Woman suffers from brain fog, cardiac issues long after COVID

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Some people are reporting still having symptoms even months after having COVID-19.

Eumekia Williams, a mammogram tech at Ochsner LSU Health Monroe Medical Center, never thought she’d be a patient at her own place of employment. Everything changed in March of 2021 when she got COVID.

“I had tested positive. Um, I made it back here at Ochsner Monroe by 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and by midnight, I was on the ventilator,” Williams.

Williams was on a ventilator for 17 days, which paralyzed her vocal cords leaving her unable to talk. She also couldn’t walk when she left the hospital. Following rehab, she regained her voice and learned to walk again but still feels the effects of the virus.

“I have like memory fog, sometimes stuff that I’ve done in the past, I don’t remember doing it. Like, I’ll be talking to my husband and he’ll be like, ‘You remember doing this? We did that.’ And I’m like, ‘no,’” she said.

Dr. Suraj Jande from Ochsner LSU Shreveport says doctors are still learning about the long-term effects but confirms the symptoms meaning anything over a month can include a case like Williams.

“We are seeing a lot of neurological signs of people who report brain fog or haziness, there are cardiac complications as you mentioned with heart problems,” said Jande.

Wiliams struggles with cardiac issues as well. Now she has a high heart rate at times.

“I’m on a beta-blocker now because when I was on the ventilator my heart rate got up to 198,” said Williams. “The only time it does it now is if I take the stairs, going upstairs, like two or three stairs, and then I can tell it’s going to start racing.”

Jande said many long-term effects can depend on the severity of your case.

“Acutely generally affecting how their long term symptoms will be, however on the caveat of that for people who have mild COVID, we’ve also seen them have long-term symptoms such as issues with smelling taste, heart problems of some sort,” said Jande.

Doctors say time and research are needed to know the full impact of COVID-19.

Follow Alyssa Azzara on Facebook.

Copyright 2021 KNOE. All rights reserved.