So I’ve decided to get it out of the way and give you a
brief and hopefully not too deep explanation about my personal experience with
CFS since I was diagnosed 7 years ago....
The story starts when I needed the last few days of each term
off from school for possibly a couple years, then it got a lot worse and I was
spending a lot of time in bed. I was taken in for tests at hospital and after
months of theories, tests and speculation the doctors settled on the diagnosis
of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome after finding out I had undiagnosed Glandular fever
at some point in the past. I was pretty much bedridden for a year, which was my
year 11 of school so was trying to do my GCSE’s. I only managed to get to
school for a couple hours in the afternoon on good days and missing school
completely on the bad days. This period of my life is a bit of a hazy and fuzzy
blur, I really don’t remember much at all apart from severe and continuous
pain, my darkened bedroom, fatigue like I had never previously experienced and overwhelming
boredom. It was quite a dark time, (literally due to light sensitivity but also
emotionally and psychologically). My mum was my absolute rock, she did
everything that she could in her power to help me and although I struggle to
remember much from that year, I do remember my mum always being there when I needed
a hug or a chat, even when I gave her a hard time sometimes.
I managed to get a ‘B’ in every subject at GCSE’s, which is
quite impressive considering the circumstances. I then became a little stronger
and got out of bed more often to do little things and thought I would have a go
at college. With the help of personal taxi’s and very understanding teachers, my
energy levels and strength gradually got better and better. I still had a lot
more days off than my friends and was in constant pain and aching, but it was
manageable and I was at college around 3 or 4 days a week. After getting pretty
good grades I made the radical decision to go to Univeristy. Looking back, this
might not have been the most sensible decision as I was adamant I would go to
Portsmouth University which is 120 miles from my family home in the south-west.
However it all worked out well and I think coming to university was the best
decision I ever made. I learnt how to look after myself and how to deal
emotionally with CFS on my own (however still with frequent of phone calls home,
but I don’t think they will ever stop). I went to counselling which was
definitely one of the best things I ever did as I learnt to accept that I am
ill and that CFS isn’t going to just disappear overnight, this was a massive
breakthrough which took me years to get to. I have now graduated with a first
class honours and am living quite a
slower pace of life as a graduate (still sounds weird to say) in Portsmouth, and
although my energy levels have not been that great since graduating and my legs
have been causing a few problems, I am still definitely not as ill as I was in
school. Life is going really quite well at the moment and I am very happy with
how it’s all turning out J
Take a look at the ‘About Me’ page to see what level I am at
with my illness now and to see what I get up to with all my new found free time
J I leave you with a photo
of me at graduation….. because I actually managed to graduate :O I still cant get
over it, I'm sure it will sink in eventually.
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