[CO-CURE] ACT: CFS - The Thief of Many Lives

[Guest guest]

I have begun to get a number of requests again (must

be because we are nearing May 12th) for " The Thief of

Many Lives " which is a CFIDS summary I wrote several

years back, though I revised it this year.

I am posting it below and encourage all to pass it on

(in it's entirety) to others where you feel it would

be appropriate.

Thank you,

Kathy (in Alaska)

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The Thief of Many Lives

I am constantly on the prowl in search of new victims.

I do not discriminate---health care workers, teachers,

students, airline personnel, teens, moms, dads, and

innocent children are my prey. If you are dynamic

and have a lust for life, I will seek you out, and I

will find you.

Just when you are at the peak of your endeavors,

climbing that career ladder or building your family

and home, I will find you. There is nothing that you

have in your life today that I am not capable of

destroying

tomorrow, your career, your education, your goals,

your dreams, your family, and your life. I will have

it all. I will strip you of your ability to function

at any level above minimal, and from this day on you

will

refer to that minimal as a " good day. "

I have the ability to create an invalid out of you

overnight, and I will. It will take a marathon effort

for you just to get out of bed. At a cellular level

your immune system will be in a constant war battling

itself and unnamed viruses, which will painfully be

replicating in your brain. I promise you, I will bring

you despair along with pain, isolation and losses

far beyond what you can ever imagine. Your mind will

be in a constant " fogged " state, your expression will

be

unable to express, and your eyes will have a

noticeable " glazed over/drugged out " look. You will

find it most difficult to pay attention, concentrate,

or even process the simplest of thoughts. Making

change

from a dollar may well be beyond your ability now.

Your mouth may feel like it is full of marbles when

you try to speak, as your tongue twists and nothing

you try to say comes out right. Who would believe your

level of

education when you can't even string enough words

together to make a complete sentence ... or one that

makes any sense for that matter. I promise, I will

bring you at any unsuspecting time, severe abdominal

pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea along with a host

of gastro-intestinal disorders. I will make you weak

and lifeless as one could be without being confirmed

dead. You will be housebound or in bed for several

years if not the rest of your life. As part of

incapacitating you, I will make your heart race and

your head pound; your throat will constantly be sore

and your lymph glands will swell. That will all seem

trivial after I inflame and spasm muscles throughout

your body. Crushing a grape between your fingers may

take too much energy or be too painful now.

On those nights that I allow you to sleep, you will

awaken drenched with sweat or throbbing with pain.

Perhaps I might even throw in a little seizure

activity. On those nights that I do not allow sleep to

occur; I will torture you with thoughts of death....

Not suicide, but death. Simply because you have not

come to realize that this is your new life, and

that you are not living. You will need to re-create

your being every day, as every day I will bring you

unpredicted symptoms and suffering.

I have also done a few things that you may not be

aware of yet. I placed some lesions on your brain

(have you noticed how you have difficulty with balance

and memory yet?) and I have permanently altered your

immune

system. I have shorted out your nervous system so that

you have intermittent numbness and tingling, which

might resemble an electrical current zapping you from

time to time. This is called neuropathy. Nope, it's

not

curable either!

Now I have you. I have taken over your body and mind.

I have stolen your life but left you alive, not very

functional, but by clinical definition you are still

alive.

Your family will not be able to give you all the

constant care that you need on a daily basis. As for

your friends, well, they're still on that ladder

climbing up. Rest assured, I am looking for them too.

By now, chances are good that most of your family and

friends have abandoned you, so you must have learned

the definition of isolation. This newfound isolation

will save you from having to explain how sick you

really are to others, they won't understand anyway.

Isolation will save you all that energy. Your health

insurance has already been or will shortly be

discontinued as you lost your job from not being able

to " keep up. " Perhaps you got caught dozing off or

called in sick one too many times. Now that you are no

longer employable or insurable, when you seek medical

care, any medical professional that figures me out

will diagnose you and say that what you have is

presently not curable.

Now it is time for you to seek out medical care,

nation if not worldwide. However, most so called

medical professionals will not even have the ability

to recognize me when they see me, as they have not

learned

about me in medical school. So, chances are good that

you will be misdiagnosed. You will give more blood

samples and have more examinations than you ever

imagined existed. Then you can take the results to

dozens of doctors in search of a diagnosis. One that

is valid as well as socially and medically acceptable.

One that does not label you as depressed or say that

" it is

all in your head!!! " Most doctors will suggest a

vacation, weight loss diet, new or increased love

life, help with the children, or change of scenery as

the " cure, " mainly because you may look like the

picture of health. This is my mask of deception.

You will pray for a positive word from current

research. Research, which you will soon learn, is

quite limited due to lack of funding and government

support. You will learn new vocabulary which contains

words like: T-Cells, Cytokines, Nuclear Antigens,

Natural Killer Cells, Immunoglobulins,

Cytomegalovirus, Seratonin, Cerebral lesions, and

Immune Dysfunction

are among a few. However the most important words that

you will need to know and fight for are Social

Security Disability and Medicare.

At one point I may give you a false sense of recovery

or remission. Let me assure you, I will be back, as

you are my prisoner and that makes me your keeper. I

have placed the lives of millions of people nationwide

in

limbo, I continue to do the same world wide. I would

consider this an epidemic, wouldn't you?

Eventually I will bring the government, health care

workers, and society to its knees in search of

unraveling my complexities, which are crippling

humanity. I leave it up to you, my victims, and your

caretakers, to educate the public and let them know

that I am very real and that you are very sick.

Unfortunately, I have been given a totally ridiculous

name, which will make your job even more difficult.

Until that name is changed, I am?

CHRONIC FATIGUE AND IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION SYNDROME

© Kathleen Houghton, Director, Alaska CFS-MCS

Association 1996

*Revised 2002.

The Alaska CFS-MCS Association, in conjunction with

other national & international health organizations,

researchers and medical professionals provides

information, education and awareness about

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Environmental Illness &

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Kathleen Houghton also assists businesses, schools and

hospitals in implementing No Fragrance Policies in the

work place. cfs-mcs@...

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