![]() ![]() And then if I don't remedy it, if I don't have a snack – it's weird, it's kind of like I'm awake, but I'm in a coma. "My body kind of shuts down – I start slurring my words, I move really slowly. "I learn new ones all the time, but the main ones are not eating on time, not eating enough, temperature change – if I go from cold temperature to heat, I know my body is not able to function," she says. ![]() She says she's now in a better place with her health and no longer needs a wheelchair, but she's still getting a handle on what triggers an episode for her. "Now there's kind of like a stop button happening, like, 'OK, we're done with this public health emergency,' but there are thousands of people that are still left dealing with the impact of it, including myself." "It's a strange feeling," Semhar Fisseha says of the end of the pandemic declaration. Once an active parent, she became debilitated and needed a wheelchair for a time. In November 2021, Semhar Fisseha shared how her COVID-19 infection morphed into long COVID and upended her life. Pien Huang The Long COVID Patient Semhar Fisseha, 41, Brooklyn, New York He's continuing to grieve and to dance, as he finds a path forward from the monumental losses he experienced in the pandemic. "I want to be an example to my little sister to show her that no matter how tragic our life has been, it's still worth living," he says, "And we have to find our own happy." Lerma considers himself a work in progress. Choosing to move forward is what his grandparents would have wanted. "I got to go to high school, I got to go to university, I get to have jobs with my Social Security and everything," he says. Lerma considers his new start a way to honor his family's legacy. I feel like I'm taking care of my side of the street." But it feels unfair to Lerma that some people are moving forward with much heavier burdens than others. ![]() "I'm triple vaccinated," he says, "I don't wear a mask but I make sure I wash my hands. Like most people, he's ready to move on from the pandemic. The health insurance benefits that come with the job haven't kicked in yet, so Lerma is working to process his grief on his own, without the help of a therapist. "Now, I don't take work and the stress of it home with me," he says, "I'm able to handle my mental health a little bit better, and cope with what I need to cope with post-pandemic." He took a job as a city bus driver, which is easier, he says. Lerma moved from Phoenix to Los Angeles last June. "The students didn't have any motivation or determination," Lerma says, "They just did not give a damn anymore." For Lerma, who was grieving the loss of his family members, "trying to force these kids to care about class" began to feel like a drain on his well being. After a period of virtual schooling, the return to in-person learning was rough. He loves dancing and teaching but during the pandemic, the job was not the same. "We really weren't prepared for that as we were still dealing with losing my dad." Virginia had recovered from a severe case of COVID for which she'd been hospitalized, and Lerma's family wonders if the strokes may have been a post-COVID complication.īefore the pandemic, Lerma was a high school dance teacher. "That was the last parent that we had left after the pandemic took away our dad from us," he says. ![]() Lerma was raised by his grandparents and refers to them as "mom" and "dad." Last May, Jose's wife, Virginia, – Lerma's grandmother – died after a series of strokes. For the Aldaco family of Phoenix, Ariz., these three deaths – within six months of each other – shattered a generation of men. It followed the death of his grandfather, Jose Aldaco, also of COVID. In March 2021, Miguel Lerma had just lost two granduncles to COVID. The Bereaved Son Miguel Lerma, 33, Los Angeles, California NPR called several of the people interviewed over the past three years back this week to ask for their reflections and hear how the end of the public health emergency strikes them. But for many people, life before and after COVID are markedly different.Īs NPR reporters have covered the twists and turns of the pandemic, they have talked to hundreds of people – local public health workers, long COVID patients and people who lost loved ones to COVID, among many others. COVID public health emergency on May 11 comes with a set of policy changes, and it also brings a sense of closure to an extraordinarily difficult time. Miguel Lerma, right, with his grandparents who raised him, Jose and Virginia Aldaco. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |