If y'all really want to know how it affects me, like the asshole who got me sick by coughing at me unmasked in class did, that's kinda not your business. If it was your business I would tell you that I used to walk 8-12 miles a day for work, while lifting, bending, and stooping. It was an 8 hour workout daily. When I got COVID I rested for as long as I could, stayed out for two weeks, then came back half as fast. My productivity was measured in units per labor hour. It was halved by COVID.

When I got shit canned I am pretty sure it was just an excuse to fire me for being disabled by the virus I had effectively no protection from given that the CDC told us essential workers to wear cloth masks and none of the customers would even wear them. Ever since it's gotten worse, like just doing the dishes and laundry and making food, or like vacuuming my studio apartment, takes me the fuck out. My heart randomly beats too fast and makes me feel like I am going to pass out.

Broken glass/razor lungs that prevent me from even jogging means that even the most low impact exercise is a challenge. It's especially frustrating because doctors don't give a shit. They all tell me "you look healthy" and then say I could lose some weight. Nobody will even give me the tests I need to prove that I have this shit.

But it's not going away. Everyone told me it would get better in a year. I got my first confirmed positive test in January '22 (I suspect I had COVID before that about 3 times) and ever since I have been completely fucked up like this, and my brain has not been the same. I don't even know the extent of the neurodegeneration but I know it has happened. Learning is hard, learning while affected by LC is way harder. I can barely focus on anything, and I have always been good at that.

So like just know that your case of long COVID is real and valid, even if it doesn't mean that you are "bedridden" or "housebound". I have nothing but solidarity for those who have worse LC, we are fighting the same fight. But ableist assholes are going to slice and dice the community and try to divide us, that needs to be fought. We are all affected by long COVID, there are hundreds of millions of us.

It's like not normal for my partner and I to just be standing or sitting and talking and suddenly feel like we have to stop talking because our heart is beating too fast and you feel like you're going to pass out if you don't take it easy. I don't know how things are ever going to get better.