FROM LA TO CT
Greenwich native came home for long COVID treatment, family time
GREENWICH — Long COVID compelled Melissa Wynne, a Greenwich-raised resident of Los Angeles, to return to her Connecticut roots and enjoy her recovery time in the comfort of her parents’ house before spurring her to a more adventurous lifestyle.
Wynne, a documentary producer, became ill in April 2020 and developed symptoms that seemed to get “worse and weirder,” she said. She believed she had COVID-19 in April and confirmed her suspicion with a positive antibody test months later.
She documented chest pain and pressure, trouble breathing, hormone problems, new allergic reactions, nerve pain and anxiety stemming from her illness.
An estimated 10 percent of those who contract COVID-19 will display symptoms beyond 12 weeks, according to data by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics. There are studies showing both greater and smaller prevalence of long COVID.
Wynne sought help in Los Angeles but received only cavalier advice from specialists. The neurologist that examined her for the tingling sensation in her hands, face, eyes and stomach thought she might have carpal tunnel or anxiety.
“I don’t expect a doctor to understand, like, the ins and outs of long COVID at a point where COVID is a brand new virus, but I do expect to be treated with respect and to really be believed,” Wynne said of her frustration.
She asked a cardiologist, who was dumbfounded by her trouble breathing, to order a COVID-19 antibody test. Wynne thought it would help convince the doctors that COVID-19 had damaged her body, but even the positive antibody test was met with skepticism, she said.
Wynne didn’t experience a loss of taste or smell, infamous signs that separate COVID-19 from a cold. A pulmonologist, another doctor Wynne paid to see, said that without a loss of taste or smell, he couldn’t make a diagnosis.
As late as June 25, 2020, Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters he didn’t know “whether or not (lingering symptoms) could be something that could persist for more than a few months.”
Now, long COVID is recognized as a disability in Connecticut, and the National Institutes of Health has launched research to learn more about the condition.
Wynne, frustrated with the lack of help in Los Angeles, flew to Connecticut in August 2020 to live with her parents. It was the first flight of many that year between the two coasts.
She had just started a new job, and living with her parents allowed her to work full-time remotely and concentrate on her health.
“This isn’t like because I’ve like failed and have to move back in with my parents or whatever; it’s actually something I want to do,” Wynne said of her decision to return to Connecticut. “I just felt very comforted to be home, and it took a lot off my plate in terms of having to take care of just even cooking.”
By October, she knew she wanted more time with her parents. Wynne moved out of the house she shared with roommates in Los Angeles and stayed in Connecticut from November until late April.
She continued to see doctors but found the best relief from receiving lymphatic massage, a gentle massage intended to reduce swelling related to fluid produced by the lymph nodes. There appear to be no studies on the effects of lymphatic massage on long COVID, though research suggests massage can treat fatigue during a patient’s recovery.
Ultimately, Wynne’s COVID-19 vaccination gave her the largest boost toward recovery.
“Once I got vaccinated, my symptoms were greatly reduced, pretty much immediately. I’d had this like pressing feeling in my chest the whole time I was sick. And within like 24 hours, that feeling had been relieved,” she said.
Other “long haulers” in online long COVID communities reported similar results from the vaccines, she said. Yale Medicine researchers launched a study in 2021 on the effect of the COVID-19 on long COVID; findings have not yet been published.
Wynne received her vaccination early when she volunteered at a vaccination site in Los Angeles, which prompted her emotional move back to the West Coast.
“I had such a nice time in Connecticut. It was just like a nice opportunity to just sort of like spend a lot of family time and cook with my mom and really relax,” she said.
Wynne signed a lease on an apartment in Los Angeles. And when production ended on the show where she was working, Wynne applied for an opportunity that would encourage her to travel.
“I wanted to start working out in the world again, like in the field producing, and start just getting back out there. I felt safe that I was vaccinated and just wanted to be working on site and stuff,” Wynne said.
Now she has been “working nonstop” and traveling a lot since October.
Wynne still doesn’t feel quite back to her pre-COVID self. She wrestles with brain fog, “hormone stuff,” acid reflux and newfound food sensitivities.
But she’s hopeful that the spreading awareness of long COVID leads to more treatment options and, even better, a cure.
“It’s not just people who got sick at the very beginning,” Wynne said. “It’s people who are getting sick now are still like having issues a few months later. So it seems like (long COVID) is something that isn’t going away.”