Newton COVID-19 Survivor: What Life Is Like As A 'Long Hauler'

NEWTON, MA — It's been a year since she first felt the symptoms of the coronavirus, and Newton resident Ann Langenfeld, 56, is finally able to shower with no help from others.

"I'm also grateful to be able to eat food and drink water — I couldn’t have water or food for six weeks," said Langenfeld, who contracted the coronavirus last year and was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on March 15, 2020.

These are small-but-mighty improvements for Langenfeld, who is what's called a COVID "long-hauler," part of the 10 percent of people who deal with many related issues and disorders for several months after contracting the virus, according to one study.

Today, almost a year since she was admitted to the hospital, Langenfeld eyes the commonwealth's reopening with a skeptical eye.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing is worth catching COVID," she said.

How it started

On March 4, 2020, she boarded a train to spend the day in New York City. At the time, no one was wearing masks, and the coronavirus wasn't believed to be on the East Coast yet. She brought antibacterial wipes and wiped down her seat, she remembers. She arrived at Grand Central Station, went shopping at Macy's, went out to dinner and returned. A couple of days later, she started feeling ill.

The then-55-year-old mother of two girls had been diagnosed previously with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, but was otherwise healthy.

It took a while before she realized she had contracted the virus, complete with rattling cough and high fever. At that time, the governor and health professionals were asking everyone to try to recover as much as possible at home. March 11, the coronavirus was declared a pandemic. On March 13, the governor shut down the state. On March 14, the first patient was admitted to Mass General with the coronavirus. Early March 15, her ex-husband, who she lived with at the time, drove her to the hospital.

By then, her symptoms were so severe she was intubated almost immediately for respiratory failure, she said. And shortly after that, she was put in a medically induced coma and spent 16 days on a ventilator.

While she was in the hospital, her ex-husband also contracted the virus. He, too, had a high fever and the coughing. Amid his illness, he worked to rewrite their wills and ask a family member to take care of their teenage daughter, should they both die.

Langenfeld doesn't remember this, though.

"I remember nothing from the whole week prior to getting admitted," she said. She learned that she had called her general care provider daily that week before getting admitted only after she woke up and was starting her recovery.

"The nurses said it was a miracle [that I lived]," she said.

After she was taken off the ventilator, she said she experienced hallucinations. She does remember vivid nightmares from her time in the coma. It was another 10 days in the intensive care unit before she was transferred to Spaulding Rehab.

"I couldn’t even move a pinky when I woke up," she said. "I had to learn how to walk again."

How it went

She came home in a wheelchair more than a month after she first went to the hospital, on April 17, grateful to be alive. But, she said, as the cases across the country and in Massachusetts mounted, she was riddled with survivors' guilt.

But she thinks about what her nurses told her.

"The nurses told me I’m not done living on this Earth," she said. And she's taken that to heart.

For months, she needed the help of two adults to do most everything — from getting to the bathroom to dressing to eating. The day her daughter no longer needed to wash her hair was a victory everyone cheered, she said.

Langenfeld was the second person with the coronavirus to be admitted to Mass General — and the first woman, she said she was told.

How it's going

Almost a year after she was admitted to the hospital, she can walk again — but not for long distances. Recently she went to the grocery store, but it proved too much and she passed out.

"Yeah, that wasn't good," she said.

Although she can bathe herself now, it takes most of her energy, and she needs to nap immediately afterward. Although she has three degrees, and considers herself an educated woman, she speaks more slowly now and forgets words.

Also new: She goes to physical therapy weekly and is still nursing torn rotator cuffs from her days on the ventilator. She has digestive issues, was diagnosed with diabetes, and often gets so tired she can sleep for days at a time.

"The fatigue is bone crushing," she said. "I’ve never been like that."

She can't cook for herself, and some days she still can't get out of bed.

Her family is super helpful and encouraging, she said, cheering her many small successes when she gets down.

"We try to celebrate things," she said. "It’s a lot to deal with. We take every day as we can."

Looking forward

There's a lot she needs help with right now on this long road to recovery, Langenfeld said, but she wants to spread the word to take the virus seriously.

"This is our Spanish flu. And people have to understand that it’s time for us to work to do the right thing, listen to the scientists, follow the guidelines to take it slow and just … honestly, suck it up. Stop whining that you can’t go to your bar or see your friends," she said. "Many, many people have it worse than you."

As of Tuesday, some 29.1 million people have contracted the virus in the country. Of those, more than 527,000 have died.

"It's just unfathomable," she said. "Dr. [Anthony] Fauci said that it's the equivalent of six to eight jumbo jets falling from the sky every day."

Despite it all

Despite the ordeal, Langenfeld said she has plenty to be grateful for.

"I’m amazed with science and how it's evolved and how quickly the world worked together on this," she said. "I’m so grateful for the doctors and nurses for them at Mass General and Spaulding. They saved my life."

She's looking forward to hugging family and friends who are vaccinated, to the day when she can visit her daughter in college and go for a ride on her boat.

"This is a blip in our lives, and we just need to hold on a little bit longer," she said. "Be kind and understanding with one another."

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.