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This is not my story, a relative of mine.
COVID Update:
Many of you saw my post about hosting Thanksgiving this year. If you've known me for more than 5-6 years or so, you know I regularly hosted Thanksgiving for friends, seating 12 or more and loving every minute of it. It was truly wonderful to do this again!
But it was not the same. I was not the same. The lingering effects of long-COVID unnecessarily complicated the whole process. Here's how it presented:
1) Exhaustion - not just tired, but exhausted, starting two days before Thanksgiving. I'd had enough of planning, shopping, chopping, baking, etc. days before Thanksgiving. By the time guests arrived, I was flagging badly. Thankfully, I had friends who are like family at the table, who jumped in and helped. I was not the hostess I wanted to be, but they all understood.
2) Brain Fog - Nothing felt intuitive like it used to. I had to WAY over-think it all. Planning and execution was super slow, as I alternately overthought and was easily distracted from every single step. I know there were things I missed, details that should have been addressed. I just don't know what they were.
And yet ... being able to do as much as I did is a huge step forward in my recovery (or adaption ... hard to tell which is happening, honestly). Since this summer, I've been part of the Long-COVID program at OHSU, and the director of the program himself is working directly with me. He's got me on a couple of helpful protocols that are giving me a few good ... really good! ... hours every afternoon. From about 4:00pm to 10:00pm, I am more like myself, which makes it ideal to host friends for dinner ... especially since I have no appetite whatsoever until dinnertime. When a friend asks me to meet them for lunch, I just can't even imagine it yet! I'm just not there. But Dinner!? Great idea!
I'm hoping to be able to do a bit of traveling sometime soon. I'll be starting with some local jaunts. Then maybe a trip or two within our timezone (WA, Canada, CA, etc), so I don't have to deal with jet lag. We'll see ... it's been many years since I've been anywhere out of this timezone ... January, 2018 was the last time. I'm not up for it yet, but maybe, if the OHSU program continues to make a difference, I can try sometime this Summer.
COVID is making another surge this time of year. It loves the cold. So please stay safe! I'm just a few months away from finishing up year #3 of this and moving into year #4. It's no joke. Take care of yourself, stay away from others who are sick, etc. And please let me know if you have any questions. Sharing my experience with you gives a little value to what I've endured, and that's good for my psyche.
Happy Holidays, y'all!
COVID Update:
Many of you saw my post about hosting Thanksgiving this year. If you've known me for more than 5-6 years or so, you know I regularly hosted Thanksgiving for friends, seating 12 or more and loving every minute of it. It was truly wonderful to do this again!
But it was not the same. I was not the same. The lingering effects of long-COVID unnecessarily complicated the whole process. Here's how it presented:
1) Exhaustion - not just tired, but exhausted, starting two days before Thanksgiving. I'd had enough of planning, shopping, chopping, baking, etc. days before Thanksgiving. By the time guests arrived, I was flagging badly. Thankfully, I had friends who are like family at the table, who jumped in and helped. I was not the hostess I wanted to be, but they all understood.
2) Brain Fog - Nothing felt intuitive like it used to. I had to WAY over-think it all. Planning and execution was super slow, as I alternately overthought and was easily distracted from every single step. I know there were things I missed, details that should have been addressed. I just don't know what they were.
And yet ... being able to do as much as I did is a huge step forward in my recovery (or adaption ... hard to tell which is happening, honestly). Since this summer, I've been part of the Long-COVID program at OHSU, and the director of the program himself is working directly with me. He's got me on a couple of helpful protocols that are giving me a few good ... really good! ... hours every afternoon. From about 4:00pm to 10:00pm, I am more like myself, which makes it ideal to host friends for dinner ... especially since I have no appetite whatsoever until dinnertime. When a friend asks me to meet them for lunch, I just can't even imagine it yet! I'm just not there. But Dinner!? Great idea!
I'm hoping to be able to do a bit of traveling sometime soon. I'll be starting with some local jaunts. Then maybe a trip or two within our timezone (WA, Canada, CA, etc), so I don't have to deal with jet lag. We'll see ... it's been many years since I've been anywhere out of this timezone ... January, 2018 was the last time. I'm not up for it yet, but maybe, if the OHSU program continues to make a difference, I can try sometime this Summer.
COVID is making another surge this time of year. It loves the cold. So please stay safe! I'm just a few months away from finishing up year #3 of this and moving into year #4. It's no joke. Take care of yourself, stay away from others who are sick, etc. And please let me know if you have any questions. Sharing my experience with you gives a little value to what I've endured, and that's good for my psyche.
Happy Holidays, y'all!
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