I Can Relate

I decided to revisit that article about chronic fatigue( ME) by Keith Kahn Harris .
The link is in my Monday post. . There are parallels to MS.

Here's an excerpt :

"With my failed attempts to live a normal life, I was in many ways fulfilling social expectations of what it means to be a good patient. Think of Jane Tomlinson, who, despite terminal cancer, spent the years before her death last year engaged in heroic athletic challenges. Tomlinson was and is widely admired for never giving in and for pushing herself, and in 2007 she received a CBE for her efforts. She is an example of what our society expects: that illness should be fought. Yet while this model is appropriate for some people, it cannot work for everyone or for every type of illness. With ME you cannot run a marathon.

But many people assume ME is an illness to be combated like any other. Long tagged with the disparaging "yuppie flu" label, there is enormous ignorance of what it is and what patients go through. Although an estimated 240,000 people in the UK suffer from ME, its effects are chronic and invisible. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, muscle pain, sleep difficulties and memory problems. About 25% of sufferers are housebound or bed-bound. ME is often accompanied by isolation and prejudice. The prognosis for ME sufferers is varied; some recover fully, but many do not. Even in its milder forms, ME can devastate lives and destroy" careers."

I often have to deal with isolation and prejudice . Mostly at work and to some degree with family and friends. It's partly my own fault.I can't handle being around people sometimes.

Next week is ME awareness week.

Now I have to catch up with postcards. Have some going to Japan , Estonia and Finland.