Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Sept 18, 2024 23:23:40 GMT
Easton teen gets treatment for long COVID in Arkansas thanks to community - Published Sept 18, 2024
EASTON, Md. —
An Easton family was able to travel to a holistic medical facility in Arkansas for much-needed treatment for a teenager suffering from long COVID, all thanks to help from the community.
When 11 News first met the Smith family, they were in a state of desperation and despair. Over the course of about two years, their now-14-year-old son, Dylan Smith, went from being an active, happy boy to bedridden with a feeding tube, suffering from chronic pain with pediatric long COVID.
Dylan told 11 News how he felt: "Basically laying down in a wheelchair, eyes shut, couldn't talk, couldn't move any part of my body. Basically, dead in a way."
Three months after receiving treatment -- that's not covered by insurance -- at the Spero Clinic in Fayetteville, Arkansas, his progress is remarkable. And, he's very much alive.
"I can move all of my body. I have the feeding tube out. I can talk, I can speak fully. Nerve pain is down to a zero, when it was at a 10," Dylan said.
"It's amazing isn't it? It's a miracle, it's a miracle," said Dylan's mother, Stacey Smith.
The Spero Clinic has been successful with pediatric long COVID patients by treating the vagus nerve, a key part of the nervous system.
For Dylan, progress was slow at first, but then, at the eight-week mark, it all changed.
"It's like his body just literally woke up," Stacey Smith said.
After years of laying in bed helpless and immobile, Dylan walked.
He has a message for other youths suffering from long COVID, who are in the depths of a despair he knows so well: "I want to give the message that there is hope, and that at least I know there is a place that can help you, that there is a life to be lived and this isn't going to be the life that you live for the rest of your days."
"It's been amazing, it really has," Stacey Smith said. "We have our son back."
Dylan will remain at the Spero Clinic for about another month to continue to regain strength and balance.
EASTON, Md. —
An Easton family was able to travel to a holistic medical facility in Arkansas for much-needed treatment for a teenager suffering from long COVID, all thanks to help from the community.
When 11 News first met the Smith family, they were in a state of desperation and despair. Over the course of about two years, their now-14-year-old son, Dylan Smith, went from being an active, happy boy to bedridden with a feeding tube, suffering from chronic pain with pediatric long COVID.
Dylan told 11 News how he felt: "Basically laying down in a wheelchair, eyes shut, couldn't talk, couldn't move any part of my body. Basically, dead in a way."
Three months after receiving treatment -- that's not covered by insurance -- at the Spero Clinic in Fayetteville, Arkansas, his progress is remarkable. And, he's very much alive.
"I can move all of my body. I have the feeding tube out. I can talk, I can speak fully. Nerve pain is down to a zero, when it was at a 10," Dylan said.
"It's amazing isn't it? It's a miracle, it's a miracle," said Dylan's mother, Stacey Smith.
The Spero Clinic has been successful with pediatric long COVID patients by treating the vagus nerve, a key part of the nervous system.
For Dylan, progress was slow at first, but then, at the eight-week mark, it all changed.
"It's like his body just literally woke up," Stacey Smith said.
After years of laying in bed helpless and immobile, Dylan walked.
He has a message for other youths suffering from long COVID, who are in the depths of a despair he knows so well: "I want to give the message that there is hope, and that at least I know there is a place that can help you, that there is a life to be lived and this isn't going to be the life that you live for the rest of your days."
"It's been amazing, it really has," Stacey Smith said. "We have our son back."
Dylan will remain at the Spero Clinic for about another month to continue to regain strength and balance.