Category Archives: ME/CFS

The Body and My Body

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Jocelyn

If asked to guess what holiday is hardest for me, I don’t think Independence Day would top most people’s lists – but it is. Maybe when I say that, though, it comes into focus – really, you couldn’t design a … Continue reading →

Posted in Life Before, ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

On One Decade In

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Jocelyn

Note: This entry is pretty much one big whine. When you’ve been sick for ten years, you get a coupon in the mail that entitles you to one 1800-word whine. I usually try to be at least somewhat upbeat and hopeful on … Continue reading →

Posted in ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , | 62 Comments

The Lace of Life

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Jocelyn

I was thinking, while we were in Asheville, about Dresden lace figurines. They’re porcelain figurines decorated with very realistic-looking lace, which is created by dipping cotton lace in porcelain and applying it to the figurine. The cloth burns off in … Continue reading →

Posted in ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Hindsight

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Jocelyn

Living with a disease of unknown etiology is, let’s say, problematic. The lack of a well-defined cause stymies efforts toward a cure, and opens up a gaping void that gets filled, at best, with wide-ranging science, but more prosaically with … Continue reading →

Posted in Life Before, ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Good Days and Bad Days with ME/CFS

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Jocelyn

Inspired by Change4ME Au’s Good Day/Bad Day series, I thought I would take good day/bad day shots of my own. So here is a little look at each, although as with almost everything in ME/CFS, it’s more complicated than it … Continue reading →

Posted in ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Histamine Sensitivity and ME/CFS: A Plan of Attack

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Jocelyn

[Note added 3/31/22: This is a complex post with a long series of exchanges, but it doesn’t include some factors we didn’t know at the time. Because of improperly installed drywall, our house had a mold problem behind the walls … Continue reading →

Posted in ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Prandial Problems

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Jocelyn

I hated my mother’s bunny jello mold. She bought it before my brother or I were born, thinking that when she had kids, it would be fun to make them bunny-shaped jello. And it probably would have been, for most … Continue reading →

Posted in Life Before, ME/CFS, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

My Worst Year: Theda and Thomas and Me

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Jocelyn

Trigger warning for discussion of suicide. This summer, two well-known ME patients, Theda Myint and Thomas Hennessey, took their lives. I didn’t know either of them personally. Theda was well-known through her “Help Theda” facebook page, and was a very … Continue reading →

Posted in ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 65 Comments

Inch by Inch

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Jocelyn

Even though my vocation for more than a dozen years was food, I’m a relative latecomer to vegetable gardening. It wasn’t something my parents did – I remember tomatoes a couple times, I think, and an excellent accidental watermelon one … Continue reading →

Posted in ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

How to Clean a Bathroom (with Severe ME/CFS)

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Jocelyn

Let’s say you have severe ME/CFS, and you’re married to someone who has a full time job, is your sole caretaker, and because of the severity of your illness, is also chief cook, bottle washer, launderer, yard maintenance guy, and … Continue reading →

Posted in House & Home, ME/CFS | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments