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Elizabeth Turp has written a book called "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME" for sufferers of CFS/ME and the people who care about them. A book on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME is a challenge for any writer because CFS/ME is a complex illness for which insufficient research has been done to this point.
The ME stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis, another name used for this condition.
CFS/ME is a life-stopping illness that can ransack decades of the sufferer's life, affecting their ability to think, to breathe, to stand on their feet. It steals jobs and beloved pastimes, separates parents from their children, and distances friends and families.
A person with CFS/ME can easily find themselves without support, often with the realization that people around them don't believe they are really ill, convinced that it's all in their heads (whatever that means) or that they're just taking the easy way out.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME is not the easy way out of anything. It is a harrowing illness causing damage that can last a lifetime. It is not well understood by the world at large, or the average reader. I've had CFS/ME for 18 years and I don't even pretend to understand it.
Turp has also had CFS/ME, and says she has recovered. This statement may be challenged by many who believe it's impossible to recover from this condition.
Speaking as a person with CFS/ME who is well on the road to recovery myself, there is often a shadow in the background, an unanswerable question as to whether or not it can last, or whether one more crash will swallow up all the ground that had been regained.
But this question can only be answered with the passage of time. And recovery, with or without a guarantee, is very sweet.
Writing a book about CFS/ME after having gone through the wringer of this illness is an enormous task. Turp has met this challenge with success.
Her book should be read by those with CFS/ME who are trying to find a way out. It should be read by people who care for sufferers of CFS/ME, who want to understand, and who want to help the people they care about.
Turp seems to have tried to think of every possible eventuality and addressed each in detail. It shines through in every page that she has likely borne the brunt of most or all of these scenarios herself, and is bent on doing what she can to protect others from the experience.
If you've come up against the brick wall that is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME, having the disease yourself or loving someone who does, Turp's book is worth the read.
Turp is practical above all else. In dealing with an illness that leaves the victim stymied and unable to function, perhaps unable to sit up in bed, and often unable to think clearly for any length of time, coping with even the simple basics of life can be beyond them.
Turp is clear. The person living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME is in a dire position. If you know someone with CFS/ME, don't leave them to try to deal with it alone.
And if you know someone with CFS/ME, read Turp's book, roll up your sleeves, and find a way to make their life more bearable.
Visit Jody's website and blog at http://www.ncubator.ca and http://ncubator.ca/blogger
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March 24, 2014 - 3:33amThis Comment