Posted on Jan 17, 2023
Kansas is a rare state without a long-COVID clinic, leaving some patients far from specialists
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Post-COVID care centers have been popping up across the country as millions of Americans struggle with the aftereffects of the virus. The centers are typically in larger cities and can have months-long wait times.
It’s been over two years since Barry Guyer came down with COVID-19.
“(I) was just out in the harvest field. I just got feeling terrible,” said Guyer, who farms near Goodland in northwest Kansas. “I got home that one night I said, ‘I think I've got this stuff.’”
Guyer was admitted into the hospital for a week. It would be about a month before he was back out on the farm. It took nine months for his sense of taste and smell to come back. He’s still waiting for his stamina to return.
It’s been over two years since Barry Guyer came down with COVID-19.
“(I) was just out in the harvest field. I just got feeling terrible,” said Guyer, who farms near Goodland in northwest Kansas. “I got home that one night I said, ‘I think I've got this stuff.’”
Guyer was admitted into the hospital for a week. It would be about a month before he was back out on the farm. It took nine months for his sense of taste and smell to come back. He’s still waiting for his stamina to return.
Kansas is a rare state without a long-COVID clinic, leaving some patients far from specialists
Posted from kcur.org
Medical
Health
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Limited awareness
While Kansas has no long COVID clinics, Missouri has five. Two in Kansas City, two in St. Louis, and one in Columbia.
Dr. Zachary Holliday works at the Missouri University Health Care’s Columbia clinic. In one room, a bike and treadmill sit nestled next to each other and close to a machine that patients blow into to test breathing capacity.
“It measures lung function and what that boils down to is how much air can someone get in and out and how fast,” he said.
Dr. Zachary Holliday, left, and Callie Duckworth, a nurse practitioner, stand in front of a spirometer machine at the University of Missouri Health Care in Columbia. The machine tests patients' lung capacity.
The clinic is only open one Thursday a month. That limits how many people it can treat.
“We try to do our best to get folks in as fast as possible,” said Holliday. “And if they can’t see us in the long COVID clinic, what we’ve tried to do is actually get them still access to the pulmonary clinic.”
He said demand could be even greater because many people don’t even know about the clinic.
Guyer, the northwest Kansas farmer dealing with long COVID, only recently learned such clinics exist with expertise to treat his problems. He said he would consider driving to Denver — to the closest long COVID clinic — if he could time it with other appointments. At the same time, he’s become resigned to his damaged health.
“I don’t think that’s ever going to change,” said Guyer. “I think it’s just gonna be a part of life like I have to deal with now.”
..."Limited awareness
While Kansas has no long COVID clinics, Missouri has five. Two in Kansas City, two in St. Louis, and one in Columbia.
Dr. Zachary Holliday works at the Missouri University Health Care’s Columbia clinic. In one room, a bike and treadmill sit nestled next to each other and close to a machine that patients blow into to test breathing capacity.
“It measures lung function and what that boils down to is how much air can someone get in and out and how fast,” he said.
Dr. Zachary Holliday, left, and Callie Duckworth, a nurse practitioner, stand in front of a spirometer machine at the University of Missouri Health Care in Columbia. The machine tests patients' lung capacity.
The clinic is only open one Thursday a month. That limits how many people it can treat.
“We try to do our best to get folks in as fast as possible,” said Holliday. “And if they can’t see us in the long COVID clinic, what we’ve tried to do is actually get them still access to the pulmonary clinic.”
He said demand could be even greater because many people don’t even know about the clinic.
Guyer, the northwest Kansas farmer dealing with long COVID, only recently learned such clinics exist with expertise to treat his problems. He said he would consider driving to Denver — to the closest long COVID clinic — if he could time it with other appointments. At the same time, he’s become resigned to his damaged health.
“I don’t think that’s ever going to change,” said Guyer. “I think it’s just gonna be a part of life like I have to deal with now.”
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