Friday, 12 February 2021
A Frightening Covid Long Haul Story: Dawn C Simmons
This is my LONG HAULER story, SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, and my COVID-19 case. We have learned that Covid patients with infections and inflammation suffer an increased risk of stroke. I had no cough, no fever, none of the early traditional signs of COVID19. There was no doubt my case was an emergency as my body did have all the existing cardiac pain, dangerous heart rhythms, left body numbness that suggested a stroke. What a terrifying journey this would take, and still continues to take.
December 2020 was a half year and 27 days of my COVID Long Haul. Medical researchers found 95 symptoms associated with “Post Covid Patient Recovery”. I had quite a few more.
January 4, 2021, the researcher symptoms more than doubled.
With 12 trips to the Hospital Emergency Rooms for breathing, heart, lung, and skin disorders, response was still “Coronavirus Covid patients Long Haul”, explained the suffering, unaffordable health care, and dire life impact. I had 65% of the 205 covid patient’s symptoms listed, and I had many of them more than once.
Dawn C Simmons, Founder of Covid19 Center of Excellence .
What is your Covid19 Long Haul Experience?
Covid is proven launch deadly attack or difficult long haul symptoms, to patients of all races, ages, levels of health. My name is Dawn Christine Simmons, and I am a Covid Patient Survivor learning to recover Long Haul. This network provides trusted and reliable information and personal stories of Covid Patient’s Long Haul to encourage others.
With Long Haul impacting Covid Recovery Rate for greater than 10% of diagnosed Covid Patients. Over 5 Million patients who continue to suffer, with no relief well beyond the expected “several week” COVID 19 recovery time. Much misinformation exists about Covid being just another version of flu. The plight of the Long Haulers is emerging as the next pandemic after flattening the curve of new Coronavirus Cases.
MY STORY:
October 2019, I had adopted a plant based diet, after suffering a Left Ventricle Hypertropy. In 6 months, I lost 59 pounds, my health returned, blood pressure was stabilize. Healthy dietary and exercise decisions improved and recovered my heart, but the immune system needs time to recover such events.
February 2020: As Covid impact started to cross the US, I worked as an Essential Worker. We changed the focus of my IT Contract to help launch Major Incident, training and drills for Covid command control for the sudden upswing of Major Incidents that would arise. Every Day, all of us wearing masks, I made it through the 90 Day Contract without COVID completing the contract successfully with delivery of the process controls, and without the actual Coronavirus, at the first of May, 2020. I drove home to recover and shelter at home, while seeking my next job.
PROBABLE CONTAMINATION SOURCE:
05/28/2020 Walmart Pharmacy. For the month of May, I only left the house 2 time. I always wore a mask, I social distanced. Following the markers on the floor for safe distance, in the long pharmacy line. I waited for some 15 minutes, uncomfortable in the mask, my face was hot. I pushed the cart aside, pulled the mask away from my nose and mouth, with my hand, to give my sweating face some air. Such a simple automatic habit in response to my environment, with devastating effect on life as I knew it.
I did everything right, wore a mask, social distanced, the store patrons and Walmart staff did too. However a few days later, migraines set in horribly. Relentless. And then it got bad. In retrospect I would learn that I did one thing wrong.
I used hand sanitizer upon entering the store. however I didnt think when I moved the cart aside and pulled that mask out to air off my face. The Coronavirus was most likely on the cart. My single cloth mask received the virus on the outside when I aired off my face. When I put the mask , the hot steam from continuing my wait, steamed it into my breath.
MY COVID JOURNEY BEGINS:
05/31/2020 Dawn we have a problem. Mind splitting migraines set in, so hard a gigantic vein bulged up the center of my head. Nothing would relieve it. Usually that meant my blood pressure was high, but it was only stage 1 hypertension and nothing of concern.
But the pain… it would wake me from sleep. The only time I felt well was when I was sleeping. I was exhausted and in pain.
HOSPITAL Emergency became my Patient’s First Covid Testing
06/04/2020 Community Hospital Emergency. I asked my son to drive me to the hospital, despite the shelter in place order. I was having migraines, chest pain, breathing problems, hypertensive crisis, my left side of my face was numb, all the way down to my tingling fingertips, and the left side of my body felt “sluggishly unresponsive” compared to the right.
The loud speaker at intake I heard the announcement: “stroke alert, stroke alert” and people came running. Lots of blood tests, xrays, MRIs. The next hours full of lots of diagnostics an IV and they gave me a migraine cocktail by IV that relieved the pressure and suddenly I slept. We are going to keep you for some more tests, we believe you had a stroke, and did you know you are diabetic?
Discharge to Recover From Home
What do I do after being dismissed? How to recover? This was a very different kind of hospital discharge, as I still had COVID, I was still feeling horrible, but I the stroke alert appeared to have had no damage, the blood sugar would need to continue to be monitored, in fact every thing they were monitoring in the hospital will continue to be monitored from home. Beyond that, there were instructions to return if there were further critical issues, but very little instructions, no prescriptions, and a home nursing for my continued monitoring and teaching me how to advocate for my recovery from home.
COVID HOME TREATMENT AND RECOVERY:
Following are some great basics for Covid Home Monitoring. I preferred the Bluetooth capable devices that would log automatically with my mobile apps as when you do not feel good, you want accurate readings that are logged and often coded so you do not have to think about it.
COVID LONG HAUL BEGINS
Where COVID NEGATIVE ENDS and MY LONG HAUL BEGAN
When 3 weeks passed, still monitoring vastly fluctuations in Pulse Oxygen, Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar. Exhausted, Migraines, Insomnia, panic, depression. I tested Negative for Coronavirus and Negative for the Antibodies, but still was as sick as ever. This continues 6 months later, symptoms shift. Studies of Covid Long Haulers in December showed 95 symptoms. By January 4, the list had grown to 205 symptoms.
Over the course of my Long Haul I had seen about 60% of them. Through 12 hospital visits, 3 by 911 Ambulance for Life Saving Events:
- Heart Pain: Angina
- Right Otitis Media: Ear Infections and ringing in ears with loss of hearing
- Multiple Hypertensive Crisis with Breathing, Chest Pain, and low pulse Oxygen at 91%
- Major Depressive Disorder: Panic Attack from continuous unmanaged Migraine and Insomnia
- Purapura: Petichiae on Chest, Stomach and Legs
- Sepsis
- Several 911 Ambulance Emergencies, for Critical Unmanaged Heart Pain, resolved by Nitroglycerin
Global Pandemic takes a World of Shared Practices on recovery from Coronavirus many strains.
As we share notes and connections to what works, we can learn, grow and recover.
This connection matters now more than ever.
FaceBook: Covid19 COE | covid19coe.com | Twitter: @covid19coe | FaceBook: Covid Global Employment Task Force |
Long Covid Study: 205 symptoms, 10 body organs
205 symptoms, 10 body organs!
3,762 Long COVID Patients in 56 Countries
This Study is an epic readout of the 205 symptoms in 10 body organs, which captures a comprehensive Long Covid Profile. Many of us who suffer from Long Covid assert there is not enough work done to understand the data. Let us partner to be part of the solution.
Analyzing this study, standardized emerges becomes a model of hopeful recovery. The real interest was the progression of the illness, which more closely resembled my experience.
“RunDMC” (a fellow and really smart Long Covid VLogger, the Rappers) video of this study. Headaches, really monster Migraines, Sleep Disorders, Tingling Limbs, Dizziness, Heart issues, Pulmonary and the “trots’.
Results develop aLong COVID profile of profound relevance.
At 6 Months, participants identified 66 symptoms that emerged steadily. The Leading 3 symptoms were:
- Fatigue
- Post Exertion Malaise
- Cognitive Dysfunction
By my 6 Months, I counted nearly 60% of 90 symptoms in the earlier study. As a Long Covid Survivor, the volume and intensity of symptoms were overwhelming!
At month 7, most experienced some 14-15 symptoms a month. Strikingly 85% felt relapse symptoms, and it often seemed the trigger was stress response from physical or mental activity. Foggy Thinking and mental processing are so debilitating that 43% to 47.2% at 7 months required work accommodations of a reduced schedule.
By my month 7, I made 12 trips to the hospital, 3 by 911 ambulance by 8 months. I had Health Insurance for January for the first time since my COVID Hospitalization. Volumes of records needed to be reviewed to start a plan before losing health insurance again in February.
We started the recovery plan and new meds before I lost insurance again. My doctor rushed the labs, I monitor and baseline my vitals at home. My doctor hesitated to introduce a med. She is looking for an alternative because it will likely make me vomit and have diarrhea. I laughed,
“I would not experience that side effect. I spend over an hour after most meals sick with those 2 symptoms and dozens more, for 4 months!”
I want to thank the offers who wrote this incredible study. I would like to see their work complete its peer review with good medical publication and medical community acceptance. COVID is not a “specialty” solution; it needs a data-driven approach with a holistic view.
STUDY DETAIL:
Characterizing Long COVID in an International Cohort: 7 Months of Symptoms and Their Impact
AUTHORS: Hannah E. Davis, Gina S. Assaf, Lisa McCorkell, Hannah Wei, Ryan J. Low, Yochai Re’em,
Signe Redfield, Jared P. Austin, Athena Akrami
doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.24.20248802
SUMMARY:
We can manage and improve the effects of Long COVID by leveraging this powerful report. Baselining and emerging standards capabilities to understand, and address the 205 symptoms in 10 body organs.
- 66 recurrent commonly occurring symptoms were identified
- 3 top symptoms Fatigue, Post Exertion Malaise, Cognitive Dysfunction
- Regular study of the timeline and progression of the illness holds many possibilities
My Name is Dawn Christine Simmons (Khan), founder of Covid19 Center of Excellence.
We produced a SURVIVING COVID A-Z Guide, a result of the collaboration of our members to help collect lessons learned, and evolve our approach to healing.
We have begun the development of Coronavirus tools to help others learn what we learned as we learn to survive and someday to recover.
Over the course of myLong Haul experience, I began with a stroke alert, sudden Covid Onset Diabetes, and by 7 am the next day, COVID.
Since this time, by Month 8 I have made 12 hospital visits, 3 by 911 Ambulance:
- Heart Pain: Angina
- Tingling Neuropathic pain.
- Right Otitis Media: Ear Infections and ringing ears with loss of hearing
- Multiple Hypertensive Crisis with Breathing, Chest Pain, and low pulse Oxygen at 91%
- Major Depressive Disorder: Acute Anxiety
- Unmanaged Migraine and Insomnia, Vomiting, Gastrointestinal issues
- Purapura: Petichiae on Chest, Stomach, and Legs
- Sepsis
- Several 911 Ambulance Emergencies for Critical Unmanaged Heart Pain, resolved by Nitroglycerin.
FaceBook: Covid19 COE | covid19coe.com |Twitter: @covid19coe | FaceBook: Covid Global Jobs Task Force |
