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During the Thanksgiving holiday of 2019, I began to suffer both TMJ from holding my mouth open wide and long for dental work and a flu-like illness. Two X-Rays showed no abnormalities in my lungs, so I insisted on getting a Cat-scan, which my doctor was reluctant to do. The Cat-scan showed pneumonia in my lower right lung.
My dentist gave me some tiny pills for the TMJ that took forever to work. To be almost deathly ill and unable to eat because my mouth would only open about half an inch was nerve-wracking.
The medical doctors were mystified as my symptoms began to build – loss of taste, weakness, weight loss, etc. Fortunately, although very sickly, I drove to my hometown in Northwest Alabama for Christmas, where Dr. Deborah Carter, a homeopathic doctor, literally saved my life by simply treating my symptoms.
I hurt so bad that I seriously thought that death would bring nice relief. But unfortunately, later, we learned that my symptoms matched those of Coronavirus/Covid 19, which supposedly did not arrive in America until the following Spring.
In March of 2020, I was down about fifteen pounds and had to be hospitalized. I was too weak to sign myself in. They took a sample of my lung tissue. Going down my throat for the tissue caused many months of swallowing difficulties.
I had to strongly advocate for myself throughout the process of being misdiagnosed or not diagnosed. Knowing what I was feeling and trying to get my medical doctor on board for something he had never seen or been trained in was psychologically challenging. Still, I knew that assertiveness was my only way forward.
Now I am stuck with what is referred to as “Long Covid Symptoms” in my lungs and maybe other areas. Continuing to push medical specialists is what I’m up against now, especially getting them to follow up on things.
Thanks for listening!
Photo by Hakan Nural on Unsplash
William Leroy Kennedy
William Leroy Kennedy
Former Financial Services Professional at Kennedy Group, Ltd. – Financial/Motivation
Studied Architectural Engineering at Prairie View A&M University “Giving a strong recommendation: Khan Academy for educational success”
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