LEXINGTON, Ky. — A woman in Lexington has been dealing with COVID-19 symptoms for over a month. She has been in the hospital three times and experiences new symptoms every day.
What You Need To Know
- Kathryn Cody tested positive for COVID-19 in early December and she's still battling symptoms every day
- Cody has experienced all the normal symptoms, but also reports potentially new, lesser-known symptoms
- Due to being sick for so long, she hasn't been able to operate her pet grooming business
On Dec. 2, Kathryn Cody tested positive for COVID-19 and said since then she hasn’t felt any relief.
“It's hit me from a million different angles, and it's literally been a nightmare. Like, I can't stand for more than about a minute at a time, or my legs just give out. Like I'm that weak,” Cody said.
Along with the normal symptoms like headaches, fevers, and losing her sense of smell and taste, Cody has been experiencing new symptoms that could be associated with the virus like rashes on her body.
“I've had some new symptoms pop up in the last couple of days . It's about a rash all over my stomach now, almost like sores like little tiny sores and from what I've read that can be a symptom of COVID,” Cody said.
Cody owns her own pet sitting business and because of the pandemic and getting COVID-19, she has been unable to work — adding an extra level of stress.
Jon Klein, the Vice Dean for Research of UofL School of Medicine, said these types of cases are called "long COVID" or "long haulers," and anyone experiencing these types of cases should seek help at clinics dedicated to long-term COVID cases such as the Norton Healthcare Pavilion.
“Long COVID or long haulers appear to be pretty rare. Most of them simply begin to clear the symptoms over a very extended period of time,” Klein said.
Cody wants to remind everyone to continue wearing a mask and taking precautions, because you never know how dangerous the virus can be.
“I see your pictures on social media, people with their little family gatherings with Grandma, and I just want to say to them, please stop because you don't know if you maybe have it and are asymptomatic," Cody said. "You don't know what you could be passing on to somebody who might not fight it off."
Cody has set up a GoFundMe page to help with financial struggles such as lack of income and hospital bills. Within the last week, Cody has raised around $5,000.