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, so rely on these supportive individuals in their lives to do the footwork for them.

We would be lost and hopeless if not for the able bodied supporters who take our place 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 people how they could practically help our cause. I will attempt to list some ideas and links to other initiatives that would greatly benefit from any support you can give.

When I was first diagnosed with ME/CFS, I felt lost. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was a condition I had never heard of before and my doctor didn't seem to know much about it either. What got me through was the support of other patients I found online. And they continue to be my support as the years go by!

For this reason I have created some groups on social media where bloggers, vloggers and other content creators with ME/cfs (and their carers) can share their posts to help support the ME/cfs community better.

My hope is that newly diagnosed patients, or anybody struggling to manage life with ME, would not struggle as much as some of us have to find the support and resources available to them. 

It might surprise you how often people with chronic illness are asked what they do with all the free time they have at home. I think many healthy people have no idea how difficult it is to deal with unrelenting symptoms on a daily basis. I hope to shed some light on this by sharing with you what a day in the life of severe ME is like.

Every Wednesday the ME community comes together on Twitter to raise awareness of this debilitating chronic illness. We share recent media coverage, research news, our personal experiences and more. Making new connections and supporting each other. 

I will post the graphics I shared during the last ME Awareness Hour below. I hope this will help you understand what life is like with ME/CFS. If you have learned something new or find this post might be helpful in any way, please share it or download the images to share on social media and help raise awareness.

A year ago today I got my wheelchair! I was almost completely bedridden at the time. Walking just a few steps every hour or two just to keep circulation and muscles alive was a chore.

As a family we were house-sitting in the Lake District at the time. It was a long term arrangement, so was kind of our home away from home, but I had been confined to an upstairs bedroom and was unable to get out to see the countryside around me.

I would enjoy, for a few minutes, watching the birds at the feeders outside my window and the gorgeous orchids that adorned every windowsill. Although it was a freezing cold winter, I longed to go out and explore.