Covid-19 survivors describe ongoing effects, daily struggles

By Kara Peters

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    JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) — Some COVID-19 survivors are long-haulers who experience lingering effects caused by the virus.

Stacie Smith is one of those survivors. Anyone who knows her would say it’s a miracle Smith can do something as simple as washing and putting away dishes on her own.

“I couldn’t do this, just to put it on the hook, I couldn’t reach it,” Smith said. “And I would get winded doing it.”

Household chores seemed impossible for Smith after she contracted COVID-19 in July 2020. Her journey took her through 72 days in the ICU and 100 days on a ventilator. Now, over a year later, Smith’s road to recovery is still far from over. Smith still wears a brace on her wrist after developing neuropathy and undergoing carpal tunnel surgery from damaged nerves.

“I’ve had to learn to do everything left-handed, I mean like putting on my makeup left-handed – and I’m right-handed,” Smith said.

Doctors are still trying to get a handle on the long-term effects of the virus, which look different from person to person.

“Someone who is having ongoing symptoms for a month or so after they started their symptoms,” said Dr. Andy Wilhelm, a pulmonary and critical care physician. “And it doesn’t matter how sick you were with COVID.”

Wilhelm said some people who were very sick don’t have long-term effects, while others who didn’t experience severe symptoms went on to suffer over the long haul.

Wilhelm is no stranger to helping COVID-19 patients, many of whom are long-haulers. He said long-lasting effects can vary, but common ones can include brain fog, shortness of breath, fatigue, and even ongoing heart issues.

Smith said she still battles balance issues, circulation and fatigue.

“My knees hurt. My hips hurt. Everything hurts if I sit for a long period of time and if I get up and stand, it takes me a minute,” Smith said.

Taking it one day at a time, she credits her steady recovery to rehab, much of it done at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, where she stayed for three months. They have a fairly new COVID-19 after-care recovery clinic with a doctor who understands what it means to be a COVID-19 long-hauler all too well.

“When they come in, I do an initial intake. We spend about 30 minutes talking, and then I ask them about their story. And then I say, ‘Well, do you know anything about me?'” Dr. Michael Montesi said.

A walking miracle, Montesi is a COVID-19 long-hauler himself. Stricken by the virus in 2020, Montesi was placed on life-support for a month.

“Wound up on a ventilator and had a tracheostomy, and when I did wake up, I was actually paralyzed,” Montesi said.

Learning to walk and navigate again, he too found his way to the MRC, where he stayed for six weeks. Now off oxygen and without a walker, Montesi is back at work, guiding and serving as a beacon of hope for anyone dealing with the impacts of COVID-19.

“Just sharing five or 10 minutes of my story, what I went through, where I am — a lot of them look up and think, ‘Wow, you’re back at work. You’re not on a walker. You’re not on oxygen. You speak well. You don’t have to stop and take a deep breath.’ And just that alone seems to be motivation,” Montesi said.

Smith is walking, driving and enjoying life again, and while she still fights to regain her strength day by day, she hopes this is a message for any COVID-19 long-hauler: to stay positive.

“I just hope that people realize that it’s not all gloom. That there is a rainbow at the end of it. It’s going to take a while, it takes a while to get over this, but keep praying,” Smith said.

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