dr. amy blackstone on the long covid experience

Long COVID is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed.

by Amy Blackstone

In March 2020, I boarded a flight bound for Iowa. The next morning, I awoke to news that the university where I was speaking was closing due to COVID-19. My lecture that evening would be its final public event. I contracted COVID-19 soon after and have been suffering from long COVID ever since.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 13 adults in the U.S. have long COVID, an illness lasting months to years after contracting COVID-19. Though we’ve had years to adjust, Maine, like the rest of the nation, remains ill equipped to combat long COVID and its effects.

Full story at link.

Post-Covid-19 symptoms, who is affected, what research is being done to understand long Covid

As time passes since the start of the pandemic, more research is being done about the long-term effects of Covid-19. A growing number of people suffer from symptoms that linger well past the period of active Covid: neurological problems, respiratory issues, digestive trouble, and other significant effects. We’ll talk with medical experts about what studies are revealing about long-haul Covid, and what is still unknown.

Panelists:
Dr. Ingrid Bassett, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School; infectious disease physician, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Clifford Rosen, director, Center for Clinical and Translational Research at MaineHealth; principal investigator for MaineHealth RECOVER site; internal medicine specialist

VIP Caller:
Amy Blackstone, professor, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and Department of Sociology, University of Maine; author, Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of Independence; she has been dealing with long Covid symptoms since 2020

Listen to full story at link.

2 years into long COVID, a UMaine professor feels like she's 'been buried alive'

by Emily  Burnham

After giving a talk on March 11, 2020, at Iowa State University, University of Maine sociology professor Amy Blackstone returned to her hotel room with a tickle in her throat.

The next day, she flew to her home state of Minnesota on a planned trip to visit friends and family, just as the entire country started to shut down as the COVID-19 pandemic began its deadly march across the U.S.

Full story at link.