COVID Long-Hauler in Need of Assistance
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On August 18th, 2020, Danni had a positive COVID-19 test. We both ended up with COVID-19 and spent 2weeks in quarantine/self-isolating. Danni's symptoms gradually improved and she became symptom-free in early September. Then, suddenly on Sep 12th, Danni's legs gave out and she had to be rushed to the hospital via ambulance. She had short-term lower-limb paralysis for 5 days and was admitted to the hospital for 9 days. During those 9 days, she had to re-learn how to walk again. It was during this time we found out about COVID-19 Long-Haulers.
The symptoms Danni is experiencing are what is now being called Neuro-COVID Syndrome. After her 9 days in the hospital, she began receiving in-home physical therapy and occupational therapy. While both have helped her be able to physically move around our home again, she is still mostly bound to a wheel-chair outside of our home and requires the assistance of a cane when she's not using her wheel-chair. Her PT/OT has also ceased while we wait for our medical insurance to authorize a new prescription for it to continue. Her pain is unbearable and debilitating most of the time. She has several coping methods to include prescribed & OTC medication and meditation techniques, but it's not always enough.
Since Danni's initial 9 day admission to the hospital, we have been to the emergency room 5 times due to her long-hauler symptoms.
She is still struggling to do "everyday tasks." We are grateful she has a phenomenal team of doctors working together and with her at Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan Ability Lab to help figure out how best to treat her, but this has been and will be a long road to recovery for her. COVID-19 research is still so new, and her doctors do not know how long it will take for her to recover to 100% adult physical normalcy (pre-COVID).
Danni has been unable to work due to these lingering- COVID Long-Hauler symptoms, Neuro-COVID Syndrome. Due to this, we went from a two-income household to one-income and it has been this way since mid-August. We had a decent savings account for unexpected expenses, but now all of that is gone. We've cut costs and deferred as much of our monthly expenses as we could but most of those accounts have a limit on how many months you can defer due to COVID-19. Like most Illinoisans she lost her Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). Danni has also applied for state disability which in Illinois takes up to 1-year before receiving an initial decision. We have reached our financial limit and are now asking for YOUR help.
We are now reaching out to our community, friends, and family to assist us during this difficult time. We know and understand times are hard for everyone and are grateful for any financial assistance you can provide. We need help catching up on and paying our basic monthly bills in addition to the medical bills we now owe. I've included several links about COVID Long-Haulers and Neuro-COVID Syndrome if anyone is curious about either. Thanks for reading this and your help in advance.
This first link is almost exactly what has happened to Danni: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/10/20/christopher-cross-intv-covid-19-paralysis-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn?fbclid=IwAR3f55zg6KueWGDKXFZCnCOsupGbUGlxgllUElhLPPaxB8H2th6YRGggB38
Sincerely,
Vanessa
https://www.jns-journal.com/article/S0022-510X(20)30515-3/fulltext
https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/medical-advances/covid-19-advances-in-care/clinic-addresses-neurological-effects-of-covid-19#:~:text=Patients%20who%20receive%20care%20through,is%20causing%20a%20patient's%20symptoms.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-tragedy-of-the-post-covid-long-haulers-2020101521173
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/covid-long-haulers-treatment/2020/10/15/207b4af8-098f-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2Zn91FfJUgP3THJeUoOWE-UdvUSnakOjtpQ7ThzqK0H-jF7sIVoe2m83E
https://www.facebook.com/groups/COVID19survivorcorps/
https://www.nm.org/about-us/northwestern-medicine-newsroom/press-releases/2020/study-examines-frequency-of-neurologic-manifiestations-in-COVID-patients
The symptoms Danni is experiencing are what is now being called Neuro-COVID Syndrome. After her 9 days in the hospital, she began receiving in-home physical therapy and occupational therapy. While both have helped her be able to physically move around our home again, she is still mostly bound to a wheel-chair outside of our home and requires the assistance of a cane when she's not using her wheel-chair. Her PT/OT has also ceased while we wait for our medical insurance to authorize a new prescription for it to continue. Her pain is unbearable and debilitating most of the time. She has several coping methods to include prescribed & OTC medication and meditation techniques, but it's not always enough.
Since Danni's initial 9 day admission to the hospital, we have been to the emergency room 5 times due to her long-hauler symptoms.
She is still struggling to do "everyday tasks." We are grateful she has a phenomenal team of doctors working together and with her at Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan Ability Lab to help figure out how best to treat her, but this has been and will be a long road to recovery for her. COVID-19 research is still so new, and her doctors do not know how long it will take for her to recover to 100% adult physical normalcy (pre-COVID).
Danni has been unable to work due to these lingering- COVID Long-Hauler symptoms, Neuro-COVID Syndrome. Due to this, we went from a two-income household to one-income and it has been this way since mid-August. We had a decent savings account for unexpected expenses, but now all of that is gone. We've cut costs and deferred as much of our monthly expenses as we could but most of those accounts have a limit on how many months you can defer due to COVID-19. Like most Illinoisans she lost her Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). Danni has also applied for state disability which in Illinois takes up to 1-year before receiving an initial decision. We have reached our financial limit and are now asking for YOUR help.
We are now reaching out to our community, friends, and family to assist us during this difficult time. We know and understand times are hard for everyone and are grateful for any financial assistance you can provide. We need help catching up on and paying our basic monthly bills in addition to the medical bills we now owe. I've included several links about COVID Long-Haulers and Neuro-COVID Syndrome if anyone is curious about either. Thanks for reading this and your help in advance.
This first link is almost exactly what has happened to Danni: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/10/20/christopher-cross-intv-covid-19-paralysis-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn?fbclid=IwAR3f55zg6KueWGDKXFZCnCOsupGbUGlxgllUElhLPPaxB8H2th6YRGggB38
Sincerely,
Vanessa
https://www.jns-journal.com/article/S0022-510X(20)30515-3/fulltext
https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/medical-advances/covid-19-advances-in-care/clinic-addresses-neurological-effects-of-covid-19#:~:text=Patients%20who%20receive%20care%20through,is%20causing%20a%20patient's%20symptoms.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-tragedy-of-the-post-covid-long-haulers-2020101521173
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/covid-long-haulers-treatment/2020/10/15/207b4af8-098f-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2Zn91FfJUgP3THJeUoOWE-UdvUSnakOjtpQ7ThzqK0H-jF7sIVoe2m83E
https://www.facebook.com/groups/COVID19survivorcorps/
https://www.nm.org/about-us/northwestern-medicine-newsroom/press-releases/2020/study-examines-frequency-of-neurologic-manifiestations-in-COVID-patients
Organizer
Nessa Ber-va Monmo Fil-dez
Organizer
Chicago, IL
