MATTHEWS, N.C. — Over the past few weeks, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have started to creep back up nationwide, in the Carolinas and in Mecklenburg County.
This change comes after months of an encouraging downturn and signs the pandemic could be coming to an end. It’s frustrating for some who are still dealing with the impacts of COVID-19 months after battling the virus.
Joellen Wolf enjoys sitting at her backyard koi pond in silence. She often needs an escape from her new reality.
“I'm not me," she said. "I am a shell of who I was."
Wolf was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October 2020 and nine months later, she's still suffering. She said she is a COVID-19 long hauler, and it's turned her world upside down.
When she was first released from the hospital, the focus was on getting her lung capacity back up. But she quickly realized she had bigger physical and mental obstacles to overcome.
“I spend a lot of time pivoting on one foot, trying to remember what I was going for,” she said.
Wolf underwent a full cognitive study and said her doctors diagnosed her with ADD and severe cognitive deficit brought on by COVID-19.
“I’m going through cognitive memory, teaching myself how to re-think, remember and re-learn,” Wolf said.
It’s kept her from returning to work as an auditor. She can’t stay focused on one task and said she sometimes struggles to get a sentence out.
As metrics move in the wrong direction and vaccination rates sit stagnant, Wolf is frustrated so many people are putting off getting vaccinated.
In North Carolina, 46% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated. In South Carolina, 44% are. In Mecklenburg County, 48% of the population has gotten both doses.
Wolf says she was nervous about getting vaccinated but still decided to get the shots and is encouraging more people to do the same.
“I didn't have a vaccine when I got COVID. But now there are ways to prevent it," Wolf said. "Please, care enough about yourself. Care enough about your family and your children."
She said she will tell her story to anyone who will listen; she wants them to understand the long-term implications of the virus and doesn’t want anyone else to have the experience she has had.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.