March 2020 to November of 2021.
Twenty months of life altering
changes and loss for most people.
Sick with COVID-19 symptoms
last up to two weeks,
but for others the impacts linger.
Debbie FM News.
Megan Malarious met several survivors
of what's called long Haul COVID
working through pain to persevere.
These last 20 months.
Deborah Williams has walked
a long road. It's just hard.
Per steps are slower these days,
anchored by an aching body,
mind and spirit. I
just want people to know this COVID does
not discriminate is no respecter of persons
her beloved husband, James Williams
was a nationally acclaimed musician.
Their special song color him Father
wrote the track to their 20
year relationship until one day.
Without warning, the song stopped.
I got a phone call at about 8:45
saying. Mr. Williams woke up
coughing real bad this morning
so we sent him to the hospital.
45 minutes later the doctor
called me and told me he's dead.
His widow was in the gutters
of grief when in April just shy
of getting her COVID vaccine,
she contracted the virus.
You want to die? You hurt so bad
and half a year later she
still wears her wounds.
I lost my hair just handfuls
and handfuls of my hair.
And I haven't been able to walk right.
I can only get shoes on like this.
My leg has been swollen
and they don't know why.
There's no reason for it to
be other than covered. She's
not alone. Research shows more than
2/3 of people hospitalized with
COVID-19 have at least one lingering
symptom six months after discharge.
The experience is so common,
it now has a name long haul COVID.
Normally you should get over
COVID after 2-3 weeks after.
Eight weeks and you're still having
some symptoms, and then you are
classified as long haul, cone
health, Community care director Olu
Jegede has noticed long haul COVID
effects far more women than men.
It looks like they have more
of the immune system fighting
themselves and the numerous
side effects range from mild to severe.
The one that is very disturbing
for our patients is the brain fog.
Can remember things they find it
difficult to find their words,
each experience, each route
on the long journey is unique.
Carol Hardister contracted
COVID nearly a year ago.
I can tell you I probably have.
Maybe 5% of my taste and maybe
3% of my smell. I'm a huge cook.
I love the grill out. I love to eat.
So now after I've had that,
it's really been taken away from me.
Barbara Curtis can empathize
that she's on the long road to
before I hit cold, but I don't
love things I was active.
I done ballroom dancing.
I went to church.
Curtis was the last patient discharge from
Cone Health COVID only hospital in March.
Here you go.
Despite huge strides, she still
deals with chronic fatigue.
Some days when I come home.
I have no energy to do anything else
long. Could we really don't
have treatment per say?
So it's just kind of managing the
symptoms of the patients? That's
why Doctor Jagged and nurse practitioner
Tonya Nichols run code health
post COVID clinic in Greensboro,
the first of its kind in the area.
If you could just take some deep breaths
for me since it opened in March 500,
long haulers have sought help here
when it's a beautician they thought I had
cancer, but I said no, it was from COVID.
Long haulers like Anita Johnson get
evaluated and monitored at the clinic,
then referred out to special.
Lcisd care from physical therapy to
pulmonary support to perhaps most
importantly mental health counseling.
They are just grateful a lot of times just to
have somebody to talk to about it.
Somebody to validate their feelings and
just know that they they can get help
and to feel a sense of purpose.
Not as sufferers, but survivors.
Sometimes it get hard,
some days it be very, very hard,
but I just asked for strength.
Asked God to give me strength and.
And he does that,
and for Williams strength comes in
taking a stand to advocate vaccines. I
had to tell my grandkids.
You know, if y'all not go get vaccinated,
you gotta stay away from me and that's
hard because I can't see my babies.
Yeah, when she feels lonely and out of sync,
she turns to her late husband for help.
He would always tell me that.
If he died before me,
if there was any way in the world he
could send the sign to me from heaven.
He would, and so when I was
getting ready to bring this
stuff out to you, I went in the house. I had
the radio on and color him.
Father was playing.
It's like he knows we're doing this
interview. And he's here in spirit.
A reminder, love is in it
for the long haul tube,
and no one has to walk the long road
post COVID alone in Greensboro.
Megamol Eris W FM Y News
too. There still isn't
a cure for a long haul.
COVID doctors say the vaccine
helps some side effects actually
improve after taking it.
Others can find relief at Cone
Health's post COVID clinic.
It is now taking patients find
more information on our website.