Patient rests after day of appointments.

Long COVID remains a mystery. We followed one patient's struggle to get treatment.

For 1 in 3 people who've had COVID-19, the disease turns debilitating and chronic. Now there are specialized clinics--with long waits.

Suffering from long COVID—a chronic condition characterized by a sprawling list of symptoms that includes fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, changes in smell and taste, shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, and memory loss—Hinda Stockstill lies exhausted in her hotel room after a full day of doctor appointments at the Cleveland Clinic's reCOVer Clinic. Hinda contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus in December of 2020 and has been battling its effects ever since. We followed her through two days of appointments.

In the eight years before December 2020, Hinda Stockstill’s MyChart medical records show that she visited a doctor just five times: twice for annual exams and three for seasonal allergies.

That pattern changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 17 and a half months between December 14, 2020, and May 31, 2022, Hinda’s MyChart shows 78 visits to various doctors, nurses, physician assistants, therapists, labs, and emergency rooms. All of them were linked to her case of COVID-19, which persisted as long COVID, a sprawling list of symptoms that includes, most prominently: fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, changes in smell and taste, shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, and memory loss. The condition, which can last indefinitely and varies in severity from

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