KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new study Tennessee is among the seven states with the highest rate of people suffering from "long COVID." That study said nearly one in 10 Tennesseans suffers from it.
Three and a half years after her COVID infection, Katie Allison is still sick.
"I just never got well," Allison said.
She was infected with the coronavirus in July 2020. She was never hospitalized when she had COVID. Since then, she's been to the emergency room with long COVID several times.
"It's just been terrible," Allison said. "It's just terrible."
Allison said she has fatigue like she's never experienced before. Her blood pressure varies. She has brain fog and can't work. Allison said she went to several doctors but didn't get help until she went to her nurse practitioner, Kristel Gibbons, who works at Covenant Health's New Horizon Medical Associates.
When Allison started experiencing symptoms of long COVID, Gibbons said people didn't know what it was. Long COVID wasn't officially recognized until July 2021.
"She didn't act like I was crazy. She didn't dismiss me," Allison said. "She immediately began trying to find specialists."
Now, scientists are learning more about it.
"Doctors need to listen to the patients," said Dr. Wes Ely from Vanderbilt's Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center. "There's not a specific test for long COVID."
Ely said people can have mild cases of COVID and end up with long COVID. He said long COVID is classified as continuing symptoms in people for 12 weeks or longer.
"You have impaired memory, visual-spatial function, how quickly your brain works, your ability to do lists at the grocery store," Ely said. "All of that can be impaired by long COVID."
Years after her COVID diagnosis, Allison said she can't go back to work. She was active, walking miles every day, and can't anymore.
"I already feel like I'm missing out on so much of my children's lives," Allison said. "I just feel like I'm such a burden to everybody."