It’s impossible the describe the panic, the sadness, the loneliness of family members that I called to tell their loved one had passed from ##COVID19. So. Many. Times.
And because we didn’t act, this happened everywhere in the US.
In that episode, you’ll notice how often we say “I think “ instead of a definitive “we know”.
But that doesn't mean we don't know a lot. We can draw from similar illnesses and the growing body of research, especially the patient-led work being done by #longhaulers themselves.
So first, what ARE ‘long-covid’ and chronic covid?
There’s no formally accepted definition, but post-covid (#LongCovid) includes those who haven't returned to baseline ~3 weeks after the onset of first symptoms.
And chronic covid includes those months out with ongoing symptoms.
When hospitals were overwhelmed in NYC in March and April, we sent home LOTS of patients who undoubtedly had COVID19 without testing them. We just didn't have the testing capacity at the time.
We advised them to 'just act like you have COVID, because you most likely do'...
Others, knowing they wouldn't be tested, didn't bother coming to the hospital at all. So they rode out the disease at home. And thankfully, most got better.
But so many didn't. Months later, they're still suffering with long-term complications from that initial illness...