Patients with long COVID and the doctors who treat them continue to navigate new, uncharted territory. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, up to 23 million people are impacted.
Arlington resident Shannon Hicks was three weeks away from receiving his first COVID-19 vaccine when he found himself in the hospital, on a ventilator fighting for his life.
“I was on a ventilator for about three weeks,” he said. “Then I went into cardiac arrest because the COVID took over my lungs and messed up my kidneys.”
At one point, Hicks flatlined but survived, thinking a few months of rehabilitation would be all he needed. That was at the beginning of 2021. Today, the effects of COVID-19 are still very much a part of his daily life. He is a long COVID patient with nerve damage, liver disease and a long list of other ailments, exacerbated by previous underlying medical conditions.
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“I have a lot of fatigue. I can only drive a certain amount of minutes and hours and then once I get out, I get dizzy and I fall out,” Hicks said.
Hicks’ entire life was upended. He takes up to ten pills each day and said he feels like a case study with no end in sight.
“It’s frustrating because I don’t know what’s next when it comes to these symptoms that keep popping up. And I just have to keep going from doctor to doctor and take different medications,” he said.
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Two federal reports on long COVID were released early this month - committed to establishing an office within the Department of Health and Human Services to study the issue and meet the needs of those impacted. But the reports also say there’s still plenty unknown about the range of ongoing health problems associated with long COVID.
Click here to read the reports.
An April memorandum from The White House addressing the long-term effects of COVID-19 reads in part:
"Our world-class research and public health organizations have begun the difficult work of understanding these new conditions, their causes, and potential prevention and treatment options. Our health care and support programs are working to help meet the needs of individuals experiencing the lasting effects of COVID-19. To organize the Federal Government’s response, executive departments and agencies (agencies) must work together to use the expertise, resources, and benefit programs of the Federal Government to ensure that we are accelerating scientific progress and providing individuals with the support and services they need."
Hicks said he’s also enduring the long process of awaiting disability benefits. There have been reports of people falling into despair, as mental health problems are not uncommon among long COVID patients.
“I know that eventually, they’re going to figure out some things about COVID,” Hicks said. “So maybe they’ll come up with some medications that will help with the symptoms. So that’s the only thing encouraging I see.”
