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Kevin Rathel was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma after suffering complications from COVID-19 in April.
Months later, Rathel told CBS News senior medical correspondent Dr Tara Narula that he still hadn’t recovered from these complications.
“There was a lot of memory loss.… Being short of breath, a lot of fatigue, a lot of joint pain, things like that,” he says.
He is not alone. Rathel is one of two million Covid-19 ‘long-haul’ survivors who, months after being infected with the coronavirus, still experience debilitating and often crippling symptoms.
Michelle Sogge is another long haul who says she has gone from being a fit, healthy athlete to living with chronic muscle pain, fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog..
“I actually couldn’t live on my own anymore, the symptoms were so debilitating. I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t shower anymore,” she said.
Sogge is now a patient at the post-COVID-19 clinic at UC Davis Health. This is one of many new specialty care clinics emerging across the country dedicated specifically to the treatment of long-haul patients.
Hospital patients are seen by the most appropriate staff based on their issues – what Sogge said may require multiple processes.
“Because COVID-19 is so unknown and affects people in so many different ways, it is a multi-step, multi-disciplinary process,” she said.
Dr. Margot Gage is an epidemiologist, mother of two and other long haul. She has a team of specialists who work with her on her various issues, including rashes, ringing in the ears, and asthma.
She describes her headaches as being stronger than the migraines and says that on bad days she can’t get out of bed. Her treatment plans vary depending on the symptom she is experiencing at the time.
“We have our own way of treatment and plan that we do. So it’s a very individual type of treatment, which I go through,” Gage said.
While their persistent symptoms may vary, many long haul share a similar message to those who doubt the severity of COVID-19.
“A lot of people survive … But there’s also a lot of people who survive but are not the same anymore,” Gage said.
Dr Virgina Witt works at a post-COVID-19 ambulatory care facility in New Jersey. She said there was an urgent need for the clinics because the patients are suffering from serious medical problems.
“We have patients who have obvious lung damage, scarring, … some of them even need a long-term lung transplant. Some patients are on dialysis. … We have sufferers. heart problems, ”Witt said.
Narciso Mondragon is one of Dr. Witt’s patients being treated for lung damage. He said that before the diagnosis he could work 16 hours a day, which he can no longer do.
“No matter how good or better I am, I’ll never be the same person I was,” Rodriguez said.
Health issues such as chronic fatigue and brain fog are among the biggest problems seen in post-COVID-19 clinics.
Here are some of the symptoms that Alexander Hackett, a COVID-19 survivor, experienced. She now sees a neurotherapist at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia once a week. Since her diagnosis, she said her life has changed dramatically.
“This is why I want to share my story because I know there are people out there, long haul, who are suffering from symptoms that are much more debilitating,” Hackett said.
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