Unrest
Not that I want this blog to become completely illness-centric, but I thought I'd mention that there's a documentary—winner of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award—officially coming to "select theaters" September 22 about people battling myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome and what that actually looks like. From the trailer, it looks like some of them are worse off on the spectrum than I am (100% bedridden and unable to even lift an arm to feed themselves most days), but it's harrowing to realize I'm part of their community.
I've had another big setback over the last month that culminated in me being hardly able to stand up most of last week. I made it to the doctor a few days ago, and she has put me back on some medication that we keep, in hopefulness, easing off of too soon. (Which is essentially the only way to track any progress.) That, plus an additional dietary tweak to help me digest and hopefully absorb more nutrients, has made me feel a little more human now. I hope I am back to where I was in June, and maybe this time those episodes of Category 10 gastrointestinal flareups combined with bone-crushing exhaustion that keeps me from standing up without assistance might be a thing of the past...? (I'll take Category 6 and bone-squeezing, instead, for 500, Alex.)
I'm planning to try to go see the documentary, called Unrest, and for once I'm betting people won't stare at the healthy-looking 30-something inexplicably shuffling out of the theater leaning heavily on her husband and stopping to catch her breath every few meters; they might just understand.
Here's to getting well.
P.S. It's maybe worth noting that, although the documentary ostensibly treats ME/CFS as a lifelong illness, I have found a specialist MD with an alternative approach (and a very large, ever-growing community of colleagues embracing the same philosophy of treating the root cause instead of masking symptoms with drugs) who has had many successes with CFS and other debilitating autoimmunity issues. Hopefully once I'm better, the only lifelong undertaking will be that, to maintain my health, I will be committed to a very proactively healthy lifestyle (cue soapbox: that I wish we all would embrace; see upcoming post) to better take care of my body in a world full of rampant pollution and careless chemicals and a great deal of uninformed medical opinions and outdated clinical practices in the face of burgeoning new illnesses.
[End soapbox.]
P.P.S Happy birthday, husband!!!
