Carrie 1 explains how physical limitations and concerns about reinfection have impacted her social life.

Transcript

I used to be a very social person. I was always on the social committee at work and always loved spending time with my colleagues and it’s been really hard I think on friendships. I only have a couple of friends left, because I think what I’ve realized is that friends often are about doing things. Let’s go hiking, let’s have brunch, let’s do things, and I can’t do anything. I’m house bound. I can’t leave my house. I’m also very susceptible to reinfection, and I don’t want to be reinfected, so I’m pretty stringent about everybody has to wear an N95 with a HEPA filter on. I have my windows open when I have anybody over. It’s not so much fun to wear an N95 and not have coffee, people don’t want to come. So yeah, in the end, it’s just been very – yeah, it’s been hard. I don’t really see anybody in the winter because it’s hard to have people indoors … Long COVID is lonely, to be honest. It boils down your friendships, it takes away your work, it – I think it’s lonely because you have less people in your life, but you realize as well, people don’t understand, and I don’t blame them. I mean, they can’t understand what it’s like to be 40 and chronically ill, and for what it’s like for a great day to be laundry and dishes and cooking a meal. Oh my God. For them, that’s just a typical evening. And for me, that’s an amazing day. And so I’m just not on the same wavelength as people anymore, so it can be hard.

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