Hi, my name is Erica Lynn, some also know me as Elynn. I'm fundraising to pay for the medical bills I incurred while I was recovering from Covid. My story is not that unusual for people who recovered from Covid, however, I am one of the very early survivors. Our stories are full of unknowns, no known treatments, and ongoing debilitating symptoms with no answers. I had Covid early, when testing wasn't working or adequate, and when no one understood how to treat this illness.

 

When I started to write this, I had no intention of it being this long. So for those who don't want to read the entire story, the bottom line is this: I fought for my life with Covid in April of 2020. I am doing so much better and I'm medically stable. But now I'm trying to get back on my feet and I don't see that happening without asking for help. I'm drowning now in medical and credit debt. I incurred $48,500 in debt while fighting this disease. This includes medical bills, personal loans, lost income and savings. Right now I'm just hoping for help to pay off the bills that are most pressing-like very very pressing. I can't ask friends or family at this time because they've been carrying me since March when my disability was suddenly denied. (I owe them money too even if they said it wasn't a loan!)

 

For those who are interested in my story, or don't know how this disease can affect a person, read on.

 

Thank you for caring and even if you can't give, I appreciate your caring.

 

Transmission: How did I get it? We don't really know but most likely community spread. In February, our city of Kirkland, WA was reeling from the outbreak at a local senior living community. My partner is a firefighter for the city of Kirkland. Our family showed symptoms in mid March. I started feeling ill the last week in March and by the 2nd week in April I had full blown Covid symptoms: extreme fatigue, a persistent fever that lasted 26 days, a cough that was constant, body aches and pains, lethargy and confusion. I felt like I was going to die, and I was too tired to be upset about it. I was too sick to even realize that at this time, I was fighting for my life.

 

Isolation: I wanted to talk to my kids, to see them. I could do neither. Talking caused sever coughing spasms and made me feel like an elephant was sitting on my chest. at this time we still didn't know how long I could be contagious, or if you could get it again, so the only answer was strict quarantine and isolation. I was blessed to have my best friend live with me at this time. Krissy was a godsend to me. I am forever grateful. I know she spent many nights listening to my coughing and checking to see if I was still breathing. She has told me how scared she was. Again, I will never be able to express my gratitude to have been loved so much by her.

 

Night Terrors: During this time I began to have night terrors. I think I was awake, but I can't be sure. I spent many nights thinking someone was in my room, a few times I swear I felt a hand on my shoulder. I would try and shake myself into lucidity, to get away. I never saw anyone. I felt a dark presence that can only be described as predatory. These nights were the worst. I will never forget the mental assault the night time put upon me. Every night was a fight, a battle. Morning would come, I would fall into a complete coma-like sleep for a few hours. There was no real 'rest' with covid. There was extreme fatigue but sleep wasn't pleasant or consistent. I slept whenever and wherever I could. I still could not shake the feeling of extreme fatigue.

 

Medical Care/Hospital: Like many of us who suffer from Post Viral Syndrome or 'Long Haul Covid', even though I had bad symptoms, I wasn't hospitalized. I had a visit to the ER one night when I could not stop coughing, but other than that I was only seeing my doctor via video due to the need to quarantine. When my cough began to improve and I could talk again, I tried to return to work. The problem was I was still so exhausted, and I wasn't feeling myself. I felt like I was underwater, I couldn't process language or understand the simplest of things. I was barely there. I was missing many days, I was there but really not. I tried to make appointments and set up meetings, I tried running reports, but I would end up so exhausted and confused I'd have to call out sick. It didn't take long for this to be noticed.

 

My Employer: I was blessed with a very good work family. Not only did they support me while I was trying to return to work, they were very compassionate and understanding that I was just not well. I was still sick. I needed more time to heal.

 

The catalyst that really pushed my health to a point where I needed to be on full time disability started in September when I noticed I was feeling especially tired and confused (brain fog). I noticed a rash had started on my thighs, then quickly it was on my back, by torso, arms, and it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. This rash was like having heat on your skin, itchy, stinging heat. It looked like a type of hives but it was acting like Shingles. My nerves started feeling like I was being stung by bees all over my body. I wasn't able to sleep at all. The pain could be anywhere at anytime. One time (this is an overshare but you gotta know how bad this was) I was on the couch and suddenly felt this shock followed by another in my bottom. Like, IN MY BOTTOM. Anyway, you get the idea. This thing had no rules, no timeline, no manners. The rash was healed by October, but has since returned twice. Medication is the only thing that kept it under control.

 

This new nerve pain symptom was so strange, and it was worse at night, so I was suffering constantly. No sleep and constant pain. My doctor prescribed gabapentin. We started with a low dose. It made me tired and I slept a little. We increased the dosage. I still suffered. We increased the dosage. Now I still suffered and was constantly half asleep. We reached max dosage, I was told it would take 4-6 weeks to get used to the fatigue from the medication. I was prescribed sleeping medication because even with the fatigue I was only sleeping 10 minutes to an hour at a time. Eventually the gabapentin was working and I got used to it it. So the fatigue was not longer due to the medication, it was just the residual symptom from Covid.

 

Other symptoms that occurred during this time: balance issues, feeling like I was constantly confused, memory issues, word confusion, increased fatigue and body aches, night terrors and insomnia. The rash healed, but the nerve pain was still there. I fell and twisted my knee (due to the balance issue). I was already sedentary but this made me even more so. I saw a neurologist, I had a brain MRI. Normal. I saw a rheumatologist and we ran tests. Nothing fit any box of our options for diagnosis. I was told that Covid made my body overreact and that I probably had Post Viral Syndrome.

 

I had the realization in January that I had plateaued. I wasn't getting worse, but I wasn't any better either. Depression began to visit regularly. Then it moved right in and wasn't budging. My doctor added anti-anxiety medication and we tried 3 different sleeping medications. Nothing helped.

 

It wasn't until February I noticed I was feeling slightly better. I started having some good days. But I wasn't able to reliably have those good days. I was still fighting to get back to a new normal, to be able to work, to live.

 

March almost completely did me in. I was starting to feel hopeful for recovery, but my disability insurance was reviewing my claim and decided to convert it into a long term claim with a whole new set of qualifications. I stopped receiving payments. I started calling weekly. I provided everything that was requested and they would then ask for more. I began to feel increasingly anxious. How was I going to live without an income?

 

Hope: In April, I was fortunate to get my first Covid vaccine shot. I didn't feel any different afterwards. Just hopeful for our world that we might get through it. I got my second dose in May. I didn't start feeling different for a few weeks, but then I started to find my stride, I was able to get up in the morning. I was doing housekeeping and taking care of myself again. I was able to read a book. I was gaining stamina to get through my day. I still had a problem from the fall with my knee though.

 

My knee injury ended up needing surgery for a torn meniscus. I went for it and go the surgery. I needed it to start getting back into physical condition again. Because I was feeling better, I wasn't as upset about this hurdle in front of me. I had beat Covid, I had managed my symptoms, I was forging ahead. I could handle recovering from this minor surgery.

 

The week after my surgery, I returned to work. A week after that, I went on a work trip to Alaska for 5 days. I was able to do all of this again. Now I had to start learning my job again. This required all of my cognitive and physical focus. But I was finally able to do these things.

 

I will forever have permanent symptoms from Covid. I have an autoimmune disease that was triggered by Covid but is 'new' and there is no name for it. We treat symptoms as they arise. But I am blessed to be medically stable.

Knowing all this is one thing, but the truth is it is just eating away at me, I am so scared of what will happen if I can't get a grip on this portion of my recovery. Ironically, it feels like I recovered only to get buried in debt. It's been so hard to stay positive.

 

Finances: Up until January I was doing ok. I'd had only about 60% of my income since becoming ill, but I was receiving some assistance through my short term disability policy. They didn't pay regularly, and every month they set the date to cancel my claim while I reapplied for the same illness for the same coverage. I made it work. I'd used all of my savings at this point. I was still able to contribute to my household. That all ended in March 2021 with the denial of my 'new long term' claim. I am forced to appeal this and may need legal representation to do so. I have no idea where to even start.

 

By May 1st I was tapped out. I couldn't contribute my share to our household. The debt continued to grow. By the time I returned to work, waited for my first paycheck, my checking account was so overdrawn that I only had $56 after my first check back. That $56 was pulled immediately by one of my hungry creditors.

 

Anything you can do to help me is appreciated. For those who know me, you know I work very hard and I am an honest and proud person. This is really difficult for me to ask. Thank you for listening and being here for me.

 

Bless you and yours,

 

Erica Lynn

Elynn