“When he woke up [November 10] and when she was feeling even worse, I said, “You know, let’s test you before you go in, because I don’t want you to get the Covid vaccine if you really have Covid,” Michigan said.
Jack had a positive test for Coved-19 that day and has been living with symptoms ever since.
This prevents him from staying in school all day. He should limit how much baseball he plays with other kids in the neighborhood. Even if he plays Fortnite too much, he may get sick the next day.
He is one of millions of children who have long been ill with Covid.
“I have a stomach ache. It’s hard to breathe. Your nose is stuffy. It’s just unbelievable,” Jack Ford said. “Sometimes it’s really annoying. It’s not cold, you know, it feels like Covid.
“People may think you’re feeling fake, but you’re not fakeing it. You feel like Covid is there,” he added.
“Undiagnosed problem”
Many doctors who have treated children at long-term Covid clinics across the country say they have been waiting for appointments for a long time. Some are booked until September.
Abnormal range of symptoms
There are no special tests for Long Covid. It is not known which children have the disease, as the child may have a mild form of Covid-19.
Children with chronic Covid may not be able to see anything, even when they are tested for diseases that can cause these symptoms.
“They tested me, and I didn’t seem to have anything, but they did their best to find something,” Jack Ford said.
Analysis of his lung function and ECG returned to normal. “The Covid Clinic has reported that this is very common in children who have had Covid for a long time. Sometimes all tests become normal,” said Kim Ford.
“We studied them again, their GI tracts are normal. I’m checking the big immune system, their immune system looks normal. Everything” looks normal, “but the kids don’t work normally,” Edwards said. “I tell families,‘ Remember, there are limits to what medical science can understand and test. Sometimes we don’t know where to look for it. “
The problems of adults will be more obvious, Edwards said, because they will be more The tests show organ dysfunction.
At Sexson Tejte Clinic in Texas, children are divided into several categories. Some have fatigue, brain fog and severe headaches, “some kids can’t go to school, prices are bad, problems like that,” he said.
Another group has heart problems such as palpitations, chest pain and dizziness, especially when they return to normal activities.
Another group has a stomach ache. Many of these children also experience changes in taste and smell.
Sexson Tejte said it was no different from the symptoms in adults, but “it’s not a mixed bag of different organ systems in adults.”
“That’s when the bucket is empty.”
One of Jack Ford’s traits influences the amount of energy for his typical actions.
Kim Ford said, “Long Covey’s patients have post-stress illness, which is Jack’s biggest problem.” “So if he’s overdoing it – he doesn’t have to be physically overdoing it. He may have been really upset about something the day before, or he might really be busy with something like playing TV or sitting video games. In the chair – does a knockout. “
Energy has become such a problem that Jack cannot go to school all day. Her parents started it for an hour or two a day and gradually increased it to five and a half hours a day.
Kim Ford said, “We tried to beat him to six, but it didn’t work yet.” “He woke up the next day very sadly.”
Edwards, who runs Cleveland’s Long Coved Clinic, says parents need to talk carefully about how much energy their children are expending. Most healthy people walk when they are tired, but those who have been ill with Covid for a long time are unable to do so. “It’s like they have a bucket of energy and you have to use it carefully to go to school, to play, to watch TV. Everything they do gets energy and it’s over when the bucket is empty,” Edwards said.
Some of his teenage patients were tired of the typical drama at school.
“Long-distance travelers need to think about every aspect of the day and when they can spend that energy. They need to have a balance. Otherwise, they will run out.”
Many also worry. Some of them may be caused by the disease itself or by suspicions from doctors or adults that they are not feeling well.
Experts across the country say they have heard from patients whose complaints have been ignored even after their health has changed dramatically. They said they were trying to be dramatic or attention-seeking, or that all of the symptoms were in their head.
Yonts believes it should be better acknowledged that Covid may be a real problem for a long time among doctors.
“I have two children who have never been in a wheelchair since they were in a wheelchair. I have one child. I have a child who can’t use his arms,” Edward said. “You have to trust these guys.”
Help is available, but not everyone can afford it
There is no specific treatment for long-term Covid, but most of these clinics are multidisciplinary.
At Edwards Clinic, which opened last year, experts can address lung problems, digestive problems, physical rehabilitation, sleep problems, mental health problems and more. The service includes a nutritionist as well as an acupuncturist and pediatrician licensed in Chinese herbal medicine.
In addition to scheduling a child’s schedule, Edward’s clinic teaches children how to spend energy and when to take a break. They do massage therapy and mental and physical exercises.
“Children need a few elements of help. If we are aggressive and they receive intensive support and therapy, they will improve a lot,” Edwards said.
However, not all children can enter the clinic.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people who work with pediatric Covid Rehabilitation, and they all say the same thing:‘ We’re worried about children who can’t get help, they don’t have parents to protect them. or go to the medical system. ‘ It keeps me awake at night, ”Edwards said.
Her clinic is to encourage children to get enough sleep and eat healthy, but not all families can afford healthy food.
“It’s especially scary for families because they’re left behind. Now they have children who live with Covid,” Edwards said. “You just have to hope that more people will know the problem and try to help.”
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