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                                                    My Five Minutes

     Politics, religion, personal beliefs, women�s rights, abortion, cancer funding, AIDS research, the economy, child abuse prevention, poverty, charity, and the list goes on...Each of these topics are worthy of at least five minutes of emphasis on national television, but none are topics of which I would speak. I would speak on the grossly neglected topic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) research, namely recent discoveries that have led to proper diagnosis and successful treatment of patients. As a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patient, CFS research is a very personal subject for me but is also one I know would help thousands of Americans.
     Due to correspondence with hundreds of other patients via my website (www.myhiddendisability.com), created for those with CFS and other hidden disabilities, I know the path I have traveled as a patient is not unlike that of others. For most sufferers of CFS, the illness begins in much the same way, with a very bad viral infection. For me, it began in March of 1999 with infectious mononucleosis. I was very sick, nearly unable to stand because of dizziness and weak muscles. I missed three weeks of school, which is not uncommon during a bout with mono, but the problem was that I did not recover enough to attend school regularly for the remainder of the year. This fact alone should have raised red flags for our doctor, but I, like many others, was assured that it sometimes takes longer for some to recover from mono.
     After the initial viral attack, most are left to fend for themselves, receiving little to no help or support from their doctors. Once I was sure I was no longer making progress in my recovery, I became desperate to find a cure before my senior year in high school began. Like many patients, I turned to alternative medicine. I even tried seeing a reflexologist in our area, but could slowly see my much anticipated senior year slipping from my grasp. While the woman I saw was not far off in �diagnosing� what was wrong, her remedies did nothing to improve my condition.
     After months of waiting to get better and knowing something is wrong, most patients fall victim to the emotional and mental effects a long-term illness can have. In my case, growing frustration welled up inside of me and hints of depression seeped in as the school year began with no improvement. Soon, it was suggested that I might have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. At the first mention of those words, I was certain I did not want to have it. With a name like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, it sounds more like a condition brought on by laziness rather than a legitimate illness. This is not an uncommon feeling among CFS patients. But the controversy of this diagnosis does not lie with them; it lies in the skeptical minds of their doctors, families, and friends. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a diagnosis of elimination. This basically means that if you are sick for a period of six months or more with no feasible medical explanation, you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was lucky; my family believed me when I said I was sick, but I was not as lucky when it came to doctors. In fact, the infectious disease specialist who diagnosed me with CFS literally gave me the diagnosis and told me to live with it and go find a support group all in the same breath.
     It takes most Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients years, if ever, to find a doctor who acknowledges CFS. I, however, was able to begin seeing a specialist only a year after I fell ill. The information he was able to provide gave a better explanation for my prolonged illness. In fact, he was able to determine I had three active viruses in my system. It was a wonderful relief to see in black and white the reason I was still feeling so terrible. Even though I was excited by his discovery, I became victim to yet another CFS patient stigma, unsuccessful treatment. Despite his usually good results treating chronically ill patients, the doctor was unable to treat me successfully with his more holistic approach to medicine. As discouraging as it was not to improve with his method of treatment, I had reached a milestone most CFS patients never see: the reason they are sick. Continue.......