Leanne Argoso from London, Ontario, is one of the 510 people who have been in the St. Joseph’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Program since 2021
After getting COVID-19 in March 2022, Leanne Argoso of London, Ontario, thought she would be fine. She didn’t.
Argoso, who is 45 years old, used to work as a physiotherapist at Parkwood Institute for St. Joseph’s Health Care. She is now on long-term disability from that job and struggles with fatigue.
She is telling people that COVID-19 is real.
“I’m a pretty active person, so when I got COVID, I just treated it like a cold.I went back to working out hard, going to work, and doing everything else, but I just didn’t have the same energy.”
It seems like I’m doing well. You start to wonder a little bit if you’re going crazy.– Leanne Argoso, long-hauler COVID-19
By October, Argoso was out of work for a short time. She went back to work for a short time, but now she is on long-term disability.
She said, “When I wake up, my legs just feel heavy.” “When I overdo it, my body gets jittery. It feels like I’m pulsing and vibrating.”
She has trouble focusing, gets headaches often, and often forgets what words are called. According to the federal government’s website on long COVID-19, other common long-haul symptoms include trouble sleeping, shortness of breath, general pain and discomfort, and problems with mental health.
Argoso, who is now a patient in St. Joseph’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Program, said, “It has changed my life in a big way.”
Epidemiological “disaster” is caused by unknowns
Kelsi Break, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph’s Healthcare, said that since the program began in January 2021, more than 3,300 visits have been made by 510 patients.
The program’s future, on the other hand, is still not clear.
“We haven’t heard yet that the funding will be permanent,” she said.
In an email to CBC London, Break said that Ontario Health’s funding for the program would end on March 31, 2022.
“St. Joseph’s has kept running the program without a confirmed funding source so that our patients can get the same care while we keep talking with Ontario Health about the program’s ongoing funding,” she wrote.
There’s no definitive diagnostic test. Everyone has a different idea of what clinical means. From the point of view of epidemiology, that’s a disaster.– Colin Furness, epidemiologist
Argoso said that most people would never know that she is a COVID-19 long-hauler.
“You can’t tell when I’m out and about unless you’re really affected,” she told Argoso. “These are the people who can’t get out of bed and have to use mobility aids.””It’s a disease that can’t be seen. It seems like I’m doing well.”
Argoso’s heart and lungs tested well. It’s hard to say what makes her feel the way she does.
Leanne Argoso writes about her long journey with COVID on Instagram:
“Everything’s normal,” Argoso said. “You kind of start to wonder if you’re crazy a little bit.”
Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, said that there is still a lot about long COVID-19 that is unknown, such as what the risk factors are.
“There’s no test that can tell for sure,” he said. “Everyone has their own clinical definition, which is terrible from an epidemiological point of view.
He said, “We don’t really know why COVID can get so deep into some people’s bodies and do so much damage to them but not to others.”
Argoso is telling people not to let down their guard.
“People think the pandemic is over, and I get that it’s not as bad as it was, but COVID is still around. Be careful and aware that it’s still out there and could affect you—you don’t know.”