SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who's been dealing with debilitating symptoms from Long-COVID says there's finally hope on the horizon for him — and for others in his same position.
It was five years ago this week when Chris Larsen of Spanish Fork got COVID-19.
"It was March of 2020, right in the beginning," he said.
He said it didn't hit him that hard initially. But about a year later, his symptoms came on again and left him without the ability to even do simple cognition.
"It's been pretty disruptive, I guess. Pretty life-changing," Larsen said.
This husband and father of four young girls says it even forced him to take a leave from his job as an account executive at a local software company.
"It pretty much changed everything we do… for at least parts of it, bed-bound or at least homebound," he said.
Larsen spoke to FOX 13 News just before he boarded a plane to Florida, where he found a treatment that he says has made all the difference in his health journey.
"I actually found it on YouTube, believe it or not," Larsen said, adding that he was even suspicious initially, but a lack of progress caused him to be more willing to listen to what he was finding online.
"Long COVID has very much been a patient-led effort, so there’s a lot of internet forums and things like that you mine around and find things like that," He said.
He had heard about hyperbaric treatments being used on burn patients and knew that could be helpful in the healing process.
"I followed the data to see if they got results, and they did," he said.
Larsen said thanks to the help of a GoFundMe effort and the support of his employer and his wife and daughters, he decided to push pause on his regular life and head to Florida to the Aviv Clinic in The Villages for four months to try the treatments that he hoped would help his "brain fog" and cognitive issues that came after his symptoms only persisted.
"My initial brain scans show some dysfunction in terms of blood flow and activity, so part of the issue is lack of blood flow to the brain. You force oxygen into the places oxygen isn’t getting, saturate with oxygen and the body heals much better that way," he explained.
Larsen said his initial brain scans seemed to show issues as though he had a series of mini-strokes. He took part in the treatments and was eventually able to set up a makeshift office in the home he rented near the clinic that he attended regularly.
"Results for me are definitely worth it. Still got a long way to go, but definitely worth it," he said.
Larsen says he's grateful he was able to do this, knowing that it's not a possibility for so many others. Right now, it's not covered by insurance and hard to completely move away from home to try it. He's hopeful about rumors that the clinic may come to Utah and believes that could help so many still dealing with symptoms and issues in this area.
FOX 13 News reached out to Aviv to find out if there are any plans to open facilities in Salt Lake City or surrounding areas. Their marketing director sent us the following statement: "We are always looking at locations to expand Aviv Clinics across the country, though we do not have any updates about any specific locations at this time."
