In May of 2020 Amanda Finley sat straight up in bed, determined to write an important note on the whiteboard she keeps nearby for moments like this. Instead, she drew a large smiley face on her brand-new sheets and felt like she’d achieved her goal.

Months after her first COVID-19 diagnosis in March 2020, Finley, a former archeologist and opera singer, was still plagued by myriad long COVID symptoms. But the most troubling to her was the nebulously named “brain fog.” Her experiences inspired Finley to create the COVID-19 Long-Hauler’s Facebook group in July 2020 to raise awareness and support for those struggling with long-term symptoms. Then in 2021, she was reinfected, this time with the Delta variant. The