I\u2019m often told I don\u2019t look<\/em> sick \u2014 usually by people who don\u2019t know me at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those unfamiliar with my story: I developed Long Covid after my first infection in 2020. I\u2019ll spare you the full list of thirty-something symptoms, but let\u2019s just say life, as I knew it, slowly disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, rehabilitation seemed to help. I thought I was on the road to recovery \u2014 until a second infection at the end of that same year knocked the ground from under me again. My mental state declined, and the body I had worked so hard to rebuild began to collapse again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simplest things became impossible.<\/strong> Just to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My life \u2014 and my daughter\u2019s life \u2014 turned upside down. There were moments I genuinely wondered whether I could go on living like this. I felt devastated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being chronically ill without a clear prognosis is the loneliest battle I\u2019ve ever fought. One doctor \u2014 amazed by all the things I had already tried on my own \u2014 suggested sauna therapy. He explained how heat activates processes that help repair and regenerate mitochondria, the energy factories inside our cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took a long time before I could manage even one visit a week. The combination of heat, travel, and walking meant I usually needed about three days to recover afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I go. I go because it\u2019s something I can<\/em> do. And because I go on the same day every week, I\u2019ve slowly built connections \u2014 people who recognize me, offer a smile, a kind word. Today, that mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of my limitations \u2014 like PEM (post-exertional malaise) and POTS (which causes dizziness and nausea when I stand too long) \u2014 I need to sit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s all. I don\u2019t ask for much. Just a seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But even that often becomes a battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To join a sauna infusion, I have to arrive 30 minutes early. Especially because I need to sit while waiting in line, and I need a spot inside where I can stretch my leg. Due to post-thrombotic syndrome in one leg, I can\u2019t sit with my knee bent for too long \u2014 I lose sensation in my foot. I need to sit differently, or I\u2019ll pay the price for days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, all seats were taken before the first infusion. When I kindly asked the people sitting if I could take a seat, I got the reply: So I sat on the floor \u2014 again \u2014 and the people I had just spoken to started laughing and mocking Long Covid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another guest kindly brought me a chair from the restaurant. But the mocking continued after the first infusion. One woman kept making snide remarks about Long Covid. Eventually, she got distracted by the fact that I had dropped some orange seeds on the floor. That, at least, was easier for me to cope with than her sarcasm about my illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It only stopped when I asked, \u201cWould you say this to someone with cancer?\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s when I turned my back and let the tears come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people \u2014 friends and strangers \u2014 came over and offered me warmth. I\u2019ve been misunderstood and discriminated against more times than I can count, and it has left a mark on my soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the break, I retreated. I found my breath again. I prayed and asked what God was trying to teach and tell me. Somehow, I gathered enough strength to attend the next infusion. On the way home, I noticed something had changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where I used to long for people to understand me, today I felt no urge to explain. You can\u2019t see my illness from the outside. But I carry this reality every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And all I asked for\u2026 was a chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udcac To everyone living with an invisible illness: I see you. I\u2019m with you.<\/em> I\u2019m often told I don\u2019t look sick \u2014 usually by people who don\u2019t know me at all. For those unfamiliar with my story: I developed Long Covid after my first infection in 2020. I\u2019ll spare you the full list of thirty-something symptoms, but let\u2019s just say life, as I knew it, slowly disappeared. At first, rehabilitation seemed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,39,41,34,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-emotions","category-growth","category-longcovid","category-thepowerofgod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":789,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions\/789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daphnemutter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
A walk on the beach? I collapsed after 100 meters.
Holding a conversation? I couldn\u2019t find the words or remember what the other person had said.
Reading? The words just wouldn\u2019t stick.
Driving? I ended up on the wrong side of the road and was hit with a pounding headache after just ten minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And still, despite the darkness, I kept trying.
I kept searching \u2014 even with the little energy I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udd25\u00a0The sauna and the science of recovery<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udeab\u00a0When inclusion fails<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen you should\u2019ve arrived earlier.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
She snapped back, \u201cYou can\u2019t compare those two diseases.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc94\u00a0Kindness still lives<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t even tell them the full story.
The words wouldn\u2019t come.
That, too, is part of the damage Long Covid has done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the fourth infusion, I was fell asleep \u2014 my body completely spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udca1\u00a0Something subtle had shifted<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Where I once wasted energy defending myself, I now stayed silent \u2014 because I saw no point.
Where I would\u2019ve skipped the next infusion out of shame or anger, I stayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe I just look pale \u2014 from pain or fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude91 And to every place that still forgets to provide a seat \u2014 please, do better.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"