Kathleen Houghton, an FMS/CFIDS sufferer, has
written an incredible article called "The Thief of Many Lives." It was
brought to my attention recently by a newsletter reader. You can find
Kathleen's thought-provoking article at
http://wwcoco.com/cfids/kathleenthief.html
It may seem negative, but she tells it like it is! If you have people in
your life who do not understand your illness, this article might be a great
help!!
Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are
"invisible" illnesses and don't get much sympathy. People are very caring and kind-hearted if they can SEE that
something is wrong--like a broken leg. So we have to keep on gently
educating the people in our lives--doctors, friends, family members, bosses--so
they can understand us a little better. (I must admit that if I didn't
have this illness myself, I would find it hard to accept in others too, because
from the outside it looks like laziness or malingering or even
hypochondria--all of which I have been accused of in years past!) So I
find articles like Kathleen's an excellent way of enlightening people about
FMS/CFIDS.
After receiving thousands of emails from all
over the world and hundreds of phone calls since 1996 when I got on the net, I
know that there are many people WORLDWIDE who are afflicted in EXACTLY THE SAME
WAY. They come from different lifestyles, cultures, dietary habits, etc.,
so my personal feeling is that FMS/CFIDS may be some kind of mycoplasma
infection--or even form of biological warfare. I am no expert,
however. There needs to be MUCH MORE RESEARCH about this illness that
is destroying the productivity of so many. It's a world-wide
epidemic. You will be turned down for health insurance coverage if you
have FMS on your chart, yet many doctors won't even acknowledge that it
exists. (Strange, isn't it?!)
The only people who understand FMS/CFIDS
are those of us who have it. As a 20+ year
veteran of this disorder (my FMS/CFIDS onset was in 1982 when I was a 30 year
old legal secretary), I have a website at http://www.fms-help.com The losses in
my life were tremendous in every area, so I am grateful to be a
fully functioning human being once again after so many years of disability,
pain, insomnia, fatigue and depression.
I continue to pray that God will help each of
us with FMS/CFIDS to find the right answers to help us deal with our unique
health challenges.
Blessings,
Dominie Bush