May 4, 2025 • 28 mins
The COVID-19 pandemic was a life changing time for everyone around the world, but for former One News reporter Joy Reid life still hasn't returned to pre-pandemic normality. After being diagnosed with long COVID, Joy's life was turned upside down and all these years later she's still dealing with the consequences.
In the episode, Toni and Joy chat about the long process of being diagnosed, how the symptoms affected her home and work life, and her ongoing recovery process.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We Need to Talk conversations on wellness with coastfm's Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hello, welcome to We Need to Talk. You'll know the
name Joy read one News. Joy has been a household
name on our screens via TV and ZED for over
a decade as a beloved reporter based in christ Church.
She juggles her career with three kids, but that has
become a very tough task in recent years as Joy
battles with long COVID. It got so bad at one
(00:27):
point she was house banned, unable to walk more than
a few hundred meters and was even at one point
bound to a wheelchair. Joy, I can't believe this happened
to you. First of all, we've worked together for many
years up at TV and ZED. I can't believe you've
had this. What a horrible time.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, it certainly has been a huge challenge and one
that I certainly didn't expect. I mean, there's a few
silver linings that have come out of it, and it's
an experience, unfortunately, that so many other Kiwis have experienced
as well. But the problem is they call them in
the uses, those who have long COVID the missing millions,
and I think that's just the most apt name, because
(01:05):
you just literally disappear from society and your life as
you know it. Okay, well, talk me through when you
got your first symptom and how long it has been
since then. So I got COVID just like most of
the country in May twenty twenty two, and it was,
you know, it was a bad flu. I was really
sensible in the sense that I rested well. I followed
(01:27):
the advice not to exercise for three weeks and those
sorts of things. But the thing is, at the time
I had a one year old and two other school
aged children, and my one year old had had a
vast array of health complications anyway in her first year,
and so COVID for her ended up being croup and
a trip to the emergency room and stuff, which, to
(01:49):
be fair, she bounced back fine. But all I'm trying
to say is that I was resting with COVID. But
I also had six children at the same time, so
I was resting as much as a mother of three rests.
And then I thought I had recovered, but I guess
I was tired all the time anyway, But again I
had a child that wasn't sleeping through the night. I
(02:10):
was juggling a career, running a charity, motherhood life. I
just drank lots of coffee, you know. I guess I
just was always feeling something but just put it down
to life. But in about December of that year, so
what we're talking six or seven months later, my brain
just rarely started to struggle, and I thought I just
(02:31):
had a holiday, and so I had a holiday, and
I just never quite bounced back just that feeling. And
then in February the following year, so what we're talking
nine months later, my body just started to shut down,
you know, like I couldn't walk really too far, like
it would be maybe to the letterbox and back, and
I'd need to sit down for a long time. My
(02:52):
brain definitely was just not functioning, like I would forget things.
And then progressively from there it just got worse and worse.
Over a year or so period, I developed symptoms with
my heart. My blood pressure was all over the place. Wait,
it was just really low. It never really could get up,
and so that I always felt like I was a
listing boat. I like developed concussion like symptoms, so I
(03:16):
couldn't be in like a loud noise I'd have to
wear headphones at home, like my children were too loud.
I couldn't be in rooms that were too bright. I
definitely could not go out of the house, you know,
like if I had attempted to go to the supermarket,
it would be a week's rest to kind of you know,
for stimulating. So anyway, basically to say, I had a
(03:38):
raft of symptoms, but they just kind of got progressively
worse and worse over time. It's like, as my body
started to shut down, everything else shut down until I
was definitely at my worst, you know, about a year ago.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And did they diagnose you at that point? Did you
know that it was long COVID?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
No, I didn't. I initially thought I was in burnout
because I guess that kind of made sense. I'm a
bit of an overachieving personality. I thought, you know, I've
been pushing the boat a little bit too fast. And
then so I did the traditional burnout things, and then
the body just kept getting sicker. And I had a
(04:17):
really progressive doctor, and I think that's been really I
was really lucky about and she quite early on, so
within probably three months of my symptoms being pretty full on,
she said, oh I wonder if this is long COVID.
But at the time, we all thought that long COVID
just meant that you never got better after COVID. But
there's so much research out now that says that actually
(04:39):
long COVID can hit several months after you get the virus,
and that for me was my experience, and yeah, it
just sort of fitted. And she ended up having four
long COVID patients at the time and took quite an
interest in the research and what was happening. And I
guess I felt really vindicated to get an early diagnosis
(05:00):
because a lot of people have been gas lit by
their medical professionals, and I can understand why, because they're
just not the research out I mean, like a doctor
likes to have a make a diagnosis on the basis
of twenty or thirty years of research to back them up,
and long COVID is just so fresh that that hasn't
been the case. But yeah, so officially diagnosed in April last
(05:23):
year with long COVID. But then, as I say, a
lot of it's just symptom management, and those symptoms just
kept on hitting me like a wave.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
You're two and a half years post now, right, So
where are you at today, Like what symptoms do you
have or you through it?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
A good question. So I mean this time last year,
I was, I mean, just to I guess put it
in perspective, I was using a wheelchair to get around.
I could walk around my own house obviously, like I
didn't need to get a wheelchair to the bathroom, and
that was a situation that a lot of other people
do face. So I can't myself lucky I could walk
(06:01):
around my own home. But I remember, you know, I
really wanted to have a Santa photo with the kids
last year, and like it's just this thing that I did,
you know, we do as a family, and I remember,
you know, having to be wheeled and around into that
and then again you have to that took four days
to recover from type scenario. So to put things in perspective,
things were not great this time last year. But actually
(06:22):
did a course called the Lightning Process.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Oh we've done a podcast on Yes, we've got a.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Podcast with Bianca and I did that course with her,
and that for me, and I know for everyone it's
not it's not always the same experience, but for me,
that was a massive turning point, like a huge turning point,
because up until then I was sleeping for big chunks
of the day. I really started to see a turnaround
and I didn't need as many daily naps and those
(06:49):
sorts of things, and my brain functions started to improve slightly,
and it's just continued to build and build and build
on that, and so now my life looks like relatively
normal from the outside. I did actually have to resign
from TV and Z. Unfortunately, you can't ask your employer
to keep waiting for you for years to come back.
(07:09):
And my brain is certainly not firing on all cylinders. Still,
my issues with my memory, and I get any type
of stress, I get really anxious quite quickly. So you
try and put me in front of a camera to
recite information I've just been told, and I'm likely to
be a deer in headlights forgetting completely what I'm supposed
to say. And you know, my nervous system just does
(07:30):
not handle stress like it used to. But in saying that,
I can now cope with. Like last week, I was
at the sidelines of my kids athletics, which last year
I couldn't go to. You know, of this year, I'm
planning to whoop on into my Santa poo. You know,
like I'm not having to be wheeled in and I
(07:52):
don't have to nap anymore. I do have early nights,
and I have to live my life within a bit
of a managed box. But for anyone who was looking
at me, you would think it was normal. I just
know what my old life capacity was, and it's definitely
a reduced capacity. But it is. I feel like I'm
still living, and for a long time I felt like
I wasn't. You're listening to we need to talk with
(08:16):
Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
So how much longer is this going to go on
for to get back to where you were? Is there
any indication of when this might stop?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
No, But at the same time, because of where I've
come from, I'm actually happy if this is the best
I ever get to. I'm just so grateful I've got
to this point because I know that for some people
that hasn't been their reality. I guess I just have
to keep working on trying to make good decisions and
make you know, like even things around nutrition and just
(08:46):
things and reducing stress and reducing load and stuff. So
just sort of give my body the best chance and
the nervous system the best chance of recovery, but I
mean the research it's so fresh, right, they do say
most people do make an eventual recovery, is really encouraging,
but I mean even the results from SARS back twenty
years ago, which they have locked at in comparison, there
(09:06):
are some people that have just never got back to
their old way. It's about developing a new normal and
making peace with that. And I think I really am
in that stage that I am really at peace with
my new normal and I will never take my health
for granted ever.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Again, can we just talk about the Lightning Process for
people that perhaps haven't listened to the podcast, can you
just tell us what was the part of the process
that you think helped you.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, I mean it's certainly a controversial process. You know,
not everybody is on team Lightning Process, but for me,
it worked really well. So essentially what it is is
it's a program that looks at psychology, physiology, and neuroscience
and kind of combines them together. There is a lot
of research especially around pain, chronic pain and those sorts
(09:54):
of things that can show that your brain can get
trapped in an ongoing cycle. So you know, you definitely
feel the pain. I'm not at all trying to belittle
the system I had, you know, like with the cardiologist,
I definitely had issues with my heart. But your brain
and my nervous system gets trapped in an ongoing pattern,
and the idea is to try and interrupt that pattern
when you get a warning sign, and then try and
(10:16):
teach your brain to reroute it. I'll try and give
you an example. Like for me, I was always so fatigued,
right and I needed to have a nap, and so
my body got used to it. Eleven thirty am mate,
the symptoms of fatigue were coming on good and strong,
but that's because I'd napped for eighteen months at eleven thirty, Okay,
So when those symptoms would come on, I would tell
my body and really like just calm my nervous system.
(10:37):
And I'd be trying to tell my body, hey, look
the virus is gone. The virus has left my body.
I'm safe, thank you. You know, my body has kept me.
You know, the fatigue and stuff was really kept me
safe until this point. But I actually don't need to
nap anymore, and it's okay, just calm down, like and
I'm not doing a very good job at all of
explaining it, but essentially trying to reroute my brain that
(10:59):
when these symptoms come on, okay, not panic stations, let's
just think of another way of doing it, and just
starting really small, and then every single change building on
the fact that like the good news, because I think
what happens is you get so stuck and managing your symptoms.
Like I was taking my blood pressure three times a day,
I was constantly like, oh, oh, oh gosh, that a
headache coming on. Oh goss, it is, I need to
(11:20):
stop now before the headache gets worked. So you're constantly
looking out and living in that negative kind of zone
that your brain just gets so used to that. And
I guess for me, it was about okay, stopping it,
knowing that I had gone down the medical route, I
had known and tested and made sure that I didn't
have any other major medical issues, these were symptoms, and
(11:41):
then rerouting that and it just gave Yeah. I cannot
even possibly describe the difference and the life it gave
me bad. It makes sense though, I think that mind
body connection because I even think of something simple like,
for example, I get claustrophobic, right, and I can sit
here as a small individual and tell you that there's
(12:01):
no danger for me going in that small space, nothing's
going to get me. But you put me in it
and you lock that door, and my mind takes over.
And it's hard to explain, but you you lose control
and your mind's gone, going to a place where you
can't bring it back from. And that's kind of how
I like in it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Right. If your brain has the ability to do that,
then it can wire and go in any direction, really absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And you're also building I mean, perhaps back in the
day you had a situation where you were in a
small place and was trapped, and so you're building on
like a memory or a trauma. Right, So my body
is building on the fact that I did have a
virus and it was awful and it did make me
feel that. So it's just building on the knowledge it
has and it's just putting some new information in. And
you know, the research, especially with the chronic pain is phenomenal,
(12:45):
and so it's just about using that kind of mind
body connection and also the nervous system because it's completely
out of alignment, right, so when you start moving it
all back into the body starts to kind of function
as it should, and you know, I've said it before.
It has given me my life back. And I tried
all sorts of treatments and medications and I was really
(13:07):
open to trying the alternative and things. And as I say,
I do think that the nutrition journey did help as well.
Like I think, you know, you've got to feed your
body the right nutrients if it does want to heal.
What does that look like? What do you eat?
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (13:19):
I just put the nutrition as who you know, we
could work out as deficient in certain vitamins and murals
and those sorts of things. And she discovered that my
brain was deficient. Well, I was deficient in something called
I think it's all I prime assisting and that has
an effect on a brain. And in fact, she said
that she'd never ever seen a level that low ever
in her career and ended up going and talking to
(13:41):
her peers in Australia about how to treat it. So
obviously there was stuff that was going on that my
body was just was just not working.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
What did you have to eat to raise those levels
back up?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Ah? Well it wasn't too bad. I mean I had
supplements and that sort of thing, but it's just about
making sure I was eating really good nutritious fresh Ford
as well, and just making sure getting all of the
natural magnesiums and those sorts of things. And I'm CELIAX
as well, which I think is at the time of
I got COVID, I was undiagnosed CELIAX, so I think
my immune system was in a pretty bad state when
(14:14):
COVID arrived, so it was able to just absolutely run right.
So it it's just about managing, making good decisions and
giving your body the right kind of brain food, I guess,
so that your brain has the ability to then you
know work.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You say that you're at peace now with your new normal,
but the reality is you have had to quit your
job that you not only loved, were very very good at.
How was that having to say goodbye? Because you've been
a journalist for a very long time, and I suspect
it's the only career path you've ever known.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, I mean, you're right, twenty years I was a journalist.
It was a very grief filled journey. I ended up
getting some counseling kind of process and make that decision.
But yeah, I mean there was no other decision. There
was literally no other option that I had. But I
(15:12):
guess I still had to make that decision. I will say, though,
when you lose your health, it's very obvious, very quickly
what's important to you. And you know, at the time
when I was so sick, I couldn't parent, you know,
I just really couldn't. And it was in that moment
that I was like, mate, if I ever get my
(15:33):
health back, I'm going to prioritize every school assembly, every
you know, all these sort of things that I never
you know, I was moaned about, Oh God, another thing
to go to, blah blah blah, and when you can't
do it, suddenly it became the most important thing to me.
So you know, when I did get a resemblance of
health and energy back, it was there was a no
brainer about the fact that I'm not going to spend
(15:55):
this on my career, which I love, but I am
going to spend this on my family, who's haid journey
this with me for the last eighteen months. And so
I guess there was peace in that, Like I was
definitely saying goodbye to a job I loved, but knowing
full well I cannot do that job, like there's just
no decision about it, and just being so grateful that
I can at least be a mum again. Yeah, just
(16:17):
the joy that I get from that.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I think there's a really valuable lesson in that, not
just about appreciating what your daily life is when you've
got your health, but also I feel like there's a
lot of people that are in work situations that is
impacting their physical health and they think they have to
stay in it. And you're an example of someone who's
you know, you loved your job, you're out of it,
and you're at peace with that too, because it's not
(16:40):
worth your health, right.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, exactly. Although I will say I would never have
come to that decision had I not had a massive
life interruption. You know, our house is complicated, a shift
working husband and three very active children. You know, logistics
are always a problem, and I was never going to
give up my job because of logistics. But family does
work a bit better now now in that regard that
(17:03):
I am home a lot more and the kids get
so used to me being there and I can do
the school lutches and you know, pop in and getting
the phone call about someone, So being sick at school
isn't a problem because I've just done the right You're heir.
But yes, it was a very long process to get
to that point. But as I say, family, how first?
Then family?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, but your family, as you say, would have been impacted.
It must have been pretty hard for the kids to
see mum in a wheelchair. And why an't you coming
to mind? I know your kids are marchers, why aren't
you coming to marching? And for your husband, what was
that like?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, I mean, I don't think I realized at the time.
I guess you're so focused on your own well being
that the cost that it was taking on everyone else.
I have a very understanding husband who actually had had
a chronic fatigue journey about nine years ago, which is
just bad luck that we both have kind of had
that similar thing, but it provided him a level of
empathy and understanding that he just you know, was super
(18:00):
supportive and not much phases him, to be honest. But yeah,
the kids, definitely the kids. My one of my kids
developed some quite worrying anxious symptoms and a level of
anxiety that you know, we had never seen before. And
it resolved it's up pretty quickly as soon as I
(18:22):
started getting better again. Now I do acknowledge that everybody
has a journey right, And so for my kids, their
journey was their mum being sack. But there are a
lot of other journeys that other kids wore. But that
was definitely the trigger for one of my children, another
one of my kids. You know, I'm only finding out
months later the toll that it took. Like she'll say
(18:43):
something and I'm like, oh, and she'll mention an incident
that may have happened last year, but I didn't want
to tell you, Mum because you were sick. And I'm like, wow,
this is a conversation you really should have had with
me back then, and this is something you've been carrying
for that long because you didn't want to burden me.
And I'll never forget the Christmas letters that they wrote
(19:05):
Santa last year saying, dear Santa, I will give up
all my Christmas presents if you can make Mum well again.
And that broke my heart because my kids are traditional
likes and I want the Christmas lists are ridiculous, but
yet they were. You know that that was how badly
(19:25):
they wanted me to come back to a level of
normality for them. But yeah, I mean, my daughter's an
Irish dancer and I've been at all over Irish dancing
competitions lately, and you know, and my son's super sporty,
and I've been able to do those sorts of things,
and you know, even to the point where I'm like
that embarrassing them on the sideline, like I can't control myself.
I'm like a shrill shrieker. You're preaching to the choir here. Yeah, exactly,
(19:48):
you and me both. And they used to ban me
from events because I was so embarrassing, and I'm no
longer banned. I am like welcomed to the sideline because
they know what it's like not to have me there.
You have me there, full noise and all now because
you know it's a privilege to be there.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Do you know what, Joey, You need to listen to me,
And it was Irish dancing, not marching. I got confused there.
You need to listen to my podcast with April Damir
because we talked about sideline coaching and parenting and she's
very big on energy from the sideline actually helping the kids,
which was really refreshing to hear for us.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I'm there secret to success, perhaps because I just can't
control myself, like it just comes from a place. It's
just instinct.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah anyway, I mean I'd rather be that than be
the mute on the side, you know, where the kids
don't even know if you're actually there.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Oh for anybody's child, if I know their name, I've
got it absolutely. Now that do we need to talk
with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
So you kind of threw the worst of it. Now
you've got this new normal. But there must have been
a time where you thought, there's no hope. I'm not
getting better. This is going to be my lot.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
There was and I think that was late last year
when I just felt like I just kept getting more
and more symptoms, you know, like it would I just
felt like I wasn't getting on top of any of them.
I mean, I had this condition called disorder onomia, which
is quite heavily associated with long COVID. Basically just means
your nervous systems not working properly and it's all you know.
(21:17):
And you know, I couldn't stand up properly and without
feeling like I was going to tip over, and then
I'd have these chronic headaches that would come on. Like
all the stuff. It just felt like there was one
thing after another and especially when i'd have to wear
like I couldn't sit at dinner time, or if I
did manage to be sitt at dinner time, I mean,
dinner time's chaotic anyway, you know, I'd have to wear headphones,
(21:38):
like just those sorts of things. You felt like a
natty walking around with these giantes in your own house.
But I mean to be fair, that actually made a
really big help because of what I was trying to
do is my brain was so overstimulated that I just
needed to bring it back. And I couldn't cook dinner
because the idea of having peas boiling at the same
time as potatoes like that was too much like oh
my gosh, that's two elements going at the same time,
Like heaven forbid that I had to like task, and
(22:01):
I just guess I just felt for a while, well
how does this end? Because every medical professional and I
was a bad smell with the medical professionals too, And
I'm a privileged person. I can afford to go to
the doctor, and I have doctors in my family that
I would be asking, Okay, well what's the next step
(22:21):
of where should I be going here? And who you know?
Like I was, I was advocating very heavily for my
own health, and I know that that a lot of
people that don't have that position or that privilege, and
I felt I was slipping through all sorts of critics,
and I thought to myself, if I am struggling this much,
how on earth does someone do it? And we're you know,
the long COVID support page was amazing just to kind
(22:43):
of share stories and stuff like that, but there are
some heart wrenching stories of you know, single moms are
four kids and having to move back in with their
parents because they can't work, or you know, or you're
having to work but then you can't per like, it's
just the cost is unreal. In fact, I read a
report just recently it reckons that long COVID is costing
(23:03):
Australia aboutzero point five percent of its GDP, So for
same figure across to New Zealand, that's two billion dollars
a year in lost productivity that it's costing us. And yeah,
and I just think that because there's no obvious cure,
and what works for me might not necessarily work for
someone else, because there are two hundred symptoms of long COVID.
(23:24):
So while I had the disort of namer in the
head aches and the fatigue, which is some of the
more common ones.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I met a lady the other day that's got horrendous
stomach issues and she can't eat, and so then you're
trying to deal with those symptoms. But if you can't
fork out what's causing it in the process, I mean,
long COVID is just well, COVID itself can cause such
harm in the body, and there's just no magic pill.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
No. It actually has so many parallels to having an
autoimmune condition. And what you were saying, I remember being
in exactly the same position I had. I was a
really strong advocate for advocate for myself. Plus I had
my mum and I had my husband. And when I
was let go from a hospital when I was an
organ failure and we happened to my obstetrician, happened to
(24:07):
be know someone that was a gastor entologist that looked
at things in the sort of bigger sense of the
bigger picture, and I was able to be diagnosed by him,
who referred me to an immunologist. And I thank god
for most people that just wouldn't have happened. I thought
if you were on your own, or if you didn't
have the funds to go to that specialist, where would
that leave you? And even when you do have the
(24:28):
funds and you have the support network, even then you
can fall through the cracks and get misdiagnosed because a
bit like what you're describing, the symptoms from autoimmune condition
can be asthma, it can be x mera, it can
be trouble with some foods, it can be for tea,
and you can like those symptoms, I suspect it like
long COVID and they all start to cross over, and
(24:50):
then getting diagnosed actually seems like a miracle.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, And I think that there's a lot of freedom
for me that came with a diagnosis too, And like,
I'm sure you'll remember the same thing. And I felt
like quite lucky that i'd been heard. And I think
that half of it's just the fact that you've been
heard and taken seriously, because people are cruel and people think, oh,
you're just making it up with you're being lazy, or
I got COVID, it wasn't that bad. Well, because COVID
(25:14):
is such a political issue people, you know, the trolls
were awful. I didn't speak out about having long COVID
for a very long time because I didn't have the
capacity to deal with all of the haters. And yeah,
there was a time when things felt pretty bleak. But
I think, you know, I'm naturally a really positive person.
(25:37):
I'm very lucky, and I know a lot of people
can slide very quickly into that depression type environment and illness.
Because of that, I'm lucky that something that I did avoid,
and I think my positivity certainly did help my journey.
But again, I recognize that that's not reality for a
lot of people.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
So what would your advice be for people that might
be going through long COVID and still have those symptoms,
what would you suggest they do well?
Speaker 1 (26:06):
First of we'll be kind to themselves and the way
they treat themselves too, Like you know, recognize and be
honest with yourself about if you are having those symptoms.
It's not normal go see someone and be a bad smell.
You have to raally advocate for yourself. But you have
to put yourself first, and I think that's the hardest things.
(26:26):
You've got to cancel everything else in your life that
is not unbelievably important. So you know, if you can
get your groceries to live it, you know, if you
wear headphones, sleep all the time, cancel every like, it's
just the cost is just not worth it. And I
(26:47):
think it's one of those cruel things because you know
they reckon. Maybe one in ten people have long COVID, right,
so that is a huge portion of our population. But
you're so exhausted and you can't advocate for yourself. And
I think part of my advice is not necessary for
the people with long COVID. It's for the people that
know someone with long COVID is to really advocate for
(27:09):
them and provide so much grace and patience in their world.
So you know, just simply going and picking something up
for someone or checking on them or texting them or
anything can make such a big difference. But then also
acknowledging their symptoms that it's real, that it's not in
their head, you know. I think that's the biggest thing,
(27:31):
is just you do feel like you disappear from life,
and your friends just disappear too because they think, oh
they're busy or blah blah blah, but like, really walk
that Junie. I had one lady, a good friend of mine.
She text me every single day, every single day for
about eighteen months. Wow. And you know, she never expected
me to text back, because that was actually a step
too far. But I just felt like I was still
in her world and that made the world of difference
(27:53):
in my journey. And so I guess that would be
my advice is not necessarily what to do if you
are the person, but if you know someone, be an
advocate and be present in their world.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Oh Joy, thank you so much for talking about this today.
I know that it's controversial, but I think someone who
is well known like you talking about it and acknowledging it,
you'll be surprised. I suspect how many people we will
have come forward and say, oh my gosh, I've had
exactly the same thing. So I hope this is only
onwards and upwards, and I look forward to seeing that
Santa photo this year with you Beeman.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Thank you so much, and as I say, it's just
lovely that you are interested in want to hear about
long COVID because I think it is such a silent
journey for so many people, and just to acknowledge that
it is real, I think is a really big step forward.
We need to talk
We Need to Talk conversations on wellness with coastfm's Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hello, welcome to We Need to Talk. You'll know the
name Joy read one News. Joy has been a household
name on our screens via TV and ZED for over
a decade as a beloved reporter based in christ Church.
She juggles her career with three kids, but that has
become a very tough task in recent years as Joy
battles with long COVID. It got so bad at one
(00:27):
point she was house banned, unable to walk more than
a few hundred meters and was even at one point
bound to a wheelchair. Joy, I can't believe this happened
to you. First of all, we've worked together for many
years up at TV and ZED. I can't believe you've
had this. What a horrible time.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, it certainly has been a huge challenge and one
that I certainly didn't expect. I mean, there's a few
silver linings that have come out of it, and it's
an experience, unfortunately, that so many other Kiwis have experienced
as well. But the problem is they call them in
the uses, those who have long COVID the missing millions,
and I think that's just the most apt name, because
(01:05):
you just literally disappear from society and your life as
you know it. Okay, well, talk me through when you
got your first symptom and how long it has been
since then. So I got COVID just like most of
the country in May twenty twenty two, and it was,
you know, it was a bad flu. I was really
sensible in the sense that I rested well. I followed
(01:27):
the advice not to exercise for three weeks and those
sorts of things. But the thing is, at the time
I had a one year old and two other school
aged children, and my one year old had had a
vast array of health complications anyway in her first year,
and so COVID for her ended up being croup and
a trip to the emergency room and stuff, which, to
(01:49):
be fair, she bounced back fine. But all I'm trying
to say is that I was resting with COVID. But
I also had six children at the same time, so
I was resting as much as a mother of three rests.
And then I thought I had recovered, but I guess
I was tired all the time anyway, But again I
had a child that wasn't sleeping through the night. I
(02:10):
was juggling a career, running a charity, motherhood life. I
just drank lots of coffee, you know. I guess I
just was always feeling something but just put it down
to life. But in about December of that year, so
what we're talking six or seven months later, my brain
just rarely started to struggle, and I thought I just
(02:31):
had a holiday, and so I had a holiday, and
I just never quite bounced back just that feeling. And
then in February the following year, so what we're talking
nine months later, my body just started to shut down,
you know, like I couldn't walk really too far, like
it would be maybe to the letterbox and back, and
I'd need to sit down for a long time. My
(02:52):
brain definitely was just not functioning, like I would forget things.
And then progressively from there it just got worse and worse.
Over a year or so period, I developed symptoms with
my heart. My blood pressure was all over the place. Wait,
it was just really low. It never really could get up,
and so that I always felt like I was a
listing boat. I like developed concussion like symptoms, so I
(03:16):
couldn't be in like a loud noise I'd have to
wear headphones at home, like my children were too loud.
I couldn't be in rooms that were too bright. I
definitely could not go out of the house, you know,
like if I had attempted to go to the supermarket,
it would be a week's rest to kind of you know,
for stimulating. So anyway, basically to say, I had a
(03:38):
raft of symptoms, but they just kind of got progressively
worse and worse over time. It's like, as my body
started to shut down, everything else shut down until I
was definitely at my worst, you know, about a year ago.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And did they diagnose you at that point? Did you
know that it was long COVID?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
No, I didn't. I initially thought I was in burnout
because I guess that kind of made sense. I'm a
bit of an overachieving personality. I thought, you know, I've
been pushing the boat a little bit too fast. And
then so I did the traditional burnout things, and then
the body just kept getting sicker. And I had a
(04:17):
really progressive doctor, and I think that's been really I
was really lucky about and she quite early on, so
within probably three months of my symptoms being pretty full on,
she said, oh I wonder if this is long COVID.
But at the time, we all thought that long COVID
just meant that you never got better after COVID. But
there's so much research out now that says that actually
(04:39):
long COVID can hit several months after you get the virus,
and that for me was my experience, and yeah, it
just sort of fitted. And she ended up having four
long COVID patients at the time and took quite an
interest in the research and what was happening. And I
guess I felt really vindicated to get an early diagnosis
(05:00):
because a lot of people have been gas lit by
their medical professionals, and I can understand why, because they're
just not the research out I mean, like a doctor
likes to have a make a diagnosis on the basis
of twenty or thirty years of research to back them up,
and long COVID is just so fresh that that hasn't
been the case. But yeah, so officially diagnosed in April last
(05:23):
year with long COVID. But then, as I say, a
lot of it's just symptom management, and those symptoms just
kept on hitting me like a wave.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
You're two and a half years post now, right, So
where are you at today, Like what symptoms do you
have or you through it?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
A good question. So I mean this time last year,
I was, I mean, just to I guess put it
in perspective, I was using a wheelchair to get around.
I could walk around my own house obviously, like I
didn't need to get a wheelchair to the bathroom, and
that was a situation that a lot of other people
do face. So I can't myself lucky I could walk
(06:01):
around my own home. But I remember, you know, I
really wanted to have a Santa photo with the kids
last year, and like it's just this thing that I did,
you know, we do as a family, and I remember,
you know, having to be wheeled and around into that
and then again you have to that took four days
to recover from type scenario. So to put things in perspective,
things were not great this time last year. But actually
(06:22):
did a course called the Lightning Process.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Oh we've done a podcast on Yes, we've got a.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Podcast with Bianca and I did that course with her,
and that for me, and I know for everyone it's
not it's not always the same experience, but for me,
that was a massive turning point, like a huge turning point,
because up until then I was sleeping for big chunks
of the day. I really started to see a turnaround
and I didn't need as many daily naps and those
(06:49):
sorts of things, and my brain functions started to improve slightly,
and it's just continued to build and build and build
on that, and so now my life looks like relatively
normal from the outside. I did actually have to resign
from TV and Z. Unfortunately, you can't ask your employer
to keep waiting for you for years to come back.
(07:09):
And my brain is certainly not firing on all cylinders. Still,
my issues with my memory, and I get any type
of stress, I get really anxious quite quickly. So you
try and put me in front of a camera to
recite information I've just been told, and I'm likely to
be a deer in headlights forgetting completely what I'm supposed
to say. And you know, my nervous system just does
(07:30):
not handle stress like it used to. But in saying that,
I can now cope with. Like last week, I was
at the sidelines of my kids athletics, which last year
I couldn't go to. You know, of this year, I'm
planning to whoop on into my Santa poo. You know,
like I'm not having to be wheeled in and I
(07:52):
don't have to nap anymore. I do have early nights,
and I have to live my life within a bit
of a managed box. But for anyone who was looking
at me, you would think it was normal. I just
know what my old life capacity was, and it's definitely
a reduced capacity. But it is. I feel like I'm
still living, and for a long time I felt like
I wasn't. You're listening to we need to talk with
(08:16):
Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
So how much longer is this going to go on
for to get back to where you were? Is there
any indication of when this might stop?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
No, But at the same time, because of where I've
come from, I'm actually happy if this is the best
I ever get to. I'm just so grateful I've got
to this point because I know that for some people
that hasn't been their reality. I guess I just have
to keep working on trying to make good decisions and
make you know, like even things around nutrition and just
(08:46):
things and reducing stress and reducing load and stuff. So
just sort of give my body the best chance and
the nervous system the best chance of recovery, but I
mean the research it's so fresh, right, they do say
most people do make an eventual recovery, is really encouraging,
but I mean even the results from SARS back twenty
years ago, which they have locked at in comparison, there
(09:06):
are some people that have just never got back to
their old way. It's about developing a new normal and
making peace with that. And I think I really am
in that stage that I am really at peace with
my new normal and I will never take my health
for granted ever.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Again, can we just talk about the Lightning Process for
people that perhaps haven't listened to the podcast, can you
just tell us what was the part of the process
that you think helped you.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, I mean it's certainly a controversial process. You know,
not everybody is on team Lightning Process, but for me,
it worked really well. So essentially what it is is
it's a program that looks at psychology, physiology, and neuroscience
and kind of combines them together. There is a lot
of research especially around pain, chronic pain and those sorts
(09:54):
of things that can show that your brain can get
trapped in an ongoing cycle. So you know, you definitely
feel the pain. I'm not at all trying to belittle
the system I had, you know, like with the cardiologist,
I definitely had issues with my heart. But your brain
and my nervous system gets trapped in an ongoing pattern,
and the idea is to try and interrupt that pattern
when you get a warning sign, and then try and
(10:16):
teach your brain to reroute it. I'll try and give
you an example. Like for me, I was always so fatigued,
right and I needed to have a nap, and so
my body got used to it. Eleven thirty am mate,
the symptoms of fatigue were coming on good and strong,
but that's because I'd napped for eighteen months at eleven thirty, Okay,
So when those symptoms would come on, I would tell
my body and really like just calm my nervous system.
(10:37):
And I'd be trying to tell my body, hey, look
the virus is gone. The virus has left my body.
I'm safe, thank you. You know, my body has kept me.
You know, the fatigue and stuff was really kept me
safe until this point. But I actually don't need to
nap anymore, and it's okay, just calm down, like and
I'm not doing a very good job at all of
explaining it, but essentially trying to reroute my brain that
(10:59):
when these symptoms come on, okay, not panic stations, let's
just think of another way of doing it, and just
starting really small, and then every single change building on
the fact that like the good news, because I think
what happens is you get so stuck and managing your symptoms.
Like I was taking my blood pressure three times a day,
I was constantly like, oh, oh, oh gosh, that a
headache coming on. Oh goss, it is, I need to
(11:20):
stop now before the headache gets worked. So you're constantly
looking out and living in that negative kind of zone
that your brain just gets so used to that. And
I guess for me, it was about okay, stopping it,
knowing that I had gone down the medical route, I
had known and tested and made sure that I didn't
have any other major medical issues, these were symptoms, and
(11:41):
then rerouting that and it just gave Yeah. I cannot
even possibly describe the difference and the life it gave
me bad. It makes sense though, I think that mind
body connection because I even think of something simple like,
for example, I get claustrophobic, right, and I can sit
here as a small individual and tell you that there's
(12:01):
no danger for me going in that small space, nothing's
going to get me. But you put me in it
and you lock that door, and my mind takes over.
And it's hard to explain, but you you lose control
and your mind's gone, going to a place where you
can't bring it back from. And that's kind of how
I like in it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Right. If your brain has the ability to do that,
then it can wire and go in any direction, really absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And you're also building I mean, perhaps back in the
day you had a situation where you were in a
small place and was trapped, and so you're building on
like a memory or a trauma. Right, So my body
is building on the fact that I did have a
virus and it was awful and it did make me
feel that. So it's just building on the knowledge it
has and it's just putting some new information in. And
you know, the research, especially with the chronic pain is phenomenal,
(12:45):
and so it's just about using that kind of mind
body connection and also the nervous system because it's completely
out of alignment, right, so when you start moving it
all back into the body starts to kind of function
as it should, and you know, I've said it before.
It has given me my life back. And I tried
all sorts of treatments and medications and I was really
(13:07):
open to trying the alternative and things. And as I say,
I do think that the nutrition journey did help as well.
Like I think, you know, you've got to feed your
body the right nutrients if it does want to heal.
What does that look like? What do you eat?
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (13:19):
I just put the nutrition as who you know, we
could work out as deficient in certain vitamins and murals
and those sorts of things. And she discovered that my
brain was deficient. Well, I was deficient in something called
I think it's all I prime assisting and that has
an effect on a brain. And in fact, she said
that she'd never ever seen a level that low ever
in her career and ended up going and talking to
(13:41):
her peers in Australia about how to treat it. So
obviously there was stuff that was going on that my
body was just was just not working.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
What did you have to eat to raise those levels
back up?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Ah? Well it wasn't too bad. I mean I had
supplements and that sort of thing, but it's just about
making sure I was eating really good nutritious fresh Ford
as well, and just making sure getting all of the
natural magnesiums and those sorts of things. And I'm CELIAX
as well, which I think is at the time of
I got COVID, I was undiagnosed CELIAX, so I think
my immune system was in a pretty bad state when
(14:14):
COVID arrived, so it was able to just absolutely run right.
So it it's just about managing, making good decisions and
giving your body the right kind of brain food, I guess,
so that your brain has the ability to then you
know work.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You say that you're at peace now with your new normal,
but the reality is you have had to quit your
job that you not only loved, were very very good at.
How was that having to say goodbye? Because you've been
a journalist for a very long time, and I suspect
it's the only career path you've ever known.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, I mean, you're right, twenty years I was a journalist.
It was a very grief filled journey. I ended up
getting some counseling kind of process and make that decision.
But yeah, I mean there was no other decision. There
was literally no other option that I had. But I
(15:12):
guess I still had to make that decision. I will say, though,
when you lose your health, it's very obvious, very quickly
what's important to you. And you know, at the time
when I was so sick, I couldn't parent, you know,
I just really couldn't. And it was in that moment
that I was like, mate, if I ever get my
(15:33):
health back, I'm going to prioritize every school assembly, every
you know, all these sort of things that I never
you know, I was moaned about, Oh God, another thing
to go to, blah blah blah, and when you can't
do it, suddenly it became the most important thing to me.
So you know, when I did get a resemblance of
health and energy back, it was there was a no
brainer about the fact that I'm not going to spend
(15:55):
this on my career, which I love, but I am
going to spend this on my family, who's haid journey
this with me for the last eighteen months. And so
I guess there was peace in that, Like I was
definitely saying goodbye to a job I loved, but knowing
full well I cannot do that job, like there's just
no decision about it, and just being so grateful that
I can at least be a mum again. Yeah, just
(16:17):
the joy that I get from that.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I think there's a really valuable lesson in that, not
just about appreciating what your daily life is when you've
got your health, but also I feel like there's a
lot of people that are in work situations that is
impacting their physical health and they think they have to
stay in it. And you're an example of someone who's
you know, you loved your job, you're out of it,
and you're at peace with that too, because it's not
(16:40):
worth your health, right.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, exactly. Although I will say I would never have
come to that decision had I not had a massive
life interruption. You know, our house is complicated, a shift
working husband and three very active children. You know, logistics
are always a problem, and I was never going to
give up my job because of logistics. But family does
work a bit better now now in that regard that
(17:03):
I am home a lot more and the kids get
so used to me being there and I can do
the school lutches and you know, pop in and getting
the phone call about someone, So being sick at school
isn't a problem because I've just done the right You're heir.
But yes, it was a very long process to get
to that point. But as I say, family, how first?
Then family?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, but your family, as you say, would have been impacted.
It must have been pretty hard for the kids to
see mum in a wheelchair. And why an't you coming
to mind? I know your kids are marchers, why aren't
you coming to marching? And for your husband, what was
that like?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, I mean, I don't think I realized at the time.
I guess you're so focused on your own well being
that the cost that it was taking on everyone else.
I have a very understanding husband who actually had had
a chronic fatigue journey about nine years ago, which is
just bad luck that we both have kind of had
that similar thing, but it provided him a level of
empathy and understanding that he just you know, was super
(18:00):
supportive and not much phases him, to be honest. But yeah,
the kids, definitely the kids. My one of my kids
developed some quite worrying anxious symptoms and a level of
anxiety that you know, we had never seen before. And
it resolved it's up pretty quickly as soon as I
(18:22):
started getting better again. Now I do acknowledge that everybody
has a journey right, And so for my kids, their
journey was their mum being sack. But there are a
lot of other journeys that other kids wore. But that
was definitely the trigger for one of my children, another
one of my kids. You know, I'm only finding out
months later the toll that it took. Like she'll say
(18:43):
something and I'm like, oh, and she'll mention an incident
that may have happened last year, but I didn't want
to tell you, Mum because you were sick. And I'm like, wow,
this is a conversation you really should have had with
me back then, and this is something you've been carrying
for that long because you didn't want to burden me.
And I'll never forget the Christmas letters that they wrote
(19:05):
Santa last year saying, dear Santa, I will give up
all my Christmas presents if you can make Mum well again.
And that broke my heart because my kids are traditional
likes and I want the Christmas lists are ridiculous, but
yet they were. You know that that was how badly
(19:25):
they wanted me to come back to a level of
normality for them. But yeah, I mean, my daughter's an
Irish dancer and I've been at all over Irish dancing
competitions lately, and you know, and my son's super sporty,
and I've been able to do those sorts of things,
and you know, even to the point where I'm like
that embarrassing them on the sideline, like I can't control myself.
I'm like a shrill shrieker. You're preaching to the choir here. Yeah, exactly,
(19:48):
you and me both. And they used to ban me
from events because I was so embarrassing, and I'm no
longer banned. I am like welcomed to the sideline because
they know what it's like not to have me there.
You have me there, full noise and all now because
you know it's a privilege to be there.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Do you know what, Joey, You need to listen to me,
And it was Irish dancing, not marching. I got confused there.
You need to listen to my podcast with April Damir
because we talked about sideline coaching and parenting and she's
very big on energy from the sideline actually helping the kids,
which was really refreshing to hear for us.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I'm there secret to success, perhaps because I just can't
control myself, like it just comes from a place. It's
just instinct.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah anyway, I mean I'd rather be that than be
the mute on the side, you know, where the kids
don't even know if you're actually there.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Oh for anybody's child, if I know their name, I've
got it absolutely. Now that do we need to talk
with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
So you kind of threw the worst of it. Now
you've got this new normal. But there must have been
a time where you thought, there's no hope. I'm not
getting better. This is going to be my lot.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
There was and I think that was late last year
when I just felt like I just kept getting more
and more symptoms, you know, like it would I just
felt like I wasn't getting on top of any of them.
I mean, I had this condition called disorder onomia, which
is quite heavily associated with long COVID. Basically just means
your nervous systems not working properly and it's all you know.
(21:17):
And you know, I couldn't stand up properly and without
feeling like I was going to tip over, and then
I'd have these chronic headaches that would come on. Like
all the stuff. It just felt like there was one
thing after another and especially when i'd have to wear
like I couldn't sit at dinner time, or if I
did manage to be sitt at dinner time, I mean,
dinner time's chaotic anyway, you know, I'd have to wear headphones,
(21:38):
like just those sorts of things. You felt like a
natty walking around with these giantes in your own house.
But I mean to be fair, that actually made a
really big help because of what I was trying to
do is my brain was so overstimulated that I just
needed to bring it back. And I couldn't cook dinner
because the idea of having peas boiling at the same
time as potatoes like that was too much like oh
my gosh, that's two elements going at the same time,
Like heaven forbid that I had to like task, and
(22:01):
I just guess I just felt for a while, well
how does this end? Because every medical professional and I
was a bad smell with the medical professionals too, And
I'm a privileged person. I can afford to go to
the doctor, and I have doctors in my family that
I would be asking, Okay, well what's the next step
(22:21):
of where should I be going here? And who you know?
Like I was, I was advocating very heavily for my
own health, and I know that that a lot of
people that don't have that position or that privilege, and
I felt I was slipping through all sorts of critics,
and I thought to myself, if I am struggling this much,
how on earth does someone do it? And we're you know,
the long COVID support page was amazing just to kind
(22:43):
of share stories and stuff like that, but there are
some heart wrenching stories of you know, single moms are
four kids and having to move back in with their
parents because they can't work, or you know, or you're
having to work but then you can't per like, it's
just the cost is unreal. In fact, I read a
report just recently it reckons that long COVID is costing
(23:03):
Australia aboutzero point five percent of its GDP, So for
same figure across to New Zealand, that's two billion dollars
a year in lost productivity that it's costing us. And yeah,
and I just think that because there's no obvious cure,
and what works for me might not necessarily work for
someone else, because there are two hundred symptoms of long COVID.
(23:24):
So while I had the disort of namer in the
head aches and the fatigue, which is some of the
more common ones.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I met a lady the other day that's got horrendous
stomach issues and she can't eat, and so then you're
trying to deal with those symptoms. But if you can't
fork out what's causing it in the process, I mean,
long COVID is just well, COVID itself can cause such
harm in the body, and there's just no magic pill.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
No. It actually has so many parallels to having an
autoimmune condition. And what you were saying, I remember being
in exactly the same position I had. I was a
really strong advocate for advocate for myself. Plus I had
my mum and I had my husband. And when I
was let go from a hospital when I was an
organ failure and we happened to my obstetrician, happened to
(24:07):
be know someone that was a gastor entologist that looked
at things in the sort of bigger sense of the
bigger picture, and I was able to be diagnosed by him,
who referred me to an immunologist. And I thank god
for most people that just wouldn't have happened. I thought
if you were on your own, or if you didn't
have the funds to go to that specialist, where would
that leave you? And even when you do have the
(24:28):
funds and you have the support network, even then you
can fall through the cracks and get misdiagnosed because a
bit like what you're describing, the symptoms from autoimmune condition
can be asthma, it can be x mera, it can
be trouble with some foods, it can be for tea,
and you can like those symptoms, I suspect it like
long COVID and they all start to cross over, and
(24:50):
then getting diagnosed actually seems like a miracle.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, And I think that there's a lot of freedom
for me that came with a diagnosis too, And like,
I'm sure you'll remember the same thing. And I felt
like quite lucky that i'd been heard. And I think
that half of it's just the fact that you've been
heard and taken seriously, because people are cruel and people think, oh,
you're just making it up with you're being lazy, or
I got COVID, it wasn't that bad. Well, because COVID
(25:14):
is such a political issue people, you know, the trolls
were awful. I didn't speak out about having long COVID
for a very long time because I didn't have the
capacity to deal with all of the haters. And yeah,
there was a time when things felt pretty bleak. But
I think, you know, I'm naturally a really positive person.
(25:37):
I'm very lucky, and I know a lot of people
can slide very quickly into that depression type environment and illness.
Because of that, I'm lucky that something that I did avoid,
and I think my positivity certainly did help my journey.
But again, I recognize that that's not reality for a
lot of people.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
So what would your advice be for people that might
be going through long COVID and still have those symptoms,
what would you suggest they do well?
Speaker 1 (26:06):
First of we'll be kind to themselves and the way
they treat themselves too, Like you know, recognize and be
honest with yourself about if you are having those symptoms.
It's not normal go see someone and be a bad smell.
You have to raally advocate for yourself. But you have
to put yourself first, and I think that's the hardest things.
(26:26):
You've got to cancel everything else in your life that
is not unbelievably important. So you know, if you can
get your groceries to live it, you know, if you
wear headphones, sleep all the time, cancel every like, it's
just the cost is just not worth it. And I
(26:47):
think it's one of those cruel things because you know
they reckon. Maybe one in ten people have long COVID, right,
so that is a huge portion of our population. But
you're so exhausted and you can't advocate for yourself. And
I think part of my advice is not necessary for
the people with long COVID. It's for the people that
know someone with long COVID is to really advocate for
(27:09):
them and provide so much grace and patience in their world.
So you know, just simply going and picking something up
for someone or checking on them or texting them or
anything can make such a big difference. But then also
acknowledging their symptoms that it's real, that it's not in
their head, you know. I think that's the biggest thing,
(27:31):
is just you do feel like you disappear from life,
and your friends just disappear too because they think, oh
they're busy or blah blah blah, but like, really walk
that Junie. I had one lady, a good friend of mine.
She text me every single day, every single day for
about eighteen months. Wow. And you know, she never expected
me to text back, because that was actually a step
too far. But I just felt like I was still
in her world and that made the world of difference
(27:53):
in my journey. And so I guess that would be
my advice is not necessarily what to do if you
are the person, but if you know someone, be an
advocate and be present in their world.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Oh Joy, thank you so much for talking about this today.
I know that it's controversial, but I think someone who
is well known like you talking about it and acknowledging it,
you'll be surprised. I suspect how many people we will
have come forward and say, oh my gosh, I've had
exactly the same thing. So I hope this is only
onwards and upwards, and I look forward to seeing that
Santa photo this year with you Beeman.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Thank you so much, and as I say, it's just
lovely that you are interested in want to hear about
long COVID because I think it is such a silent
journey for so many people, and just to acknowledge that
it is real, I think is a really big step forward.
We need to talk
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