CORONAVIRUS

Utah Woman Uses Art To Cope With Long-Term Effects Of COVID-19

May 14, 2021, 6:38 PM | Updated: Apr 14, 2023, 5:16 pm

SALEM, Utah — A Salem woman has turned to art to find some help with her post-COVID struggles.

Amy Cuddeback knows she still has a long way to go in her recovery, but in the meantime, she wants other long haulers to know help is out there.

“This one is acrylic and this one is oil that I’m using right now,” she said while getting ready to paint in her Salem home. “It’s a way that I can express myself.”

You can say a lot with those brush strokes, especially when seemingly everything else gets to be too much.

“I just got off of bed rest for a week where I couldn’t do anything cognitively,” she said. “So, nothing on the phone, no talking, just laying in my room. No TV.”

Cuddeback had COVID-19 last October.

Even though she beat it, she’s one of those still suffering from its long-term effects.

“I was healthy before — running marathons, hiking, walking every day three miles and doing yoga,” said Cuddeback.

Now, even the smallest physical activity drains her energy.

It’s to the point where she’s often not there for her children.

“That’s the hardest part,” she said. “Not have me at their important moments in their life. My daughter had a play last week that I had to miss. Her first play.”

Thanks to a Utah COVID Long Haulers Facebook page, though, Cuddeback found help.

“If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t have my provider that’s been calling me daily to check in,” said Cuddeback.

She also created a COVID painting where she used words from members of that group who described what they’re going through.

The individual words — such as pain, suffering, and embarrassment — were painted on spikes.

The painting shows long haulers are all in this together and they’re not alone.

“Those people that are suffering and they don’t know where to go, there are places to go,” said Cuddeback. “I just want others to listen to us and to show some empathy. We’re still suffering.”

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Utah Woman Uses Art To Cope With Long-Term Effects Of COVID-19