A Year of Longhaul COVID

Today, March 17, I reached a milestone: one long year of living with COVID-19. It has been a trying year, but not one without joy or abundance; as I have said again and again, I have been fortunate in so many things, particularly the support I have received this year.

In anticipation of my undesired anniversary, I wrote a new essay for Huffington Post, the third in a series, on the longhaul experience, both personal and collective.

Since its publication, I have been interviewed by CBSN, NBC LX News, and, just this morning, DailyMail TV to discuss my experience with long COVID and the challenges that long haulers face. In each conversation, I've been asked about my medical history, which, as I've openly discussed, includes ovarian cancer and multiple sclerosis. Though each of these diseases held its own terrors and difficulties, my experience of COVID-19 has been unparalleled in its relentlessness and the avalanche of unpredictable and debilitating symptoms.

Like many others, I have experienced countless symptoms through the course of my illness. I have been diagnosed with dysautonomia and am still trying to get to the root of my persistent arm and shoulder pain. Others have developed chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, small fiber neuropathy, lupus, and other disorders, as well as complications of the thyroid, kidney, heart, liver, and more.