Covid-19 survivors and the long-term effects of the virus
In the past year, we've talked a lot about the number of people who have lost their life to Covid-19. But what we haven't always focused on are the survivors and the long-term effects they can have from the virus.
"When I go to smell, I have to hold it up close to me to see if there is even anything, anything familiar, and there is nothing. There is nothing there. There's nothing," said 67-year-old Kathy Smith, who was first diagnosed with Covid-19 in April 2020.
It's been almost a year. Smith said she spent just one night in the hospital, but the lasting effects of the virus stay with her. She still has no sense of smell and limited taste.
"The whole summer I was mainly in bed sleeping. The shortness of breath stayed. I had a headache. I had aches all over my body. I had the brain fog that went with it," said Smith.
Smith considers herself a "long hauler" -- someone who is dealing with the effects of Covid-19 months and months later.
"I'm frustrated because it's taking such a long time," said 75-year-old Barry Rose.
Rose, his wife, Margie, are also Covid-19 survivors. They were diagnosed in May 2020.
21 News was there when Barry was welcomed home after spending 67 days in the hospital, and about 40 of those days he was unconscious.
Since then, Rose has celebrated his 75th birthday and is once again enjoying activities he loves, but the energy and strength are still not fully there.
"In my mind, I want to, but my body said no you're not doing that," said Rose.
And Kevin Harris was the very first known case of Covid-19 in the Valley. He went live on Facebook from a hospital bed. He is now better but can't shake the thought that the virus could strike again.
"You just wonder what's Covid and what isn't Covid. When you're tired, is it Covid? When you're sleepy, is it Covid? When you can't sleep, is it Covid?" said Harris.
"This is certainly something we are finding a lot of patience in Northeast Ohio have been experiencing," said Dr. Kristin Englund of Cleveland Clinic.
Englund said that now that we have more known cases of Covid-19 there is more research happening to determine how many people have long-term effects.
What experts do know is there seems to be no pattern.
"It's not only those folks who were hospitalized that we are seeing have these long-term symptoms," said Englund.
And the symptoms, just like the patients, vary from the heart, to the lungs, to the kidneys. There's extreme fatigue, loss of taste and smell, and brain fog.
And at this point, experts are still determining the best treatments.
"Do we need to be working with folks on certain kinds of memory rehab? Do we need physical rehab? Do we need to be treating the underlying heart disease with different medications? It's not one stop shop for everybody because there are just so many different facets to this disease," said Englund.
The Cleveland Clinic has just recently opened what they call a "reCOVer" clinic, which focuses on giving patients with these long-term effects specialized attention.
And brings hope to those who ask - will life ever be normal, again?
"The long-term effects, they were harsh, they were tough," said Smith.