My sister wrote this poem to help raise awareness about long COVID, please share:
To my Long Covid family...
'Twas The Night(mare!) Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
A creature was stirring, but it wasn't a mouse.
'Twas an insomniac 'Long Hauler' with a strange sense of smell:
"What is it that's burning? I just cannot tell..."
The presents were stuffed in a corner, not wrapped.
"Oh, I tried to wrap them but I cried and collapsed."
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While their parents lay awake with a sense of dread.
'Cos Mama is poorly; she's really not well
And when she'll get better, there's no way to tell.
And it's not just Mama; there are thousands like her.
Living this hell and not being heard.
High on insomnia, drunk with fatigue,
We're finding it hard that we're not being believed.
As we shake and we ache and try to get by,
Whilst we sweat and we stumble and try not to cry.
Last Christmas we laughed, we hugged and we drank.
This year it's different; we have Covid to thank.
We used to be runners, training and racing.
Now we are on monitors, checking and 'pacing'.
And it's really so hard for we want to be busy,
But just walking upstairs leaves us breathless and dizzy.
We have chest pains, numbness and nasal congestion,
Itchy eyes, headaches and weird palpitations.
Tests reveal scarred lungs, blood clots, MCAS and POTS.
Others struggle with itching. hives and chicken pox spots.
With so many symptoms, advice we seek
As our 'family' grows by hundreds a week.
Tinnitus, 'whooshing' and hearing so painful,
We're told we're fine when we're not - it's horrifically shameful.
We stammer and stumble and our limbs are so weak.
We look in alarm at our wasting physiques.
And the brain fog! What is this?? It's really absurd!
We try to speak and we can't find the words.
So this Christmas it's Easter and reindeer are dolphins,
Ferrero Rocher are frangipani (I know!) and robins are puffins!
And a chair is...? We sigh and just point. It's so bad!
We've got to keep laughing or we'll all go quite mad!
Our brains won't work, we're worried about our hearts,
We can't taste our food and we can't trust our farts.
We're losing our hair. And our teeth. So attractive!
Yet, we're hanging on in there and being pro-active.
We're ditching certain foods and upping healthy habits.
Oximeters and blood pressure monitors are our most-used
gadgets.
Yep, we have Long Covid; this is our plight.
And I thank you all as I (briefly!) bed down tonight.
For your supportive comments, research and shared fears
During this, truly, toughest of years.
For your humour and your tales of success:
"I managed a shower AND I got dressed."
"I walked to collect my kids on the last day of school."
"I did a fart and I DIDN'T poo through!"
Our successes sound tiny (apart from that last one!) but to us they are huge,
Because they give us all hope that we will pull through.
"Merry Christmas to all" just doesn't sound right
When we've lost loved ones, we're struggling and feeling so shite.
So to you all I send love. There are glimmers of hope,
As Long Covid clinics open and we find more ways to cope.
In a time of great crisis, we've found strength to fight.
And I can't thank you enough. May you sleep well tonight. xxx
(Written by Penny on 19/12/2020, 47, fit and healthy mum of three before a 'mild' case of Covid-19 in July/August 2020. This is in no way intended to trivialise the utter devastation caused by this virus to so many families. I will be going to see the Christmas lights in a wheelchair this year and have 37 ongoing symptoms. I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.)