One Year In: Living with #COVID19 and #LongCOVID

December 3, 2020 marked twelve months, three hundred sixty-five days, or five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes of living with COVID19 and now Long COVID. It has been one of the most difficult periods of my life. By nature, I am a fighter. I fought COVID19 and now Long COVID every single day of the last twelve months. There were many days where I did not believe that I would survive. This is my story. But first an explanation and definition.

Research indicates that most patients will recover from COVID19 without complications. However, COVID19 symptoms have rebounded in ten to twenty percent of patients weeks or months after initial infection. These patients are sometimes called long-haulers and suffer from Long COVID. The World Health Organization defines Long COVID as a condition that “occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 usually three months after the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.” Long COVID has been called a multi-system condition that can affect the body’s cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, sensory, pulmonary, and cognitive functions.

As a solo mom and attorney, I have powered through illnesses regardless of how I felt because I had to. It is just the way that I am built. That changed on December 3, 2020 when I tested positive for COVID19. Within a few days of diagnosis my doctor ordered a Regeneron infusion to decrease the likelihood that I would be…