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It’s been a year since COVID-19 really hit New York City. But some of the first residents to catch the virus are still experiencing debilitating symptoms that made life as impossible as they used to be – resulting in job loss and inability to read or study, not to mention exercise.
“We don’t understand why the body reacts this way,” said Dr. David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation for The Mount Sinai Health, which studies these so-called “long-distance” patients. He estimated that about 90% of participants in the hospital’s long-haul program, which has a median age of 42, did not require hospitalization while having COVID.
“Now what we see is, in these less severe cases [of the virus] – much younger, fit and healthy previously disproportionate [patients] – there is an extreme response after the treble [initial] the symptoms disappeared, ”Dr Putrino told the Post.
Here, four New Yorkers – who all say they have been healthy before and none of whom have been hospitalized with the virus – reveal the desperation and isolation caused by their long-term COVID cases.
‘I’m nervous about my brain’
A year after catching COVID-19, Devin Russell has been unable to return to work running a wellness center and doctor’s office in the Hamptons. “My nervous system is royally screwed,” he says. “At night, I have to alternate between icing and applying a heating pad to my head,” for the stabbing pain. “It feels like your nerves are going bad, like you can’t think right.”
To soothe aches and pains, the 35-year-old Southampton resident spends about 90 minutes a day in a hyperbaric tank rented for $ 549 a month and uses an oxygen tank and an ozone generator to “kill pathogens and help me clear my head.
“My whole life revolves around [COVID health complications], “he said. It’s a far cry from his old life of constant activity – including playing in two basketball leagues, riding a bike, training with weights.
“I can’t push myself too much. Even walking half a mile could set my nervous system on fire, ”said single Russell, adding that he went from 172 to 150 pounds. “It’s debilitating. I’m nervous about my brain. He launched CovidCastaways.org, a long haul resource website.
‘When I wake up I feel like there is an earthquake’
Helen Thompson Buffong is 46, but “it’s like I was 80 overnight,” said the mother of two, ages 6 and 8, whom she can’t keep up with. . “I don’t have the stamina. I have to say goodbye at the gate rather than going to the park.
The married Brooklynite fell ill on April 2 and was unable to work as a part-time student support counselor until last week. “I have hives and swelling every day, everywhere. I always have an Epipen and steroids with me in case my face starts to swell.
Neuropathy causes a relentless internal vibration throughout her body. “When I wake up I feel like there is an earthquake every day,” she said. “A doctor said it could take years if I recovered at all.”
‘COVID is like an abusive partner’
Marissa Oliver experienced her first “respiratory attack” – a 10-hour constriction around her lungs and heart – during her first battle with COVID last March.
Now she’s still afraid of having one. “I spoke of COVID as a violent partner, because as soon as I step off the line and do something… I am punished,” said the arts administration professional, 36, of Greenpoint. Attacks are accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue and dizziness – and can come from stress, walking too far, or even just talking. The most recent attack was triggered after she received her first dose of the COVID vaccine.
Now she uses an inhaler every day and goes through regular treatments like musculoskeletal therapy – normally recommended for athletes and performing artists who experience repetitive stress injuries – recommended by her doctor at Mount Sinai’s Center for Post -COVID Care.
“This was the first time I spoke to doctors who believed me completely and said, ‘This is what we can do for you,’” she said.
“ I take 40 milligrams of melatonin at night which is ridiculous ”
“I feel like I’m still me, a little less – which is terrifying,” said Leigh Jerome, a Bushwick resident in her 50s, who fell ill on March 5, 2020.
What started as a cough and sore throat led to bilateral pneumonia – and long-lasting symptoms with relapses lasting several weeks. They include rashes all over the body, fluctuating heart rate, dizziness, and fatigue that makes him feel completely exhausted. She now takes some 25 medications and supplements at night to sleep. “I take 40 milligrams of melatonin at night, which is ridiculous,” said Jerome, married and childless. (A more typical dose is 5 mg.)
Before contracting COVID, Jérôme, the founder of the non-profit Relational Space gallery, spent his afternoons in his art studio, creating metal pieces.
“The thought of going up and cutting a piece of metal and grinding it… just thinking about it puts me in a relapse,” she said. “I at least try to sit in the studio, which I know sounds a bit absurd, but it’s part of who I am.
Starting April 29, Relational Space will host a virtual immersive installation, “Long COVID – We Are Here!” to raise awareness and encourage more research and therapies.
“The only thing that keeps me from despairing is that I keep a positive attitude,” Jerome said. “I believe I will be healed.”
“The only thing that keeps me from despairing is that I keep a positive attitude,” Jerome said. “I believe I will be healed.”
‘I don’t have the capacity to learn anything’
Before falling ill last March, Nia Raquelle Smith was in the process of applying for doctoral programs to study food culture. Now the 36-year-old Navy veteran, who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, can only read three pages on a good day.
“I don’t have the capacity to learn anything and I have to understand, ‘How am I going to finish my research? Smith said.
During the summer, she was on a panel to discuss her research, but was too afraid to open her mouth because of the brain fog. “I let everyone lead the conversation,” Smith said.
In the past year, she said, bachelor Smith has experienced 57 complications from COVID; she still experiences contractions, an intermittent internal vibration and so much fatigue that just getting up in the morning forces her to go back to bed. She uses an inhaler and takes several medications and supplements each day.
“I don’t think most people can imagine what this is,” said Smith, who works in nonprofit database administration.
“I wish I could be optimistic and have more days where I’m like, ‘I’m going to get through this,’ she said. “But if I wake up and it’s having a really bad day, there’s a good chance I’m around crying and wondering if this is my new normal.”
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