Here’s my speech on #LongCOVID (more or less) at #LCDC: “Hello everyone, nice to see you here at the Lincoln Memorial for such a worthy cause. I can't help but feel a sense of camaraderie, knowing that we're all in this together, especially after I just recently passed my four year anniversary of Long COVID. I’m frustrated with how long I’ve been sick, but may I assure you, my immune system is more annoyed. Unfortunately, I’m not new to chronic illness. I suffered from Chronic Lyme Disease for 11 years where I was passed around from doctor to doctor, was gaslit, faced inconclusive testing, and took treatments that didn’t solve my malady. Diagnoses such as ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia based on my symptoms, were given to me. Sound familiar? This story was one that I would hear time and time again while managing an integrative chronic illness centric clinic. I would go on to recover and started playing in 2 basketball leagues, working out, and working long hours only for my excellent health to come to a screeching halt in March of 2020, when I contracted SARS COV 2. These past 4 years have been a relentless battle, and it continues today. In fact right now I have a kidney stone & need to take a prescription, so I can keep my head out of an inflammatory vice grip. There were many times when I thought I would not make it. I experienced horrific neurological issues where I couldn’t control my limbs, had to focus to make sure I was breathing, and couldn’t drive. I’m sure I had Guillain Barre Syndrome. There were also spells of vomiting, insomnia, I put my keys in the fridge, and couldn’t walk more than 5 minutes without severe PEM. I faced 170+ symptoms. There are tens of millions in the United States and more around the world who have or had Long COVID. I’m far from alone. This is unacceptable. I’ve lived through Chronic Lyme and saw what the chronically ill had to endure firsthand. We don’t want another situation similar to Chronic Lyme and how it’s called Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. Vagueness is never the answer for the chronically ill. The onus should not be thrust back on to the patient instead of where it should be, with poor testing and treatments that don’t find and address our root causes. Long COVID is unique and needs to be dealt with as such. Each day that passes it seems more likely Long COVID largely involves COVID & spike protein persistence. Persistence needs to be throughly explored. Especially by the NIH, and that is not happening right now. Priority #1 should be repurposed antivirals & immunotherapies. At the Long COVID Foundation we are working on bringing Awareness, Advocacy, & Action. Being here today is a step towards bringing awareness to Long COVID, but unfortunately there are many who aren’t even aware of the term, never mind the life changing capabilities of the disease. LCF is advocating for improved testing, trials, and treatments. All avenues need to be explored, but given COVID's persistence, we want to ensure that this receives necessary attention and is not overlooked. There currently isn’t a commercially viable test for COVID Persistence. The trials being run are utterly insufficient. And the treatments are not good enough for Acute COVID, or Chronic COVID. We need novel antivirals developed for COVID yesterday. Excess COVID long term illness and death may not go away without it. LCF is also working to promote safer environments from airborne pathogens, which includes COVID. Schools, hospitals, and other public areas should have proper air filtration systems installed. Systems that should save districts and businesses money in the long run. Why isn’t the government pushing for these common sense passive participation win win things? Mitigation of COVID needs to be a priority! The children need to be protected! (Continued below)