Chronically Hopeful

How You Can Help The Millions Missing Worldwide

Photo of hundreds of empty pairs of shoes in a town square representing th millions of ME/cfs patients missing from society. Title reads, How you can help the Millions Missing, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis awareness and advocacy,by Chronically Hopeful

Although May 12 is ME Awareness Day, a global day of "Millions Missing" protests and demonstrations by people with ME, their carers, family and friends, many patients are too ill to leave their beds and would be lost and hopeless if not for the able bodied supporters who take their places at these rallies and make some noise for those of us too ill to do it ourselves.

I have recently been asked by a few healthy friends how they could practically help our cause. So in this post I will list some ideas and links to other initiatives that would greatly benefit from any support you can give.

My Chronic Illness Story And How You Can Help

Title reads My MEcfs Story, How it all started, pin by Chronically Hopeful, Picture of Char lying in bed under blankets, shes in an ME flare wearing sunglasses and headphones

May is ME Awareness Month and once again I am participating in the virtual campaigns online to help raise awareness of this life-destroying illness called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Today I'm sharing my story. How did I become so terribly ill and housebound? How did it happen? When? And how long did I have to wait for a diagnosis? Here's my ME story:

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: How Can The Church Better Serve The Chronically Ill?

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Faith Through Illness

Today I am sharing a guest post by Shona Smith. I must admit, I have mixed feelings about this topic, but it is an important issue and needs to be addressed. It is not just a few isolated cases, pastoral care in the church is something that is in desperate need of an overhaul. This shouldn't be an issue, but sadly it is and Shona is working hard to find solutions.

I hope you do not relate to our shared experience, but if you do or know of somebody who might, please participate in the surveys and help us move towards better pastoral care in the church.

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind - By Shona Smith

So many of us with chronic illness were leading such busy active lives full of people and places and we were church members, regularly enjoying spending time and energy with like minded friends and often serving and caring for each other in the crises of life. BUT when we have been absent for a while it seems like we are easily forgotten. Do you recognise your experience in the musings below?

Get Your Own Personalised Millions Missing Poster For ME Awareness Month

#MillionsMissing Personalised poster for ME awareness. How to get your own millions missing poster

May is #MEAwarenessMonth and I thought, since many of us cannot go to the live #MillionsMissing events in person, I'd like to help my fellow people with ME (pwME) to raise awareness online by offering you personalised Millions Missing posters!

I know you are an incredibly creative and driven group of people, but I also know that many are too ill to use their skills and talents as they would like to and cognitive dysfunction as well as physical incapacity often makes using a device or learning new things very difficult. So I hope this free community service will be helpful to you.

Celebrating Life Despite Chronic Pain And Osteoporosis – A Day In The Life Of Lynley

Title reads, Celebrating Life despite chronic pain and Osteoporosis, Interview with Lynley. Below is a photo of a lady wearinga blu dress, sitting in a power chair at the beach with the sea in the background,pin by Chronically Hopeful

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series A Day In My Life

Today I am excited to share Lynley's story. She has been living with chronic pain and osteoporosis for years and is sharing how her life has changed and how she not only gets through, but celebrates life despite her conditions.

This interview is part of an ongoing series where warriors from around the world share their struggles and victories as they navigate life with various chronic illnesses and invisible disabilities. I hope you will be encouraged and perhaps even find new friends or support through this amazing community of warriors.

Health And Fitness: A Week Before I Fell Ill With Severe Chronic Illness

Title reads Health and fitness the week I fell ill with severe ME. Photo of Char and friends walking in a park wearing pink fluffy bunny ears and carrying green balloons. By Chronically Hopeful

Ironically my life was super busy and active during the weeks and months before the onset of what lead to my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diagnosis. There seems to be the general belief that we are tired or lazy or that we have some sort of unhealthy aversion or fear of exercise, but nothing could be further from the truth!

As we move towards ME Awareness Month (May), I wanted to share some of my health and fitness memories from the week before I fell ill. I hope that this will help to dispell the idea that we are lazy and afraid of exercise and help people understand that the opposite is actually true. Now I know that healthy eating and exercise simply doesn't cure everything.

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