Covid The Story Of Marta Amp039I've Been Sick For 3 Years Many Of Us Have Been Fighting To Get Life And Work Backamp039

Milan, January 23, (Adnkronos Salute) - A mobile phone's screen displays a still picture of a fossilized lung that has been sucked into the darkness. For Marta, it represents a variety of things, including the release from a troubling memory that had been held captive by Covid for a long time and the liberating explanation of what was really causing the illness that had prevented her from leading a normal life for so many years.

I became ill in March 2020, but Covid was there the entire time, taking everything from me, most recently even my job. I'm currently having a hard time getting back on track.

Marta Esperti, 34, is the representative for a group that is often ignored: those unfortunate enough to have contracted the virus during the first shocking wave of infections and who battled for many months before a name could be given to their syndrome. "Now I'm better, especially after taking antivirals for more than five days in some sort of trial, but they're still not like before, it's a very slow recovery," the patient said.

It felt like being a zombie in the worst situations when I had no access to medicine to help me; it was like being dead but still alive by a miracle and constantly on the verge of dying. He says to Adnkronos Salute, "I couldn't even get myself to stand up. It was like I had no control over my body.

When Marta first encountered the hospital, the Covid crisis was in full swing. She was a victim of the now-famous "cytokine storm" that killed people at a time when the hospital staff still had no idea how to handle it. However, the hospital staff is aware of what air hunger and oxygen dependence are. Additionally, he reported having cognitive disorientation: "One day I was in Rome at a hospital cash desk to pay for services when the PIN numbers of my card mysteriously vanished from my memory.

Nevertheless, up until recently I had used that code. They never returned in those numbers.

I worked, told, I was a PhD student, and I taught political science at two universities, Paris Sorbonne and Lille. Before Covid, she was a woman in constant motion. My life was vibrant and busy.

Additionally, Oxford invited me as a researcher. Due to the three and a half years of research and data gathering that I had already completed, I was closing my PhD.

Together with my director, I had produced some significant scientific publications. Her long Covid tsunami came to an end, and the race was over.

My doctorate hasn't been completed yet because I got sick twice more in 2022. And in order for me to resume landing new contracts, finishing the doctorate is now crucial.

While I wait for my doctorate to be completed, I must find other ways to make ends meet on a monthly income of 640 euros, which is just over half of my rent. I haven't given up, though. State support for the house could be a solution, as could a modest fundraising effort, particularly in the global community of Long Covid patients.

Without taking into account the expenses a patient with long-term Covid will incur for medical care. Marta keeps that picture, almost as a memento, of the image that previously went viral on social media due to how clearly and unvarnishedly it depicts the virus's hidden harm to her vascular system.

I had a difficult time figuring out what was wrong during the first year of my illness and had many discussions with the doctors. There were objective findings because it was determined that I had issues by performing the breathing tests and the walking test that I had a persistent cough, extreme exhaustion, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.

However, a CAT scan, for instance, only revealed the early signs of the patient's previous pneumonia. Nobody could figure out why I was still in such bad shape, but a pulmonologist had the foresight to let me undergo a more thorough examination to look into the microvascular perfusion of my lungs using a nuclear medicine procedure called a tomoscintigraphy.

As a result, I suffered from severe microvascular damage in my lungs that made it difficult for me to breathe normally and an overall inflammatory condition. Covid, a condition that affects vascular and coagulation function but is not a lung disease strictly speaking, matched all scientific discoveries on the condition.

From that point on, I was able to receive a diagnosis for the issues my heart was experiencing as well, and I had access to some medications that enhanced my quality of life. As a vulnerable subject, I received all five doses of the vaccinations, and they were beneficial to me.

However, my immune system's dysregulation was very pronounced in me. Omicron was used to infect me again, and the two reinfections forced me to the floor once more.

Marta has made the decision to actively advocate for the recognition of her condition as well as the conditions of numerous other patients in Italy and Europe. Speaking on behalf of "Long Covid Italia," she explains: "The essential point is that this disease was not immediately recognized or treated as it should have been, regrettably it even did not have great visibility in Italy.

It's as if it doesn't exist anymore today. Even though patients, the press, and health authorities like the Istituto Superiore di Sanità are well aware of its existence, I would like to point out that Italian research has always been at the forefront of this field.

One of the first groups of people to have and communicate insights about the illness was Tricolor scientists. However, I can't recall any authoritative or ministerial figures making sensational public statements about the Long Covid risk, as was the case, for instance, in Germany or even France.

"I can consider myself a privileged patient, says Marta, in comparison to others who were unable to access diagnosis and treatment. I was very tenacious and persistent in my search for information, but not everyone has these options. It must come in part from the government; it cannot come from the person who struggles to lead a better life and possibly return to the workforce.

"If people aren't looked after and cared for as much as possible, he won't be able to escape; he presses on, and it's also harmful to the neighborhood. We are aware that Long Covid has no magic treatment.

Since then, there have been millions of publications, and the World Health Organization (WHO), with which we work, has confirmed that there are risks for the heart, the clotting system, cognitive decline, immune dysregulation, brain damage, and muscles. To assist people in recovering more quickly and avoiding potentially fatal risks, I think this issue needs to be seriously addressed.

The fact that Long Covid is now officially recognized as a disease and that there are exemptions, just like there are for other, even less serious diseases, is crucial, Marta says in her conclusion. Unfortunately, the national health system has financial difficulties, and I think this is why there is currently no desire to provide assistance or a break to the sick.

However, in the end, all European patients and the WHO agree on this point: "It is much more practical to communicate about and prevent a disease of this kind than to make many people ill who will then need treatment or, in any case, will disappear from the job market so that it is impossible to know how much.". Unfortunately, the national health system has financial difficulties, and I think this is why there is currently no desire to provide assistance or a break to the sick.

But in the end, with all European patients and the WHO, we are on this line: communicating and preventing a disease of this kind is much more convenient than making many people ill who will then need treatment or in any case will disappear from the job market so as not to knows how much". Unfortunately, the national health system has financial difficulties, and I think this is why there is currently no desire to provide assistance or a break to the sick.