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<\/p>\n
In December 2019, Marjorie Roberts was ready to take on the world. She\u2019d just received her life coaching certification and started what was supposed to be a short-term job managing a gift shop at an Atlanta hospital to earn money to launch her new business.<\/p>\n
By late February 2020, however, the hospital was warning its workers about rising Covid-19 cases across the United States. But Roberts said the gift shop, run by an independent contractor, remained open even as Covid-positive patients began arriving for treatment. <\/p>\n
The shop would finally close March 17, 2020, when the hospital went into lockdown. Days later, Roberts lost her balance and fell while getting the mail. She wasn\u2019t feeling well, and decided to go to bed early. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the sun went down that night, my life forever changed,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI woke up the next morning feeling like a vacuum had sucked the life out of me. I couldn\u2019t sleep, I couldn\u2019t eat and I couldn\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than two years later, Roberts is still struggling with the after-effects of her Covid infection, which resulted in three emergency room trips and a visit with a lung specialist. Lung damage has left her needing an inhaler to manage her shortness of breath, and she has frequent \u201cNetflix and Hulu days,\u201d as she calls them, because of fatigue. <\/p>\n
Roberts also lost seven teeth and will have to have her remaining teeth removed because of gum decay. And she can no longer eat or drink certain foods she once enjoyed because they upset her stomach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t even describe what has happened to me in the last two years,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWhen I look in the mirror, my missing teeth are a constant reminder of what I\u2019ve been through. I used to have a beautiful smile. A lot of people have moved on from Covid, but for those of us with long Covid, we\u2019re still here and we still suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life with long Covid<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
While long Covid, also referred to as post-Covid conditions, isn\u2019t an official diagnosis, it\u2019s become the umbrella term for the ongoing symptoms some people have after recovering from a Covid infection, whether it was mild or severe.<\/p>\n
The viral material lingering in the body can contribute to the symptoms most commonly reported by patients with long Covid: fatigue, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, persistent cough and cognitive impairment.<\/p>\n
Studies have also found a connection between the severity of a patient\u2019s Covid infection and the likelihood they will experience long Covid symptoms. Pregnancy and cardiovascular conditions can make Covid symptoms worse. And people with four risk factors \u2014 high levels of coronavirus in the blood, the presence of certain autoantibodies, reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (the virus that causes mono) and Type 2 diabetes \u2014 were also more likely to have longer-lasting symptoms after their infection.<\/p>\n
People can lower their risk of long Covid by completing the Covid vaccine series according to current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance. Vaccines have been found to lower the risk of developing severe symptoms from a Covid infection and persistent symptoms after infection. While some studies and anecdotal reports from patients have shown a decrease in long Covid symptoms after vaccination, Myint said vaccines should be considered a preventive measure, and not a treatment for long Covid.<\/p>\n
Some small studies have found that patients who took antivirals while having Covid were less likely to have long Covid symptoms.<\/p>\n
Her new normal <\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
The best support that family, friends, colleagues and healthcare providers can offer those with long Covid is acknowledging that their symptoms are real, even if they aren\u2019t always visible (such as cognitive impairment) or are undetectable through blood work or other tests. Offering accommodations, such as rest time for fatigue or a modified workload, can help people\u2019s longer-term physical and mental recovery.<\/p>\n
Roberts said she\u2019s thankful to have had that support from her husband and daughter throughout her illness. She also said that prayer and seeing a therapist have been vital to her mental health, as has advocacy. As a result of her illness, Roberts became active in groups for long Covid survivors, including Covid Survivors for Change. She regularly contacts local, state and national officials to raise awareness of long Covid, and she\u2019s proud that U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Georgia) recognized her work in the Congressional Record. <\/p>\n
Roberts also joined the RECOVER Initiative, a National Institutes of Health study looking at the long-term effects of Covid. She knows there\u2019s no pill she can take to eliminate her long Covid symptoms or reset her life back to 2019, but she vows to keep fighting for herself and for the many friends she lost. <\/p>\n
\u201cGod spared me,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI\u2019m one of the lucky ones because I did survive.\u201d<\/p>\n