When Erica Hayes was infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in November 2020, her symptoms were mild and she didn’t even have a cough. It’s what followed that was worrisome: extreme weakness, such that she couldn’t even lift her arms up to fold laundry; a racing heart that felt like it would burst out of her chest just from cooking a meal; and her body forgetting to breathe on its own, leaving her gasping for breath.
Although her doctor reassured her she wasn’t having a heart attack, which presents with similar symptoms, she went to the emergency room to get checked out. They, too, told her these were just side effects of COVID-19 that would pass along with the infection. But days went by. Then weeks, and years.
