James “Cort” Taylor spent the week after Christmas 2020 feeling increasingly ill but determined to tough it out at home. Finally, after he grew so weak that he was unable to stand, his daughter insisted that he go to the emergency department at Lancaster General Hospital (LGH).
The hospital staff sent Taylor directly to the intensive care unit, where one doctor gave him a 20% chance of survival. Even as his condition further deteriorated, his family refused to give up hope, repeatedly declining gentle suggestions that it might be time to prepare for the worst.
Taylor, 74, managed to defy those dismal odds, leaving LGH after three weeks on a ventilator. But even today, seven months after his ordeal began, the school bus driver, father of four, and grandfather of eight continues to struggle with lingering symptoms of COVID-19.
Tony T. Ton-That, medical director of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health’s Post-COVID-19 Recovery and Rehabilitation Therapy Program, said more than 10% of patients suffer from continuing symptoms six months or more after a COVID-19 infection. Those symptoms can range from weakness, pain and fatigue to “brain fog,” anxiety, and depression.
“Given the novelty of COVID-19, we are still learning about the possible long-term effects,” he says. “Our COVID-19 recovery program offers multidisciplinary rehabilitation care to address these symptoms, so patients can once again function as active members of their communities.”
LG Health’s multidisciplinary COVID-19 recovery and rehab team includes physical, occupational, and speech therapists, as well as neuropsychologists, behavioral health counselors, and nutritionists. Patients are referred by their primary-care provider, a specialist, or themselves.
The LG Health program is part of an ongoing effort across Penn Medicine to help patients who face lingering challenges after COVID-19. Penn Medicine’s Post-COVID Assessment and Recovery Clinic offers a similar multidisciplinary approach to care through virtual visits, as well as in-person visits.
The Penn Neuro COVID Clinic—the first such clinic in the region—treats patients who continue to experience symptoms related to cognition, headache, vertigo, and brain fog. In addition, Penn’s Princeton Health offers virtual support and education on issues such as rebuilding endurance and energy, emotional after-effects, and vocal recovery.
For patients like Taylor, that continued care and support can prove essential to finally returning to a more normal life.
This story is by by Mary Beth Schweigert. Read more at Penn Medicine News.
