My 6th Letter to President Barak Obama

Today, I mailed my sixth letter to President Obama, regarding advocacy for M.E. (myalgic encephalomyelitis).  In this letter, I quoted an excerpt from an M.E. sufferer who lives in the UK.  Her name is: Hayley-Eszti and by clicking on her name, you will be taken to her blog.

Here is the latest letter to the President:

Dear Mr. President;
Yesterday, I celebrated another birthday, and gratefully, have enjoyed a healthy life: however, there are too many people in this United States of America and in the world who, through no fault of their own, suffer pain and weakness.

My focus and advocacy is M.E. (myalgic encephalomyelitis). My daughter is one who suffers from the “invisible” disease that shows no outward signs of illness in sufferers; however, their lives are so affected as to have them cut short. Yes, some die, but the majority of the more than 1 million patients in the US and between 17 and 20 million globally, are relegated to house or bed, or have their quality of life diminished so that, in order to perform a daily task that would be “normal” and taken for granted by most people, performing simple tasks will force them to bed to “recover” from increased bodily pain and great abnormal fatigue.

Below are quotes from a blog, written in honor of International M.E. Week (May 12th), by a lovely 22-year-old UK patient who describes herself as a “bargain hunter/professional sleeper/lover of patterned trousers”:

“M.E. dominates every part of my life and I blog about my journey towards (hopeful) recovery and how I am trying to live a normal(ish) life whilst being a full time ill person. M.E is an illness that leaves a lot of people needing wheelchairs, but they aren’t permanently disabled which can leave a lot of sufferers being accused of faking their disability. Not all disabled people are permanent wheelchair users, and not all disabled people necessarily even use wheelchairs. The sooner that misconception is demolished the better.

Sufferers can (as long as they are well enough to get out of bed) hide those black eyes, put foundation on their pale grey skin, put clothes on, and smile as if nothing is wrong. Weeks prior to a trip out, are normally spent at home resting and preparing just for a few hours of normality, and weeks are spent in pain recovering from that one afternoon too. I think that is why a lot of people underestimate the severity of the illness – the real extent of it is almost never seen. M.E is alive inside of me, but the real me inside is just about surviving; she is definitely not living.”

Mr. Obama, please communicate with the HHS and Ms. Sebelius, letting her know that research to find a cure is important for these sufferers. First, the Canadian Consensus Criteria should be the US accepted diagnosis criteria. The illegal IOM contract to decide a diagnosis criteria is a waste of taxpayers’ money, when there is accepted criteria already. How can members of the panel, who are not experts on M.E., be chosen to decide such an important issue?

Did you know that there are the approximately same number of AIDS victims as there are M.E. patients in the US?  M.E. leaves the patients too weak, and they cannot advocate for themselves; hence, we, who are fortunately healthy and who care for our beautiful children, must do our best to raise our voices.

With Sincerest Wishes,