Thread by @Saltykid41

My ex - who had covid initially at the same time I did & also never recovered - was hospitalized several months ago with severe lymphopenia and opportunistic infections. He died early this morning. I am beyond shaken.

Many of you know I have also been dealing with persistent cd4 lymphopenia and opportunistic infections. We were both infected in February 2020 - long before vaccines existed, before the virus was officially documented in our city, and before masking had even been discussed.

He was a vietnam veteran that served this country like millions of others when drafted at 18. The final years of his life were spent on the streets - blocks from the largest VA hospital in the nation. Like us, there was no help for him.

So many of us are dying of an AIDS-like syndrome caused by those initial SARS-CoV-2 infections but no one wants to talk about it. The known pathophysiology of sars-cov-2 & findings in those with long covid are nearly mirror images of that seen in chronic untreated HIV infection.

We need journalists like @elizabethics and @LizHighleyman to speak for us. We need advocates like @JoshuaPribanic and @dbdugger to speak for us. We need researchers like @fitterhappierAJ to speak for us.
(far from comprehensive list just who I could tag off the top my head)

Many in the #longcovid community have been forced to crowdfund to survive. We need more like @PenGwenWithLC & @LongCovidAidBot to help us meet our goals.
(Yes this is a shameless plug to get the word out about their work)

{If you are #longcovid #chronicillness #disabled #homeless or #veteran you can drop your #MutualAidRequest link here IF you ❤️ & 🔄}

(here's mine & it leads to the community mutual aid thread)

https://twitter.com/saltykid41/status/1666491240936792081