HOUSTON — Positive news in the fight against coronavirus is thousands of people have won the battle and recovered.
However, the road back to good health can take different turns for many people. Missouri City councilman Jeffrey L. Boney is one of them.
After nine days in intensive care, Boney was discharged on April 5 from the hospital and returned home. He admits recovering from COVID-19 hasn’t been easy. Boney has been living with a blood clot in his right lung after being diagnosed, because of COVID, with a pulmonary embolism.
“It’s dissipating, and so I’m very, very fortunate in my last visit to get checked on the blood clot,” he said. “I’ve been on blood thinner medication and other remedies to deal with the after effects of COVID.”
In his fight against the virus, Boney said he had pneumonia in both lungs and was approaching heart failure.
He credits doctors with saving his life.
“You think to yourself this can’t happen to you. It’s something that maybe is happening overseas, maybe in other countries,” Boney said.
Dr. Pushan Jani, assistant professor with the department of pulmonary and critical medicine at UTHealth and Memorial Hermann, said long-term effects for patients battling COVID-19 include shortness of breath and fatigue that can last up to eight weeks.
“It is very common, especially in patients who needed oxygen as an inpatient in the hospital,” Dr. Jani said.
He said more serious side effects like what Boney is going through are possible.
“The ones who are more ill as far as going to the ICU, those are the patients definitely at a higher risk of having blood clots and issues because of blood clots," Dr. Jani said.
Boney said it’s still too early to know if he’ll ever get back to 100 percent. For now, he’s dealing with anxiety.
“Every little thing that’s happening inside of you now, you’re just like, ‘OK, is this COVID? Is it coming back?’ It’s just I think more of a mental thing for me,” Boney said.
He said it’s important to listen to your body.