I am a ghost haunting my own former life. For over 6 years, I have walked these rooms carrying the weight of a body broken by betrayal.

Long Covid disproportionately hits women in their prime parenting years making moms one of the largest affected groups. CDC data shows women at 8.5 % ever had Long Covid versus 5.2 % for men with the highest rates in ages 35 - 49 at 8.9 %. cdc.gov/nchs/products/…

Today in my brand new circuit training class that I started teaching this week, I saw Long Covid wearing someone else’s body like a costume it had not finished breaking in.

Yesterday morning, the first sign slithered in without ceremony. A family member woke and spoke it like an afterthought: “I don’t know why I have a runny nose again.” The day unfolded in the same unbroken rhythm, sniffling, coughing, the wet, endless sound of a throat that refused to clear.

This virus learned a smarter trick than all the rest that came before. It turns the infected into denial zombies who attack anyone speaking the truth. I’ve watched it claim family and friends, even people in the small community here.

This 4th of July exposed what Covid has done to millions of us. My fingers and toes turn bright red and swollen in the heat, after exercise, or a hot bath. It’s not Raynaud’s, POTS or dysautonomia. Just another souvenir from Covid.

A mom told me today about her 10 year old son. Two moles on his skin suddenly changed color and grew irregular borders. Her mother instinct refused to let it rest. Doctors removed them both. Both came back abnormal. Last September, he had his adenoids taken out after endless “sinus infections.”

Just pulled into the parking lot at work. Windows up, car silent. Then through the metal and glass comes this man walking through the parking lot:

Cathy walks into my Monday afternoon Bodypump class every week, determined to make it in time coming straight from work. She’s been grinding to lose weight for a family wedding this December, but after months the scale barely moves.

I realize much of the community has been forced into isolation for years. Many do not have young children born after 2019 in schools or childcare. I do.

I am haunted by the unbothered denial that grows louder every year. It feels like more than stubbornness. It whispers of something deeper: a novel virus that slipped into the brain and altered the amygdala, stripping away our oldest alarm.

came across twiXter post from @envidreams.bsky.social and I can say I've had the blepharitis too www.healthline.com/health/can-c... For me it's at least in part due to NSAID hypersensitivity. Antihistamines help w/skin swelling, but you can have breathing problems (AERD) which need 1/

Subbing functional fitness today, setting up Tabata circuits. Sandy, in her 60s, hesitates at the stations and asks for modifications.

In my fitness class, a woman shared that during tornado warnings she grabs her mom’s ashes first. “I couldnt live with myself if I left her behind to get swept away.”

I was at Target hunting for a Father’s Day card and gift card, innocently squatting in the aisle to check the bottom row. A sweet little family strolls up beside me, complete with an adorable toddler girl standing there like a tiny angel.

OMFG THE COVID INFECTED PEOPLE WITH “ABC (anything but covid) SYNDROME” ARE BACK AT IT!! 🦠😭

“This morning I collapsed in the bathroom…(hitting head unconscious)…Found myself revived afterwards…” “Mom says SPIRITUAL ATTACK….” “I say side effects from the flu and bronchitis meds I took before bed…”

I asked my coworker what happened after she missed a few days. She sighed and said a chicken salad from Rouses grocery ruined her life. “Bad food poisoning. Do not buy from their buffet. Who knows how long they leave it sitting out.”

In the crunchy natural living groups they are begging for herbs and natural remedies for their mystery “allergies” while ignoring the obvious: Covid wrecks eyes. Subconjunctival hemorrhages, redness, photophobia, and vascular damage in the eyes are well documented from Covid infections.

Just watched someone list every classic Long Covid symptom and beg for answers. My one reply drops the truth: “Long Covid.” OP immediately: “No.” They come looking for help, but only if the answer isn’t the one that explains everything. The denial is strong out here folks. 😂

As a fitness instructor and personal trainer living with Long Covid, I hear it all during the workouts. Today a client casually drops this while signing the class sign in sheet:

10 months of coughing and the leading suspect is now a piece of cake eaten LAST summer. Covid denial has advanced to levels previously thought impossible. 🍰

“I didn’t realize people were still getting Covid.” Meanwhile, Covid has her punch card one infection away from platinum status…

🎯🧵 by @envidreams.bsky.social on XTwitter: "Long Covid is the most discriminated disease of our time. It is the illness that lingers long after the world has moved on. It does not end, instead it settles in. Rewriting the body quietly and..." Full 🧵 threadreaderapp.com/thread/20387...

Poignant🧵by @envidreams.bsky.social on XTwitter earlier today on Covid's ongoing impacts... "By the end of March the ambulance sirens finally fade. The coughing and throat clearing fall silent. It feels as though the winter Covid wave has passed at last" Full🎯🧵: threadreaderapp.com/thread/20365...