PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – It’s estimated that at least 10% of patients who become infected with COVID-19 will suffer from health issues long after the virus has cleared their system.
Now, some are getting help through a special post-COVID clinic.
Among them is 40-year-old Claudia Perez, who thought she’d recovered from COVID-19 then weeks later started noticing unusual changes, including a loss of memory.
“I spent like just like 15 to 20 minutes trying to remember my own address and I could not,” she said.
When her blood work came back normal, Perez’s doctor suggested she visit Memorial Healthcare’s new primary care Post Covid Clinic.
“Providing them the support, especially the emotional support, providing them the care in one place, is important,” said internal medicine physician Dr. Syeda Hussain.
At the Post Covid Clinic, patients can be connected to specialists to address a host of lingering symptoms including headaches, shortness of breath, fatigue, brain fog, anxiety and depression which persist, or even sometimes first appear four weeks or more after infection.
“A lot of times validating those symptoms for the patient is important because physically they look better, there’s nothing wrong with them but they do feel that,” Hussain said.
Perez said coming to the clinic validates that what she’s experiencing is real, which, in turn, is helping her cope.
“Now realizing that it’s from post-COVID you know that it’s something that is happening to people,” she said.
The Post Covid Clinic is currently only for patients who see a Memorial Healthcare primary care doctor.