For most, completing tasks like matching colors to one another or distinguishing between the letters ‘b’ and ‘p’ seem simple, but for Jen Whyman, those are routine challenge in her therapy sessions. Whyman has been battling Long Covid for nearly five years. She said her symptoms began three to four weeks after getting sick. “I was driving across town to go pick up one of my, my youngest kid from one of her activities, and I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea where the roads lead to. I didn’t know where I was or why I was there,” Whyman said. “I didn’t say anything for the longest time.”For months, Whyman said she consulted different doctors while waiting to see a neurologist. “I was scared,” Whyman said. During that time, more symptoms became part of her everyday life. “Pain is one, brain fog is huge, executive functioning, things like organization, planning,” Whyman said. Even hair loss, kidney problems and migraines began taking over.”It was hard because I looked fine,” Whyman said. “And so to everybody else, you know, nobody could see what was wrong.”Until finally, one doctor mentioned Long Covid. “It was like, that can’t be me. That’s something on the news,” Whyman said. Eventually, Whyman met with Dr. Samantha Bohl, the neuro optometric rehabilitation optometrist at Madonna. Typically, Bohl said she works with patients dealing with traumatic brain injuries, like concussions or strokes, but over the past few years Long Covid patients have been frequent. “I definitely was seeing patients pretty much weekly,” Bohl said. It wasn’t until meeting with Dr. Bohl that Whyman realized one of her main symptoms was vision problems. “There was one sheet that I was supposed to tell her which one was like 3D. You know which circle is 3D? And I was like, none of them,” Whyman said. While Bohl said Long Covid symptoms can present in a myriad of ways, many are similar to that of a traumatic brain injury. “It does cause blurry vision, double vision, eyestrain, headaches, dizziness from not processing your vision appropriately,” Bohl said. “It can be all sorts of health issues that come about as well. I’ve had a lot of patients who are having heart problems, kidney problems, all sorts of organ problems because they’ve had Covid. And so it is just kind of this umbrella group of disorders that people are now having because of Covid.”For patients like Whyman, that’s how Bohl said she approaches treatment. “I’m definitely treating it like a traumatic brain injury. because it’s it’s presenting that way,” Bohl said. Much of the treatment focusing on eye movements, reaction time, multitasking and split-second decision making. Everything Bohl said the average person uses daily. “A lot has improved actually, I’ve made a lot of progress,” Whyman said. “For the longest time, before I even met anybody here, I just felt like I was crazy, like I was losing my mind.”Bohl said while Long Covid is not officially recognized as an acquired or traumatic brain injury, she will continue treating it in a similar way and hopes more research into the similarities will lead to more widespread recognition.”If somebody could kind of put those two things together, a long Covid and acquired brain injury, I think that would help matters,” Bohl said. “I think that it would help it get more recognition, and more patients would get that recognition from doctors as well.”The Brain Injury Association of Nebraska also notes the similarities to between the two health concerns. “It’s very much an invisible injury, like other types of brain injury,” Reisher said. Peggy Reisher, executive director of the organization, said they will continue to bring awareness to the topic, even highlighting stories of people like Whyman at their annual conference. “Creating a greater understanding, helping people realize that it’s a deficit more than defiance is really important because that really changes the lens in which we work with individuals or support individuals,” Reisher said. While no true cure or official treatment path exists for Long Covid patients, Whyman said she’s thankful for the work already being done, and for those, like her family and Dr. Bohl, you have stuck by her side of the course of the last few years. “I’m feeling thankful that I finally had people that listened,” Whyman said. “My family took over everything my kids, you know, started meal prep. They went to the grocery store. My husband, everybody did everything for me.”NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
For most, completing tasks like matching colors to one another or distinguishing between the letters ‘b’ and ‘p’ seem simple, but for Jen Whyman, those are routine challenge in her therapy sessions.
Whyman has been battling Long Covid for nearly five years. She said her symptoms began three to four weeks after getting sick.
“I was driving across town to go pick up one of my, my youngest kid from one of her activities, and I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea where the roads lead to. I didn’t know where I was or why I was there,” Whyman said. “I didn’t say anything for the longest time.”
For months, Whyman said she consulted different doctors while waiting to see a neurologist.
“I was scared,” Whyman said.
During that time, more symptoms became part of her everyday life.
“Pain is one, brain fog is huge, executive functioning, things like organization, planning,” Whyman said.
Even hair loss, kidney problems and migraines began taking over.
“It was hard because I looked fine,” Whyman said. “And so to everybody else, you know, nobody could see what was wrong.”
Until finally, one doctor mentioned Long Covid.
“It was like, that can’t be me. That’s something on the news,” Whyman said.
Eventually, Whyman met with Dr. Samantha Bohl, the neuro optometric rehabilitation optometrist at Madonna.
Typically, Bohl said she works with patients dealing with traumatic brain injuries, like concussions or strokes, but over the past few years Long Covid patients have been frequent.
“I definitely was seeing patients pretty much weekly,” Bohl said.
It wasn’t until meeting with Dr. Bohl that Whyman realized one of her main symptoms was vision problems.
“There was one sheet that I was supposed to tell her which one was like 3D. You know which circle is 3D? And I was like, none of them,” Whyman said.
While Bohl said Long Covid symptoms can present in a myriad of ways, many are similar to that of a traumatic brain injury.
“It does cause blurry vision, double vision, eyestrain, headaches, dizziness from not processing your vision appropriately,” Bohl said. “It can be all sorts of health issues that come about as well. I’ve had a lot of patients who are having heart problems, kidney problems, all sorts of organ problems because they’ve had Covid. And so it is just kind of this umbrella group of disorders that people are now having because of Covid.”
For patients like Whyman, that’s how Bohl said she approaches treatment.
“I’m definitely treating it like a traumatic brain injury. because it’s it’s presenting that way,” Bohl said.
Much of the treatment focusing on eye movements, reaction time, multitasking and split-second decision making. Everything Bohl said the average person uses daily.
“A lot has improved actually, I’ve made a lot of progress,” Whyman said. “For the longest time, before I even met anybody here, I just felt like I was crazy, like I was losing my mind.”
Bohl said while Long Covid is not officially recognized as an acquired or traumatic brain injury, she will continue treating it in a similar way and hopes more research into the similarities will lead to more widespread recognition.
“If somebody could kind of put those two things together, a long Covid and acquired brain injury, I think that would help matters,” Bohl said. “I think that it would help it get more recognition, and more patients would get that recognition from doctors as well.”
The Brain Injury Association of Nebraska also notes the similarities to between the two health concerns.
“It’s very much an invisible injury, like other types of brain injury,” Reisher said.
Peggy Reisher, executive director of the organization, said they will continue to bring awareness to the topic, even highlighting stories of people like Whyman at their annual conference.
“Creating a greater understanding, helping people realize that it’s a deficit more than defiance is really important because that really changes the lens in which we work with individuals or support individuals,” Reisher said.
While no true cure or official treatment path exists for Long Covid patients, Whyman said she’s thankful for the work already being done, and for those, like her family and Dr. Bohl, you have stuck by her side of the course of the last few years.
“I’m feeling thankful that I finally had people that listened,” Whyman said. “My family took over everything my kids, you know, started meal prep. They went to the grocery store. My husband, everybody did everything for me.”
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