© 2011 TSM
Last weeks blog triggered e-mails from patients who were firmly in either the ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ recover camps. As one might guess, most of the opinions seemed to be related to whether or not each had been able to recover. Laura Hillenbrand was mentioned frequently by the ‘can’t’ camp. Here’s a link to her article about her illness. http://www.cfids-cab.org/MESA/Hillenbrand.html Leigh Hatcher was a favorite of the ‘can’ camp. Here’s a link to his website. http://www.notcrazy.net/
And then there was the rest, fence sitters who were hopeful and wanted recovery to be possible.
For me, I keep coming back to what I feel is so unfair about this ME/CFS diagnosis. The fact the even though thousands of patients get this label, they actually don’t all have the same disease. So using the same protocol and approach, two patients can have completely different outcomes. Or one has great success and the other minimal improvement. Yes, I believe that ME/CFS patients can recover. Can they all recover using the same treatment? No. Can they recover using the same strategies? Call me crazy but my answer is yes.
My training as a health professional drilled into me two things: first, despite all the marvelous progress that medicine had made over the last century, we still only know and understand a small portion of the intricacies of the human body. Second, the way that we learn things is to collect data, hypothesize, test, evaluate and then collect more data, etc.
My next blog will focus on personal data collection (yes, I keep harping on this) and successful strategies. Have you developed any strategies that work for you? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
And then there was the rest, fence sitters who were hopeful and wanted recovery to be possible.
For me, I keep coming back to what I feel is so unfair about this ME/CFS diagnosis. The fact the even though thousands of patients get this label, they actually don’t all have the same disease. So using the same protocol and approach, two patients can have completely different outcomes. Or one has great success and the other minimal improvement. Yes, I believe that ME/CFS patients can recover. Can they all recover using the same treatment? No. Can they recover using the same strategies? Call me crazy but my answer is yes.
My training as a health professional drilled into me two things: first, despite all the marvelous progress that medicine had made over the last century, we still only know and understand a small portion of the intricacies of the human body. Second, the way that we learn things is to collect data, hypothesize, test, evaluate and then collect more data, etc.
My next blog will focus on personal data collection (yes, I keep harping on this) and successful strategies. Have you developed any strategies that work for you? Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them. You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.
Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays. And consider being part of the conversation.
Be Well Again,
Martha
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