Under the title "My life with Mr. Long" Altea publishes in loose succession a series of entries from Annette Scholer's Long COVID diary. Annette Scholer metaphorically describes her disease as "Mr. Long", with whom she now has to live. Already released: Part 1.
“Mr. Long and I, we've been a ‘dream team’ for 3 months now. We're virtually inseparable. There are times when Mr. Long is really, reeeaaally tolerant. Then I have my highs, and things are almost like they used to be.
But he can also act differently. It was especially brutal the day we were catching up with the entire family for my mother’s birthday dinner. In the morning, everything was running like clockwork; I was even able to do a little workout. Then things started going downhill. Unfortunately, the washing machine mechanic arrived too early, and I was a bit busy preparing lunch. But for Mr. Long, this was waaaay too much work. He slammed on the brakes hard – so hard that it knocked me right out onto the sofa. Absolutely nothing was possible anymore. I lay there flat as a flounder. What now? I was supposed to be clean and dressed by 6 pm. Mr. Long just laughed it off. ‘That's what you thought,’ he mused."
“Defeated, I lay there, and the tears just started flowing. Because of exhaustion? Or anger? Would I really need to cancel? I had been looking forward to the evening so much. So, I started negotiating with Mr. Long. After a long inner discussion, he relented and let me go to the dinner half alive.
It actually went pretty well. But after less than two hours, he knocked quietly at the door as if to tell me to be on my way. We had been sitting together so happily! But Mr. Long soon wore me down. ‘Just try not to fall face-first into the French fries from pure fatigue and exhaustion,’ I thought.
So, we quickly gobbled down dessert and kept Mr. Long happy for a while. Then, making a completely exhausted face, tired from simply eating, I mentioned, with a glance at the clock, that the party was ending at 9 pm. Fortunately, everyone understood that it was time to go. The awful ride home almost did me in after that. I was barely able to drag myself to bed and just lie there.”
“The following weekend, Mr. Long took some time off – I was almost able to hit the ground running!”
“Well, that’s just how it is with Mr. Long. But he took the next weekend off. I almost hit the ground running! I enjoyed this time away from him to the fullest, with lots of walking, taking breaks and enjoying nature.
Unfortunately, on Monday Mr. Long was back on duty. Everything was going well that morning until I had an important appointment. Just before it, everything stopped working: My arms and legs were tingling and I felt short of breath – I silently sat in the car, thwarted, and waited for things to get better. But they didn't for a very long time.
It wasn't until over an hour later that the blood started rushing to my arms and legs again and I managed to get to my appointment. After that I ate something light and waited for my boyfriend. Slow as a snail, I inched along with him through the aisles of the grocery store and then made it to the car. We waited until I felt better – cozy in the car and totally romantic together in the parking garage. After a while, I felt the energy coming back and I was able to tackle the drive home.”
“Mr. Long can't stand noise and clutter at all.”
“For the next few days, Mr. Long left me alone. It wasn't until Friday that he got back to business. I would have gladly gone to my Samaritans meeting and stayed there. But Mr. Long just wanted a free dinner and then to leave as soon as possible. He doesn't tolerate the noise of talking at all, and it's even worse in groups. It took a lot of effort to keep myself from falling face-first into the risotto.
So, I said my goodbyes almost soundlessly, in something that passed for words. Outside, I first rested on the edge of the fountain and then waited in the car for a suitable chance to get back home. After half an hour, I started to feel better, and I drove back without any problems.”
“Actually, Mr. Long has a lot of good qualities, too. Every now and then I think he's quite nice.”
“Now, it was time to take a break again. As I was going to bed, Mr. Long thought it would be a good idea for me to write a new story about him. I almost think he likes it! I was wide awake and just had to sit down at the computer to write this story.
Maybe we'll make it big one day – that would certainly be a good thing. Actually, Mr. Long has a lot of good qualities. He slows me down and forces me to keep calm and not think too much about tomorrow. Yep. Once in a while, I think he's quite nice, my Mr. Long.”
» to Part 1
