Long COVID’s Impact on a Creative Life
Words & Photography by Liadh Connolly
It came over me like a wave, 10 full days in bed, debilitated with the symptoms of Covid-19. I realised then it was not a light thing. It can sneak up on you, knock you down and exhaust every inch of your body. I don't know if I have recovered to normal since having the coronavirus back in May of 2020.
I got it bad, I was wiped for not only the two weeks I was infected but beyond that into the days and weeks that continued ahead. Life was beginning to go back to normal in the summer of 2020 and I was eager to go back to regular life too but the fatigue I felt stopped me from doing the most mundane activities. A 10 minute walk was followed by an hour lie-down, exhausted and deflated. I went into this illness as a healthy 25 year old, I came out feeling like all of the electricity had been zapped from my usual energetic self.
Not many people speak about the impact that the virus can and may have after it has been present in your body, partly as it is such a new phenomenon. So I hope my words can shed light on that, or help others feel less isolated. It has resulted in weeks, months of recovery for me—dizzy spells washing over me like a tide, blurred vision, brain fog, lack of concentration and as a result, feeling low, exhausted, anxious and weak for days on end. In the initial recovery phase the remnants of the virus moved through my body, resulting in lower back pain, leg aches, physio, numerous doctor appointments and a very tiring mix of up and down emotions due to the toxins moving through every inch of my body. But then it returns… another week in bed.
I was not hospitalised, thankfully, but in ways I feel it would have made more sense if I had been, because the side effects I have come out with seem worse than the week of being bed bound with the virus itself. 8 months in, in February 2021 I went through a third episode of complete exhaustion, fatigue, headaches and dizziness for 10 days. (With a confirmed negative test). A weakened immune system trying to fight off slight infections takes so much more work than before. With the want to get up and be my usual self, I can't at these times I have to give in, to rest and stop. With lots of reading into this experience I discovered the term labelled 'Long Covid' which has given me some explanation as to why when I start to feel unwell it is so much worse than usual colds and flues.
I'm putting these words down because I have been battling for months with the side effects of this frustrating virus that has taken over our world for over a year. Not only does it have physical effects like it has done to me but it has torn other people's worlds apart, losing loved ones or not being able to see the most vulnerable. It is affecting us all every day and the struggle seems never ending. Every story is as important as others and they need to be heard. While a vaccine will hopefully help, it is important to note that this virus has shaped many people’s lives and will have a long lasting effect in society.
It's crazy how something can creep up into the whole world and impose a growing fear into our daily lives. Creating a feeling of daily worry resulting in not being able to hug our loved ones or sit and chat side by side with our best of pals. It has stopped us from going out and dancing all night to our favourite tunes and has put a halt to wonderful little moments in life like meeting people for the first time over a pint and feeling like you've just met your new best pal or seeing a person you haven't seen in forever and remembering the feeling of joy they bring… Or, just… seeing other people properly in general. It's mad.
The only thing getting us through this is the mutual understanding and shared experiences. It has knocked a new realisation into a lot of us, which I hope will bring us into our post-covid world as more compassionate, understanding, kind and mindful human beings. I hope that I see the back of this evil virus and I hope it stops showing its evil head in different parts of my body very soon. I am writing this in April 2021 (with another negative test) while I lie in bed debilitated by the lingering effects that the Coronavirus has had on my body yet again, just short of a year on. I can't stress enough how I just want to be able to feel normal again. I want to know that when I wake I will be ready and energised to go about my day. I want to write this also to remind people that there are serious post viral, long-term effects from this virus. I have arguably had worse experiences months on from being positive than I did the initial two weeks. It works in mysterious ways and has knocked me back so hard that I long for a day when I feel back to my health so much. "Your health is your wealth" has never had so much meaning…
A strange time, rupturing our twenties (and all other ages) which I hope will be revived in special ways once it has all passed. I'm sure a lot of people are feeling the same. This is just my experience for what it's worth, writing this for me has been a cathartic release over the last 11 months. Now as we are all repeating how we “can’t believe it’s been a whole year of this”, I really do hope that we can all begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel really soon. A year robbed from us but hopefully many more wonderful, healthy years to come.
Liadh photographed Domino Whisker for Issue Two of FAIRE magazine
Liadh Connolly is a Dublin based photographer. After graduating with a BA in Photography from IADT in 2016, she spent a year in New York which hugely influenced her photographic practice—its people and streetscapes becoming a huge inspiration to her work. Upon her return, she discovered a similar connection with Dublin’s streets and people which became both a driving force and an ongoing backdrop behind much of her images. Her passion lies with meeting new people and exploring their stories and personalities through photography. She captures the day-to-day life that we tend to overlook in our busy lives. Her photographs aim to make you stop and look at the ordinary and see it through new eyes.
See below, a selection of Liadh’s photography.
