Rob Schuchert

I got COVID in May of 2020 and November of 2020. It started in May with me having Vertigo for 4 days and could not get out of bed; then, two weeks later, I tried to cut the grass, and within a minute or two I could not breathe. I went to see my family doctor, and then was sent to a lung doctor and ENT. The ENT told me that the Covid if had damaged the nerve in my inner ear to my brain, and there was nothing that could be done about this. After four rounds of physical therapy, I finally got my walking better, where I wasn't weaving back and forth. I was diagnosed with Vestibular Neuritis. I finally got in a long-haul COVID program at Washington University/ Barnes Hospital in St Louis. I saw my 3rd lung Dr at Barnes. At that time, my lung capacity was down to about 30%, and they were getting ready to put me on the list for a double lung transplant. The doctor put me on large doses of Prednisone. I was on 30 to 40kg of Prednisone for almost a year; after that, my lungs started to clear a little, and my lung capacity improved. I was diagnosed with Bronchiolitis Obliterans. My lung capacity is still only about 50 to 60%, and I am still out of breath when I do anything. I still have Vertigo most of the time. Some days are better than others; sometimes I am in bed for a couple of days to a week. I also have Tinnitus. I have this almost all the time. I also have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that is continuous. Some days it is so bad I can hardly put one foot in front of the other, and I end up in bed or in the recliner. You would think being fatigued, you would lie down and fall asleep, but that is another one of my problems: I cannot sleep. Also, I'm nauseated most of the time. I have started using Ginger chews that seem to help. I've lost count of how many doctors I've seen, and none of them really have any answers. I worked 31 years for the Illinois Department of Corrections at Menard Correctional Center; it is Max security. I figured if I could get out of there and retire without getting killed or losing my mind, it would all be gravy after that. I also had my own locksmith business that I was running for 20 years, and I had to close the shop due to me having COVID. The plan was that after I'd retired, we would travel and enjoy life, but then 6 ½ years ago everything changed. A trip to the Doctor in St Louis, which is about a 4-hour round trip, just destroys me. So we really don't do much. We go to doctor's appointments and church on Saturday night, and that's about it. I have no appetite food that I used to love to eat has no taste. I feel like I'm losing my mind. I know I have depression; I'm seeing a doctor in a couple of weeks; hopefully he gets something for that. I don't really blame my doctors for not knowing what to do because I don't think anybody knows what to do. I would be more than willing to testify at a congressional hearing, but I would have to do it on some type of a Zoom hook-up; there's no way I could make that trip. Not to make this a political issue, but I feel that Trump did not do enough when this started; they should have acted sooner, and maybe it wouldn't have been this bad. Rob Schuchert 64 years old. There's a lot more I could tell you, but it's just too much to type. If you want to talk to me. I live in Chester, Illinois. One thing that really still gets to me is if I see somebody when I do get out, they ask, 'How do you feel? Are you all over COVID?' Or they'll say Did you take the COVID vaccine I tell them yes, and they say, 'Oh, that's why you got COVID because you took the vaccine. I swear, the next person that tells me that I'm gonna punch him in the head as hard as I can. People have no idea what I'm going through. If they could live in my body for just a day or two they would have a whole different outlook on this. This has ruined my life. My greatest asset is my wife Pam. She is a nurse, and she is the only thing that has really gotten me through this. One more thing to add: my lung doctor put me on an antibiotic in the first part of the year 20222 I had a severe reaction to it and got sepsis three times. The first time, Pam got me to the ER; my blood pressure was 60 over 32, and my temperature was 102.9. I was in the hospital on and off for 16 days. They finally figured out I had drug fever from the antibiotic, So that was a lot of fun. Appreciate what you guys are doing, and I hope it helps