Long Haul Hope - A Long Covid Podcast

Joseph Grabowski
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Health & Fitness

Long Haul Hope is a podcast about life with Long COVID. Hosted by Joe, a Long COVID patient since the start of the pandemic, this show offers honest conversations, personal stories, and encouragement for those navigating chronic illness and uncertainty. Not a medical podcast, but a place for connection, solidarity, and hope. Because even when answers are hard to find, we can still find strength in knowing we're not alone. 🎙️❤️

  1. Sep 5

    S2E3: Borrowing from Tomorrow

    Have you ever started feeling better after being sick, tried to get back to normal, and discovered later that maybe your body wasn't quite as ready as you thought? Living with Long COVID can feel a lot like that... except I don't always know when the bill is going to come due. In this episode, I talk about what it means to “borrow from tomorrow”: those days when I have a little more energy and have to decide whether to save it or spend it. Sometimes that means resting and protecting what little capacity I have. Other times, it means choosing the beautiful Saturday, the time with my wife, or the chance to feel normal for a little while -- even knowing there may be a cost. Because living with limited energy isn't just about learning how to rest. It's about figuring out how to live. How do we protect tomorrow without completely sacrificing today? If you're living with Long COVID or another chronic illness, what does “borrowing from tomorrow” look like for you? I'd love to hear from you. Connect with Long Haul Hope at longhaulhope.com.

    S2E3: Borrowing from Tomorrow

  2. Aug 26

    S2E2: Living on 19%

    LIVING ON 19% Have you ever left home with your phone at 19% and realized you needed to make that battery last all day? That's one of the best ways I've found to explain Long COVID fatigue. In this episode, I share what living on limited energy actually feels like for me—when showering, thinking, driving, listening, or even having a conversation can carry a cost. I talk about the difference between being tired and experiencing debilitating fatigue and malaise, the grief of having more meaningful relationships than I have energy to maintain, and why sometimes disappearing isn't rejection. Sometimes it's 19%. Most importantly, I want to challenge one of the most damaging assumptions about chronic fatigue: Fatigue is not a choice. It is not laziness. It is not apathy. And it is not a moral failure. I also talk about the difference informed support can make, and one simple thing friends and family can do when someone they love is running on limited power: Believe their battery meter. Meet them where they are. If you're living with Long COVID or another energy-limiting chronic illness, I'd love to hear from you: What does 19% mean for you today? And if you support someone living with chronic illness, what have you learned about meeting them where they are? Share your story, your lessons, or a spark of hope at: joe@longhaulhope.com Because sometimes the people around us can't recharge our battery—but they can make it a little easier to live with the charge we have.

    S2E2: Living on 19%

  3. Aug 5

    S2E1: Still Holding Onto Hope

    Still Holding Onto Hope | Season 2, Episode 1 After a three-year absence, Long Haul Hope returns. In this Season Two premiere, Joe reflects on the gap between good intentions and reality, a gap many people living with Long COVID know all too well. What began as a short break after Season One turned into years of setbacks, a reinfection, early retirement, and a season of uncertainty unlike anything he expected. But this episode isn't just about where he's been. It's about what remains when so much has changed. Drawing on the story of the Chilean miners, Joe explores the nature of hope in prolonged darkness, the power of community, and why even the smallest ember still carries the potential to become something more. Season Two will feature shorter, more focused episodes exploring life with Long COVID, identity, purpose, practical tools, emerging research, community stories, and reasons for hope. I'd love to hear from you. What has helped keep your spark of hope alive? Share your story, your lessons, or your source of encouragement at: 📧 joe@longhaulhope.com Because sometimes hope is something we borrow from one another.

    S2E1: Still Holding Onto Hope

  4. 01/06/2023

    S1E8: Finding the Good Amid the Bad

    When you look back over the chaos and anxiety of the past few years, can you identify any positive outcomes that may not have otherwise happened had the pandemic never existed? In this episode, I share two of my own that I am ever so thankful for. Bad times come and bad times go, but the question is - can we find the beauty among the ashes? Long Haul Hope is available on most of the major podcast platforms -- Amazon, Anchor.fm, Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube. You can also listen directly from LongHaulHope.com. Please feel free to contact me at joe@longhaulhope.com or via Facebook and Twitter. I'd love to hear from you! Also, please do check out my friend Julie's podcast, Living with Long covid (buzzsprout.com).

  5. 09/08/2022

    S1E7: Long Covid and the Workforce (News Updates)

    This episode covers two recent and related news stories about a recent report estimating that as many as 4 million Americans may be out of the workforce as a result of Long Covid. While this is an alarming statistic, there are sparks of hope to be found within the data and the potential implications if the government, the health care industry, and the labor market truly begin to take Long Covid and other post-viral conditions seriously.  New data shows long Covid is keeping as many as 4 million people out of work (brookings.edu) Long COVID: With as many as 4M out of work, how can they come back? (msn.com) Long Haul Hope is available on most of the major podcast platforms -- Amazon, Anchor.fm, Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube. You can also listen directly from LongHaulHope.com. Please feel free to contact me at joe@longhaulhope.com or via Facebook and Twitter. I'd love to hear from you! Also, please do check out my friend Julie's podcast, Living with Long covid (buzzsprout.com).

    S1E7: Long Covid and the Workforce (News Updates)

  6. 08/23/2022

    S1E6: Yes, No, Maybe So, and I Don't Know

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. This is life with Long Covid. Much like living through the pandemic, just when we think we have found some stability and a "new normal" (getting to hate that term!), some new and unwelcome plot twist is introduced. In this episode, I share some personal updates in my journey and share a reminder to myself and to anyone who needs to hear the best answer to the resigned overwhelmed question, "What does it matter?" Long Haul Hope is available on most of the major podcast platforms -- Amazon, Anchor.fm, Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube. You can also listen directly from LongHaulHope.com. Please feel free to contact me at joe@longhaulhope.com or via Facebook and Twitter. I'd love to hear from you!

    S1E6: Yes, No, Maybe So, and I Don't Know

  7. 07/23/2022

    S1E5: Self-Compassion

    If we don't show compassion to ourselves, who will? In this episode, I discuss the importance of having self-compassion instead of seeing ourselves through the distorted lens of self-condemnation. Long Haul Hope is now available on most of the major podcast platforms -- Amazon, Anchor.fm, Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube. You can also listen from LongHaulHope.com. Please feel free to contact me at joe@longhaulhope.com or via Facebook and Twitter. I'd love to hear from you!

    S1E5: Self-Compassion

  8. 07/18/2022 ·  Bonus

    S1 Bonus: Traveling Through the Fog

    A few thoughts while driving through a foggy Monday morning...

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Long Haul Hope is a podcast about life with Long COVID. Hosted by Joe, a Long COVID patient since the start of the pandemic, this show offers honest conversations, personal stories, and encouragement for those navigating chronic illness and uncertainty. Not a medical podcast, but a place for connection, solidarity, and hope. Because even when answers are hard to find, we can still find strength in knowing we're not alone. 🎙️❤️

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