So, I made an appointment with my doctor and told him about all the symptoms I'd been having.
He ruled out arthritis and said, "You've got all of the symptoms of long COVID."
"Ok, what can we do to fix this?" I asked.
Dr. Stearn said, "There's nothing I can do to help you. I don't know anything about long COVID and I don't know of anyone that I can refer you to. You're on your own."
In July 2022, Boyd Stennes is enjoying his semi-retirement and dutifully following all the COVID protocols, including the vaccines, but he and his wife contract COVID at last. Less than two weeks later, they're both feeling fine. Not long after this, though, Boyd begins experiencing mysterious, painful, frightening symptoms that come and go without warning. Eventually, he receives the devastating diagnosis—he's contracted long COVID, for which there is no cure, very little treatment, and no defined prognosis. In fact, his doctor tells him he's on his own. What else can he think but Long COVID is going to Kill Me?
Over the next two years, with the love of his family but very little medical support, Boyd is forced to try to figure out how to live with long COVID's agonizing joint pain and brain fog as well as the crippling anxiety that comes along with it. For those suffering from this still poorly understood disease and for those who care for them, his hard-fought experience can serve as a light along the very dark and little-known pathway of long COVID.
