What he didn't know was that the real hit to his life would come after he thought he was through with COVID. More than a year later, he's teaching from an electric wheelchair, so tired most of the time that even the simplest tasks are often overwhelming.
of the virus spreading rapidly through Utah, he realized the whole family catching it was inevitable.
Blake Bockholt struggles to breathe as sits outside to watch his son mow the lawn at his home in Syracuse on Nov. 20, 2022. Bockholt struggles with symptoms from long COVID-19. When his initial symptoms ended, Blake decided it was time to resume his long weekend runs. He counted on the dozen-plus miles he and his friends logged together weekly on scenic but challenging routes to keep him in shape physically as well as mentally."She was like, 'Don't be stupid.
The next picture of Blake in his Facebook feed appears less than a month later. He's wrapped in blankets, asleep on the living room couch. His wife expresses her frustration at doctors not being able to find anything wrong with him as his condition worsens. "It was just this awful game. They would do another test," Allison said, but everything kept coming back normal, leading to doctors suggesting it might be anxiety or some similar issue.University of Utah's long COVID-19 clinic
But for around a fourth of the clinic's patients, symptoms continue to persist. The average age of the clinic's patients is 47 and nearly 70% are women, she said, and many had never had to deal with ongoing medical issues. A visit to a specialist, a pulmonologist, that July wasn't much help, Blake said, but he and his wife were already expecting to hear there was nothing that could be done. Still, it was all taking an emotional toll.
Allison was already aware his mental health was "not good," he said. "I didn't tell her how bad it was that night, but I think I did the next day," he recalled, recognizing that he needed to seek out help. Allison said hearing her husband describe his despair was terrifying. Her reaction was to take a "practical approach," focusing on how much insurance money there would be and how long it would last.It was a conversation Allison had feared would happen.
Troy Andersen, a licensed clinical social worker who runs Blake's virtual long COVID-19 therapy group, said serious depression and suicidal thoughts are not uncommon among participants. "The darkness of the true unknown is very difficult to physically and emotionally manage," Andersen said, adding, "It's devastating. You get a little bit of hope and the rug gets pulled out."
"She even texted me over the summer to see how my long COVID was going — while she was getting chemo. She's amazing," Blake said. By the end of September 2022, he said he'd already cried twice in her office."He was a high-energy guy," she said, always telling stories about his latest trail runs, with a "great sense of humor, very witty. I think he is a people person unique abilities to bond with adults. And certainly our students love him.
"We're limited on the things we can do. We can't take away his fatigue. We can't take away the shortness of breath, things like that," Brenda said. But there are substitute teachers at the ready, a microphone to amplify his voice in the classroom and help with grading papers. Another offered thanks to Blake "for your dedication to help me and my fellow students learn more about English, even with your long COVID condition. It really shows how much you care about us."
Blake had planned to join the runners along the Turkey Trot route in his motorized scooter, but ran out of breath after getting himself and his scooter out of his truck. So he waited at the finish line. The next big challenge for the trio was supposed to be the Grand Canyon run. But then long COVID-19 ended Blake's time as a trail runner.
Lorraine England, a nurse practitioner at Utah Cardiology Farmington, saw Blake late last year, one of more than a half-dozen patients with long COVID-19 she treats in a typical month. She said Blake has both chronic fatigue syndrome and another common diagnosis in people with long COVID-19,, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, where the heart rate jumps when someone moves from sitting or lying down to standing.
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