by Jody Smith International ME/CFS and FM Awareness Day 2019 has grown from an idea conceived by Thomas Hennessy, Jr. back in 1992. He chose the date of May 12 because it was the birthday of army nurse and Red Cross founder Florence Nightingale, who lived with an unidentified chronic illness for the last 50 years of her life. This
ContinueWhy Is it so Hard to Learn New Things With ME/CFS?
by Jody Smith On good days, I mostly operate on cruise control, with the occasional moment of brilliance and quite a bit of vegetative regeneration. I can handle most things especially if they are routine and familiar. Bring in something new, though, or something I haven’t dealt with for awhile and it’s a whole new ball game. One I don’t
ContinueWhy Is Music So Hard for People With ME/CFS?
by Jody Smith Oh, how I love music! This magic can lift our spirits and calm our weary minds. Maybe it can even help us heal. Goodness knows, we who live with ME/CFS need these things. We’re probably not getting much of this elsewhere. So if music is so good for us, why is it so hard to have it
ContinueOur Newly Ill Face Their First Holiday Season with ME/CFS
by Jody Smith Don’t look now! The holiday season is on its way. I’ve lived through decades of them with ME/CFS. So have many of you in our chronically ill community. That’s beyond sad for all of us. But at least we have some idea what we’re contending with, and have learned our ways of handling it … or not.
ContinueME/CFS and the Change of Seasons: How Does This Affect You?
The advent of autumn can hit Jody Smith pretty hard. She’s learned a few ways to lessen the damage every year. How do you handle the change of seasons? Summer is my best season, hands down. Fewer ME/CFS symptoms get in my way. After a while, I tend to forget that this is a summer hiatus … but I am reminded around the
ContinueAugust 8th, 2018: Understanding and Remembrance Day for Severe ME
Have you heard of our Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Day of Understanding and Remembrance? Please join Jody Smith in observing this day and honoring the 25% of those with ME/CFS who are most severely ill. Can you read these words I’ve written on this page? Good. Then you know that I am NOT an example of the extremely ill with ME/CFS.
ContinueInternational ME/CFS and FM Awareness Day Is On May 12, 2018
by Jody Smith Thomas Hennessy, Jr., selected May 12th to be our international awareness day back in 1992. He knew that May 12th had also been the birthday of Florence Nightingale. She was the English army nurse who helped to found the Red Cross as well as the first school of nursing in the world. It is a lesser known
ContinueWhen the ‘Holiday Season’ Is No Holiday at all for Those With ME/CFS
by Jody Smith The holiday season just doesn’t live up to the hype, especially for the chronically ill and their caregivers. You people with ME/CFS know all too well what I’m talking about. I am one of the lucky ones, and I know it. My symptoms are generally mild and while they keep my life small, I’m able to do
ContinueSevere ME Day of Understanding and Remembrance: Aug. 8, 2017
Determined to paper the Internet with articles about ME, Jody Smith brings some additional focus to Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Day of Understanding and Remembrance on Aug. 8, 2017 … Once again, August 8 is important for those of us with ME, especially for those whose illness is quite severe. I’ve seen Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Day of Understanding and Remembrance in a few
ContinueInvest in ME Conference 12: First Class in Every Way
OverTheHills wraps up our series of articles on this year’s 12th Invest in ME International Conference (IIMEC12) in London with some reflections on her experience as a patient attending the conference for the first time. Friday the 2nd of June was a big day for me, I’d never been to a medical research conference before, and I’d been looking forward
ContinueThe 12th Invest in ME Research Conference June, 2017, Part 2
MEMum presents the second article in a series of three about the recent 12th Invest In ME International Conference (IIMEC12) in London. The 12th Invest in ME International ME Conference (IIMEC12) was held at One Great George Street on Friday June 2nd, 2017. You can view the full conference agenda (with photos and biographies of the speakers) here and the
ContinueThe 12th Invest in ME Conference, Part 1
OverTheHills presents the first article in a series of three about the recent 12th Invest In ME international Conference (IIMEC12) in London. The 12th Invest in ME International ME Conference (IIMEC12) was held at One Great George Street on Friday June 2nd, 2017. You can view the full conference agenda (with photos and biographies of the speakers) here and the
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