International ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia Awareness Day: A letter to my illness

Today is International ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. As mentioned in Friday’s This is M.E. post, today I’m joining in with Sally’s #May12BlogBomb by sharing a letter to my illness. I have decided to include the Pelvic Congestion Syndrome in today’s post as I don’t believe it has an awareness day of it’s own and it is part of my life.

To my constant companions – ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia and Pelvic Congestion Syndrome,

It’s now been over a year since the three of you decided to make yourself known in the most painful way I could imagine. At the time I didn’t know who you were or what your presence would mean to me and my life, but I’ve been learning a lot in the last 13 months.

Before you were here I had a very active, fulfilling life. I worked fulltime in a job I was finding exciting and meaningful, through it I felt I was actually making a difference to how people in the local community viewed and interacted with the environment. I was also a regular attender at my local gym and spent weekends being active with my husband, either hiking, walking or riding most weekends. My husband and I were planning a safari holiday to Africa, which would have been this November. I was going to go see the Gorillas in the wild.

But you’ve changed all of that! Between the three of you, you have taken away my ability to be active, to consistently think clearly and even to get the right words out of my mouth a lot of the time.

All three of you cause constant pain to my body. I am always aching and if I do too much, or eat the wrong thing that ache can turn into sharp stabbing pains or fierce burning. Most days I have to cope with at least one part of my body being numb with pins and needles.

I’m no longer able to lift heavy things or participate in any intense form of exercise for any length of time. In fact, I can only walk for 15 – 20 minutes at a time without the pain levels rising.

Since you came into my life I have been unable to work. Although my doctor believes I am now ready to return back to work part time (3 half days a week), I still struggle to do more than half an hour of any mental or physical activity before I need a break, and I definitely can’t drive long distances yet.

ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia, I believe you two are the cause of my incapacity to think and participate in mental activities for any length of time. The brain fog and extreme fatigue/exhaustion that you cause make it simply impossible for me to focus for any length of time. For a while there you took away my ability to read at all, but recently we seem to have come to a comprimise. As long as I don’t read for too long (less than half an hour at a time) I can now read, but I don’t always remember what I’ve read for very long afterwards.

Thanks to the medicines I’m on to try and allieviate your symptoms, I have constant nausea which interferes with my ability to eat properly. Some days I may be too nauseous to eat anything, others I may feel like I need to constantly eat to feel OK. Again, we seem to have come to a compromise, if I eat 6 smaller meals each day you keep the nausea and bloating to a minimum.

I know so far this letter has been a list of complaints, the negative things you have brought into my life, but I’m also thankful to you, my chronic illnesses. You have helped me view the world differently.

Thanks to you I’ve gotten back in touch with my spiritual/emotional side that has been supressed due to lack of time in my busy life before you came to visit. I have the time to do yoga (for 12 minutes) and meditate daily.

I’m able to see what is really important to me, my family and my ability to help others. You may have made it so that I’m incapable of doing what I previously did in my busy, active life but I have found other ways to connect and to help. Because of you I was able to write the story for the Foggy Frog and the Pain Gang picture book and associated campaign.

You have given me the experience and the time to develop new skills in writing, drawing, advocating and sewing.

I have learnt (or at least I’m learning) to pace myself and use my energy wisely. I spend more time on looking after my health and caring for those around me than I previously did. Staying positive isn’t always easy but it is something I aim to do by remembering the good things I’m now able to do that I didn’t do before, and by remembering that nothing lasts forever.

My doctors don’t seem to know very much about you so this is a journey we’re taking together. Sometimes I feel very alone on this path but I remember you are always there and so is my family. I just need to remember to keep fighting for my rights and for the opportunities there are to minimise your impact on my life.

You may have stalled our plans to travel and to start a family, but no matter what happens I will fight for these plans. To me having a family of my own is one of the most important things that could happen to me. I am willing to go through a period of even more pain from you, Fibromyalgia and Pelvic Congestion Syndrome, if it means I have a child of my own to love and to care for. This is one dream that I will never give up on!

So, although you have brought me constant pain, extreme fatigue and brain fog (as well as many, many other symptoms that just confuse my doctors), I am grateful that you have come into my life. I have learnt so much from this experience so far, and will continue to learn as time goes on. I will find a way to live a reasonably active and fulfilling life again, even with the three of you here with me.

Thank you to my constant companions –  ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, and Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. You have made me strong.

Until next time,

Megan