Having Long COVID is a full-time job. First, there’s the daily grind of monitoring and managing symptoms. Depending on where on the spectrum of symptom severity you are, this may include things like asking the question, “do I have enough energy to take a shower today?” My answer to that has frequently been “no.” Although, I have been able to increase the number of yeses by getting out the shower stool I have for my foot injuries.
Second, there’s the medical appointments to monitor, aide, and identify symptoms and treatments. I try to cap these so that I have no more than 3 appointments in a single week. However, last week, I had 4 appointments because I felt the extra support was important following my surgery. There have been other times when I exceeded my cap, particularly during the period where I tried having physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy all at the same time. In the end, I decided the negatives outweighed the benefits when my life was overloaded with therapies.
In addition, because my symptoms are moderate and because I cannot afford not to work, I am also working at my paid full-time job on top of my Long COVID full-time job.
It gets exhausting, which exacerbates my fatigue – one of my core Long COVID symptoms.
The week following my surgery last month was one of my best weeks this year. I got a reprieve from both my paid full-time work and my Long COVID full-time work. No meetings. No appointments. Plus, an unexpected side effect of the anesthesia was temporary relief of my Long COVID GI symptoms.
There is much irony in having more energy in the days immediately after surgery than at most times in the last year.
Blogging about my Long COVID experience adds to the work of managing my case, but the benefits of blogging far outweigh the negatives. However, this seems like a good time to reassess how I blog and to implement the once a week schedule I originally intended so that it continues to be a benefit and not a burden.
Feature image credit: Full Time by slamet from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
Carolyn Ristau 
2 thoughts on “The Long COVID Treadmill”