Thread by @GayKiwiDan

I’ve spent years of my life helping (or at least trying to help) people in my country, NZ 🇳🇿, as a frontline health worker.

Like many in the health sector, I put others 1st. Working continuously in 2020-2022. No lockdowns for us!

In June of 2022, I got Covid-19…/1

…and while I cannot be sure who I got it from (like it matters), it was likely a patient or colleague who gave me the gift that just keeps on giving.

Now I’m in month 7 of #LongCovid & my life has changed in ways I could never have imagined. /2

Twitter has been a great way to find & connect with other #Longhaulers around the world. For that I will be forever grateful. But, even with my thick skin, I can see I am wasting my time on here. I’m sick of the trolls, the doubters, non-believers and gaslighters. /3

People calling me names or judging me doesn’t bother me that much - I am GAY after all and grew up in the very toxic and homophobic 80’s and 90’s. But it disappoints me after my years of helping other sick NZers to see that those of us with LC are not… /4.

…afforded the same respect or even compassion. I have extremely limited energy and better things to do than try to debate or reason with people that are, quite frankly, unreasonable. Usually anonymous (but not always) these people will no longer occupy my thoughts or tweets. /5

I love my #LongCovid community and I’m not going anywhere! But, I will be making some changes over the next few days, as time & energy allow! For all the people out there who think it is ok to mock, joke or troll those of us with LC, especially those of you in NZ… /6

…I genuinely hope you never have to experience #LongCovid. It is real. It is not psychosomatic or caused by a mental health issue. None of us want to have it. We are not weak, lazy or entitled. If someone you knew had a chronic post-viral condition, would you…/7

…talk to them like you tweet to/at us? Maybe think about the next time you are tempted to tweet. To the growing #LongCovid community - we’ve just got to keep hoping that one day there will be a treatment or cure. Until then we have to keep advocating. This is not going to go…/8

…away. Neither are we. One thing is likely for me personally though:

I doubt I will ever work in the health sector in NZ again. I gave my all to help others and now that I’m one of the many needing help (and not getting it), it has changed my perspective massively. /9

If I come out the other side of this, my life is going to be very different. Very different indeed! /10 END

Big thanks to my followers and the decent people out there. I know there are a lot of you but sometimes your voices get drowned out by the trolls.

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