt.

“Covid was happening, it was not an easy process to fly back and forth (from Bali to Australia) for treatment.

“Finding the strength and the mental toughness people associate with an Olympic athlete does not necessarily always just click in when you need it.

“There was a period when I had to make a decision as to how proactive I was going to be in trying to get better.”

After accepting the challenge Klim took on his health battle with gusto.

Klim at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Klim and Ian Thorpe celebrate their Men's 4x200m freestyle relay final win at the Sydney Olympic Games.

“I started really adopting tools I had learnt throughout my life from structure to routine, mindfulness and exercise, self-growth and self-exploration, everything from nutrition to sleep to hydration, to deal with my situation,” he said.

“The hardest thing is the unpredictability of this condition. There is a one third chance I could have been in a wheelchair, one third I could improve and a one third chance that I will be pretty stable and at the moment I am in that category.

“It just reinforced to me how important it is to have a support network.

“Not only my family and friends but the swimming community came out in droves. They were just so supportive.”

Klim, who uses a crutch when walking, still finds happiness in the water.

“I still swim twice a week, it is part of my meditative practice,” he said.

“I feel more comfortable in the pool than I do on land. I don’t actually feel great in the pool because the legs are just kind of dangling along, but being in the pool is still my happy place and in the ocean too.”

Klim is now back in the pool. Picture: Doug Mills

Klim said becoming a blood or plasma donor could change or save a life.

“I had very little knowledge about blood donations and how they were being used before my diagnosis,” he said.

“I thought they were used for trauma and blood transfusions and the fact that there were medicines derived from plasma, I did not have much idea about that.

“I have certainly learnt a lot and I have realised how important the donor community is in this country.

“One in every three Australians, either them or their family, will be in need of blood donation or plasma derived medication in their life.

“It hits home and the demand for blood and plasma donations is constantly on the increase.”