HOUSTON — Hospitalization isn’t the only concern when it comes to COVID-19. Many people – including children – are reporting persisting problems months after getting the virus.
Research is now showing "long-haul COVID" is twice as common among women. Click here to read what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about it.
Joy Vonk, 36, was infected with COVID-19 while doing medical missionary work in Kenya in March. Despite being young and in good shape, she fell seriously ill. Vonk was medically evacuated back to the United States.
Five months later, she’s still short of breath. She’s doing in-person and at-home therapy three times a week through the Breathing Center of Houston.
“It often feels like this body isn’t mine. The things I want to do, I can’t do,” Vonk said.
While she’s getting better every day, the physician assistant said the slow progress can be discouraging. Vonk hopes other people experiencing long-haul COVID see her story and realize they aren't alone.
She encourages people who are holding out to get the vaccine.
“I would just ask you to consider my story. I’m a young woman in the medical profession that had worked in New York City, rural South Texas in hospitals caring for patients, then went to Africa. I thought, 'I’m being careful doing everything I’m supposed to do.' I would have taken the vaccine in a heartbeat had it been available before I left. I still got sick. I don’t have any chronic health conditions, and I got really sick,” she said.
Here's a list of symptoms, according to the CDC:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Tiredness or fatigue
- Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental activities
- Difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”)
- Cough
- Chest or stomach pain
- Headache
- Fast-beating or pounding heart (also known as heart palpitations)
- Joint or muscle pain
- Pins-and-needles feeling
- Diarrhea
- Sleep problems
- Fever
- Dizziness on standing (lightheadedness)
- Rash
- Mood changes
- Change in smell or taste
- Changes in period cycles