The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Program gives hope for ‘a lingering disease’
WALLINGFORD— Chris Bowery feared for his life as he battled COVID-19.
Now, months later, he feels he still might not be totally recovered, like many others dealing with long-term ramifications from the disease.
But, with the help of an outpatient program at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, he’s getting better each day.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a range of symptoms — including fatigue, brain fog, joint pain and depression — can linger in some patients for months.
Jerrold Kaplan, medical director of the Gaylord outpatient program, said COVID-19, as it provokes an autoimmune response, can affect any organ in the body.
Patients also have reported anxiety and post-traumatic stress, fearing to return to the habits and locations where they contracted the virus in the first place, he said.
“We’re seeing a lot of psychological issues with COVID,” said Kaplan. “It really impacts the whole person.”
Kaplan said the hospital first created a support group for patients battling lingering issues from the virus as the effects of the virus became clear, then added an outpatient program as the pandemic progressed.
Now, it provides a range of services, including physical, cognitive and speech therapy, designed to address patients’ individual needs, he said.
Kaplan said the closest comparison for this aspect of the coronavirus that came to mind was Lyme disease — many cases resolve, but others end up with lingering symptoms.
For Bowery, Larry Main and Candace Quinn, three of the patients in the program, the effects of the disease have lasted for months.
Bowery said he first got sick in April. On his way home from working as a supervisor in the maintenance department for the state Department of Correction, he was struck with a sudden wave of exhaustion, like he had been up for days.
His condition worsened. Bowery said he was sweating and freezing at the same time, dealing with body tremors and a “terrible headache,” stomach and digestive issues. He “couldn’t breathe,” he “couldn’t walk like three feet without having to sit down.”
“I’ve never been sick like that in my entire life,” said Bowery.
His brother took him to Middlesex Hospital; he was there for about three weeks, then was taken to Gaylord for respiratory treatment. He was isolated, as he kept testing positive for the virus every few days, then was released to receive care at home. After about 50 days, he tested negative, and was able to go outside again.
“I was really sick in Middlesex, and it’s really not a good feeling. I remember asking one of the doctors in ICU if I was going to get out of here, and their response was, ‘we don’t know; we just don’t know.’ And it’s not a comforting feeling,” said Bowery.
Bowery said he’s now involved in both the support group and the outpatient program. He’s found comfort in being able to relate to others who have gone through a similar experience.
People often will treat him as though he’s fully recuperated and this episode in this life is over; he’s not sure that’s the case, as he continues to deal with fatigue and shortness of breath. He said he’s now really cautious, both at work and in his personal life.
“There’s a lot of people that think I’m all better, and I don’t know if I believe that,” said Bowery. “Just sharing that with other clients, or other patients, ex-patients, and knowing that they go through the same thing — it’s helpful, that I’m not kind of cracking up. Being in isolation ... being alone in a situation like that, it does something to the mind. So it’s just very helpful.”
Main, an infection control nurse, felt it was only a matter of time before he contracted the disease as he worked to keep it from affecting others.
“And I just caught it,” said Main, who resides in Clinton.
After he recuperated from the initial effects of the disease, taking Vitamins D and C, Zinc, and plenty of fluids, he said he found himself “really chronically tired.”
He had been in good shape; but now his joints ached, he struggled with his balance, and an hour or two of activity wiped him out. At one point, he said he couldn’t walk 100 feet.
“I hurt when I do this and I hurt when I do that,” said Main. “And that’s not me.”
After about a month of treatment, Main said he’s making headway in his recovery and overall doing well. Kaplan and the other providers have provided “immense support,” he said.
“(They’ve been) just wonderful — I don’t know how else to say it,” said Main.
Quinn, an Ansonia resident, said she felt sick in late March. She was particularly light-headed; her husband had to help her to the bathroom. Before she knew it, she was in an ambulance.
Her memory is spotty after that, she said, although she was intubated for 16 days at Griffin Hospital, then transferred to Gaylord for rehabilitation.
The inpatient care at Gaylord had been excellent, she said, prompting her to go back for outpatient program. She’s received physical, occupational and speech therapy.
“I could not walk when I was (taken) to the hospital. It required two people to assist me into a bedside chair; I couldn’t take one step by myself. So, I actually graduated from being in bed, to sitting at the side in a chair when I got to Gaylord. And then from chair to wheelchair; wheelchair to walker; walker to being able to walk by myself,” said Quinn. “I just feel as thought I’ve been given a second chance.”
Bowery, Main and Quinn said they hoped sharing their experiences would promote greater awareness about the realities of the coronavirus, both in the short term, as people wrestle with the immediate effects of the illness, and in the long term.
Kaplan said he hoped employers would accommodate those dealing with lingering symptoms from the disease, offering flexibility as they recuperate.
“I think what’s important to me, the most, is that there’s hope — that I can give somebody some hope, because there were a few days there that’s all I had was hope, and people calling, the prayers,” said Bowery. “I just think it’s part of my gratitude for still being here and being, for the most part, healthy. It’s the least I can do for the next person who’s feeling hopeless, not knowing what’s going to happen.”
“This is a lingering disease. We don’t know where it’s going to lead,” said Main. “We’ve got to be very aware of what’s happening with this disease.”
“It’s a real virus. Everybody needs to take it seriously. It’s a real virus, and it affects people in different ways,” said Quinn. “Going to Gaylord ... it was able to get me back to how I was before, which is able to work, able to walk, able to do normal, functional, everyday activities. ... It means the world to me.”