Jennifer 2 found other people's stories heartbreaking, especially because she, herself, had good personal, financial, and medical support.
Transcript
When I read about people who have COVID, there are several running themes. They have no access to doctors, or they don’t have access to supportive doctors who understand what they’re going through. They have incredible financial hardship obviously because they can’t work. Very often they don’t seem to have much of family and community support either. Their employers are not accommodating, they don’t have access to sick leave or long-term disability benefits, and many are younger than me. My children are adults. They have younger children, and they still have the demands of a young family. I see all these recurring themes in every story I read, and it is heartbreaking. Just heartbreaking because I know what they’re going through and I know how real it is and I know how frustrating it is when no test after test after test, specialist after specialist they all say we can’t find anything and yet this is so real. And if it’s been this hard for me, as I say, with all the support I have and access to, I don’t know, everything, I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them … I haven’t had to worry about taking leave without pay. I have not had to worry about sick leave, I have not had to worry about getting appointments, you know, and it’s been this hard. Can you imagine? I can’t and that’s why I haven’t gone to a support group yet.
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- Tests and Investigations – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 had a specialized test that helped explain her breathlessness.
- Symptoms of Long COVID – Jennifer 2Jennifer has had a recurring sequence of symptoms.
- Recovery and Thoughts About the Future – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 notices that doctors no longer mention getting better.
- Advice to Others Living With Long COVID – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 urges others to start making small adjustments.
- Advice to Policy Makers – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 says insurance companies should be required to accept long COVID as a diagnosis.
- Support From Family, Friends, Communities – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 now avoids people who put her under pressure to be well.
- Impacts on Work and Career – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 is a lawyer. She decided to retire because she feared that she would make serious mistakes at work.
- Coping Strategies and Self Care – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 says "You have to accept how vulnerable you are."
- Advice to Healthcare Providers – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 wishes that healthcare providers would be more straightforward when talking about her future.
- Impacts on Partners and Households – Jennifer 2Jennifer 2 says she and her husband can no longer have the active life they used to have.