Persistent COVID symptoms months and years later, up to 1 in 3 people who contract COVID. Several patients shared their adventure towards a new normal.
HOUSTON – Persistent symptoms of COVID-19 months and years later up to 1 in 3 people who contract the virus. Many patients share their adventure towards a new normal.
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Rotcheh Pena was diagnosed with COVID-19 in December 2020. Six months later, she learned that she is still suffering from the aftermath of the virus.
“I think I had fallen asleep. I think he might have lost consciousness. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I lost my car, with my kids in my car, and destroyed it,” Rotcheh says. in the left lane in the ditch and destroyed my car. It was a big revelation for me to say, “Okay, I’m not cognitively the same as before. I couldn’t forget where I was. “
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“It was like I wasn’t there. And it was just every time I said, ‘Okay, that’s not normal,’ it’s something that bothers me,” he added. “It’s Array, you know, my sleep pattern, my standing pain that I have at night, and then I can’t sleep. “
Rotcheh searched through UTHealth and joined a study to use his scenario for researchers to find more answers during the long JOURNEY of COVID-19.
“It’s more common for them to do studies for them, but it gives me an idea to say I’m not alone. It gives me an idea and gives me peace of mind that I’m not the old man, I’m not going crazy. I’m not making it up,” Rotcheh says.
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UTHealth has developed the COVID Center of Excellence to treat only COVID patients, but also long-haul flights. Dr. Luis Ostrosky of UTHealth and Memorial Hermann says we’re going to be dealing with a decades-long COVID.
“People are miserable! They are still tired. It affects their work, their social life. They have memory and concentration disorders. They have muscle pain and some have, for example, long-term damage to the lungs of shortness of breath, and we see a lot of depression and anxiety, even PTSD,” says Dr. Ostrosky.
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Rohan Bavadekar, one of the first patients diagnosed with COVID in Houston in March 2020.
“I flew from one of the suburban hospitals to St. John’s Hospital. Luke from the medical center. I put on ECMO. Even after I got ECMO, I administered plasma. You know, my symptoms progressed a bit, however, I’m still in critical condition, and after that, even when I was on ECMO, I had a stroke, I had two cardiac arrests, I was on dialysis for a long time, so the fact that I could be resuscitated is a miracle in itself, twice on the same day,” Rohan explains.
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Rohan and his wife wrote a book called “Cheating COVID: A Family’s Story of Suffering and Survival” to share their reports and hope it will help others in the long run or face a medical crisis. He spent six months between the hospital and his convalescence in rehabilitation.
“There are still symptoms over long distances, such as abnormal heartbeats or severe headaches, but they probably haven’t gone away over time. My lungs are still affected, but they’re bigger than they used to be,” Rohan says.
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Dr. Ostrosky hopes that extra will lead to life-changing responses and treatments.
“Once we know the root cause of the symptoms, whether it’s viral replication or immune dysfunction, we can look at other interventions, we can look at monoclonal antibody antivirals, if it’s a viral problem, or we can look at the immune system. ” “. immune suppression or modulation if it’s an inflammatory problem,” says Dr. Ostrosky.
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