**Abstract**

Back in March 2020 I became ill with COVID-19. It almost killed me. My journey with the illness is documented publicly and I am featured in New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post and People Magazine to name a few publications. Health Magazine named me one of seven African American women unsung heroes of COVID-19. Last year in 2021 I was invited to address President Biden's COVID-19 Task Force Team. In the medical community, there is a pattern of treating people differently based on their gender, sexual orientation, age and disability status. COVID-19 shed light on the need for the medical community to shift to a modern outlook in the treatment of patients with invisible illnesses. In this chapter, I will discuss what is long COVID, findings from the BIPOC Long COVID Study, and how long COVID made invisible illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic Lyme disease and lupus visible. Recommendations are given on long COVID recovery.

**Keywords:** long COVID, medical gaslighting, invisible illness, African American, COVID-19, chronic fatigue syndrome, RECOVER, integrative medicine, health disparity
