This page is for you who has Long Covid as well as you who is healthy and would like to read a personal story about how this virus can affect a person over time, both physically and mentally.

My name is Nanda and I believe in the power of sharing, vulnerability and honesty. From this space I have chosen to write and publish my experience of having Long Covid. Tens of thousands of people have read my writing so far and I have received an overwhelming amount of feedback (thank you!) on the value of it, which touches me deeply.

I have therefore decided to create this page which contains an overview of my different writings about Long Covid so they are easy to find based on what you want to read about (click on the headlines to read the full articles).

If my writing resonates with you,feel free to share it in your circles.

I sincerely hope that my words can be of help or inspiration to you!

With love ♥

Long Covid – WHYLD Podcast
February 2023

I was invited to be guest at the WHYLD Podcast – a new experience for me! Listen to it here (full article + podcast)

Long Covid – My Talk
December 2021

I’ve made a talk about my experience with Long Covid, the challenges I faced and the insights I gained. Here is more information about my talk. (full article)

My Corona Chronicles
March 2020 – August 2021 + January – May 2023

Week 2: The Elephant on my Lungs

After a growing sense of being ill with different (weird) symptoms for nine days, I woke up in the middle of the night and could hardly breathe. I seriously thought I was going to die. Here is what I did in this acute situation and what helped me cope. (full article)

Week 4: Thoughts from my Cocoon

After a month of being really ill, it felt like I was inside a cocoon where everything was upside down and nothing in my life felt certain anymore. I found some great tips on how to deal with experiencing the so-called liminal space of being and the value of truly letting go. (full article)

Week 6: A Covid-19 Update

From pretty much declaring myself healthy after six weeks, I suddenly experienced a major relapse in symptoms that made me end up in a Corona-tent outside the hospital. I was checked out and sent home with orders to fully rest. It made me reflect upon gratitude for life. (full article)

Week 9: Covid-19: My Tips and Insights

I declared myself healthy and decided to share my tips and insights I gained from having covid-19. Oh, how happy I was! Little did I know that it was far from over… (full article)

Week 10: Corona Brain

Major relapse AGAIN. This time I experienced severe brain fog. I decided to call it Corona Brain. This is when anxiety started with thoughts such as What if I will never get rid of this completely? Apart from difficulty to breathe, Corona Brain is by far the worst and most scary symptom I have experienced so far. Here is my description on how Corona Brain felt for me. (full article)

Week 11: Boring the Virus to Death

By this time I hardly recognized my body anymore as it had so many different symptoms. So how did I cope with all of them at the same time and not lose my mind completely? Here is a description of a major key I found in dealing with covid-19 symptoms. (full article)

Week 11: Voices of Covid-19

I joined several online support groups for people with covid-19 and the stories of thousands of people all over the world were shocking to read. As these groups are private, I decided I wanted to compile some of these voices (anonymously of course) in an attempt to raise awareness for the group of people who are dealing with long-haul covid-19. I wrote about people’s voices in English, Swedish and Dutch as well as listed links to different online support groups. (full article)

Week 12: Glittery Dinosaur in Space

Finally the news covered a positive event! The SpaceX launch inspired me tremendously and made me reflect on our incredible capacity as human beings to achieve pretty much anything. I realized that I have a choice where I put my focus in the midst of my ongoing symptoms and that gave me some relief. (full article)

Week 13: The Human Experience of Covid-19

I noticed that many people aren’t believed by their family/friends and even doctors so I felt the need to explain, once and for all: Covid-19 is a physical problem, not a spiritual or mental one. I wrote about my biggest resource in dealing with long-haul covid-19. (full article)

Week 14: Radical Resting

Spoon theory! I’d never heard of it but it really helped me a lot in dealing with post viral fatigue. Here is what the Spoon-theory is about and how you can use it to deal with post viral fatigue. (full article)

Week 15: The Guesthouse

Day 105. I celebrate small physical victories (a walk on my street!) while at the same time keeping focus on my mental health and describe what helps me at this moment today. (full article)

Week 16: Life of a Long-Hauler

I realize that I haven’t worn jeans or a bra since March 12^th and I sat down to calculate how many episodes of different TV series I have seen so far (hint: it’s crazy). Here is a list of (weird) details of my life these days. Also, a deep respect for anyone who is dealing with serious health conditions…! (full article)

Week 17: Resilient Surfer

Fighter, warrior. Victim, sufferer. I notice that these words are sometimes used to describe people with covid-19 (or any other health condition really). I feel a resistance towards these words and inquired into why this is. (full article)

Week 18: Healing From Long Covid

I’m having more and more good days! I also inquired into my sadness and what it means to have a loving attitude towards myself. (full article)

Week 19: Accepting Long Covid

Three years ago, I took a six-month timeout and moved to a little village by the sea in Spain because I wanted to know what would happen in my life if I stopped all doing and started just being. It turns out: I don’t have to move to another country to learn about myself and being in life, having Long Covid fixes that for me, right here at home as well! Here are some more insights and two things that help me greatly in my recovery. (full article)

Week 20: Greetings From Noisy Village

For the first time in five months I had the energy to leave my house in Stockholm and travel to the Swedish countryside to stay at a house in Astrid Lindgren’s Bullerbyn (Noisy Village). I notice how out of touch I feel with living a ‘normal’ life and how I’m still fearful of relapsing. (full article)

Week 22: Shell-shocked

A part of me feels like a soldier returning home from having fought a war. I realize I need time in order for my body to heal and process everything that’s happened for the past 5.5 months. I also find a thread in all my stories about covid-19 and the gift I believe this experience has given me. (full article)

Week 24: Long Covid: My Tips And Insights

On the day that marks six months for me, I decided to write an addition to my previous Tips & Insights-post that I wrote in Week 9 (when I thought it was all behind me). A lot has happened since then and there is a huge difference between being ill for nine weeks and being ill for six months, I have noticed. So here are five more tips and insights from me. (full article)

Week 26: The Gift Of Long Covid

I feel incredibly alive! I also feel that Long Covid is one of the biggest gifts of my life (I realize that this might be a provocative statement to some of you). Here is my answer to why I feel this way. (full article)

Week 27: The Social Dilemma Of Long Covid

How do I know which information about covid-19 and Long Covid is true? This is a question I have asked myself a lot over the past months. After watching the Netflix documentary /The Social Dilemma_ I was once again made super-aware of ‘the dark side of tech’ as it highlights a global situation that I believe deserves to be placed right next to climate change in terms of its threat to us as human beings. Here is why I feel this way. (full article)

Week 28: Touchdown

Apparently this is my being-inspired-by-stuff-I-see-on-Netflix period. This time I watched Away with Hilary Swank about (spoiler alert!) the first humans to land on Mars. Complete fiction of course but still it made me ugly-cry in front of my TV as I somehow connect the story of the series to my own journey of the past 28 weeks. (full article)

Week 29: Long Covid Feelings

I feel a bit all over the place this week. My 100^th blog post and #23 of these Corona Chronicles that now have been read more than 20.000 times by people from all over the world (!). Here is how I (try to) cope with my reality today. (full article)

Week 31: Time

I feel like I’ve lost my acceptance. This frustrates me! Here is how I used my own words to get out of the hole I dug myself into. (full article)

Week 32: Windows

I discovered a brilliant website that allows me to virtually open different windows all over the world. I noticed how soothing this feels for me and also how it inspires me to just be. (full article)

Week 33: Moving forward

I haven’t reached the top of my mountain yet, but I’m getting close! This is my story about mountain-climbing, turtle-stepping my way through Long Covid and what I’m saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to these days. (full article)

Week 35: A Long Covid Update

I found new words to describe how Long Covid feels (it includes lots of fish-references). I also noticed how a sudden ‘normal’ illness unexpectedly became a huge relief for my body and….well, yes: the US elections also became a part of this update. (full article)

Week 38: At Home

8+ months in, 95% “there”. This week I wrote about awareness and how covid is teaching me to be in my body. (full article)

Week 40: It Is What It Is

It is my 9-month covidaversary. 2020 has been my annus horribilis but has also given me so much insights and wisdom! Here is the last part of these Corona Chronicles for this year. To be continued in 2021… (full article)

Week 44: My Life At Home – An Update

I’m almost “there” now, I can feel it clearly. But I’ve said it before, so let’s see what happens. Here is an update about my (crazy) life at home these days. (full article)

Week 45: The Marathon Of Today

A part of me has checked out, I noticed, and it often lives inside the world of Netflix and books these days. Here is my exploration about why I feel this way. (full article)

Week 47: The Light And Darkness Of Long Covid

After almost 11 months of Long Covid, I ask myself this question: am I (unconsciously) keeping myself from recovering fully? This is my answer. (full article)

Week 48: Stillness

I tried Bioresonance (an alternative healing treatment) which turned out quite interesting and I also find myself more and more in stillness these days. Here is my status of this week, 11 months in and closing in on the one year-mark. (full article)

One Year: My Covidversary

So here it is, a full year of experiencing covid-19 and its long-term effects. I feel fragile and super strong at the same time. Here is my reflection upon my covidversary. (full article)

First-Waver – How I Feel Today

The spring season and me are incredibly in sync at the moment! I love connecting my body to the earth and connecting with the nature in my garden helps me in my healing from the experience of being a first-waver (a person who got ill during a time when there was little to no understanding or support for Long Covid). (full article)

Hope

We celebrate the arrival of springtime in Sweden and these days, at least on the outside, it looks a lot like I’m living my ‘normal’ life again. However I still can’t declare myself 100% healthy. Here is why and what gives me hope these days. (full article)

Vaccine Envy

I feel that I cannot truly put covid-19 and Long Covid behind me until I have taken the vaccine and dealt with any possible side-effects that I might get from it. Here is how I’m doing these days, roughly 15 months since I got ill. (full article)

First Vaccine Shot: What Happened To Me

I got my first vaccine shot and was completely terrified. Not of the injection, but of what would happen in my body afterwards. Would it trigger a major relapse? Here is how it went and how my fear is connected to trauma. (full article)

Fully Vaxxed – Where Is The Confetti

I am ‘hybrid protected’ now (meaning I am fully vaxxed and had the virus). I should be over the moon but instead I feel pretty numb. Here is why. (full article)

The End Of Long Covid

It’s been 500 days since I started these Corona Chronicles and now it’s time to close this chapter of my life. My body has needed 71 weeks and two vaccinations to return to a state from which I can live my life pretty much like ‘normal’ again. I am beyond grateful to be alive. Here is the last part of my Corona Chronicles. (full article)

Wintering

2 years and 9 months have passed. As much as I want to close the covid-chapter of my life, I realize that I can’t because I’m still wintering. (full article)

Long Covid Aftermath

3+ years and I notice how certain things trigger me today that have nothing to do with my present reality but everything to do with my Long Covid-life. (full article)

Thank you for reading!

Photo: Me in my garden in week 14 – made on canva.com