In March of this year, I developed what I believed at the time to be a slight seasonal head cold. I didn’t actually feel ill, just a slight sore, hot throat, headachy, high temperature and I felt slightly sick.

As the days wore on, I improved a little but did begin to notice a shortness of breath if I moved about, I admit this became more of a concern especially when it was followed by a persistent dry cough. I didn’t actually allow myself to worry too much until some weeks later when I got stomach cramps followed by severe diarrhea and acid reflux. I struggled to find food to tempt myself to eat, as everything was tasteless and lay heavy on my stomach. The headaches were more often and lasted all day, followed by exhaustion like I’ve never felt in my whole life. On my worst days, I struggled to even shower, leave my bed to prepare something to eat, and even talking just seemed far too much effort. I would stare endlessly up at the ceiling, that and sleep for hours.

I also found myself dehydrating worryingly often. So I’m now seven months in as a long hauler, I still have all and more of the mentioned symptoms, including constant diarrhea that impedes my leaving my home, rashes, back pains, problems with my eyesight, hair loss, breathless, wheezy chest, urinary tract infections, and exhaustion that prevents activities of any kind. I have had six months of chemo in my past that did not wreck my body as this virus is doing both mentally and physically…