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ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.
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'Am I Disabled Today?' How Erika Finds Strength And Compassion By Embracing Her Disabilities
Friday 4 December 2020
 Erika has fluctuating health conditions that mean sometimes she can move a mountain and other days she can barely move. (Supplied: Erika England) |
'Am I disabled today?' How Erika finds strength and compassion by embracing her disabilities
Some days Erika England can move houses, other days she can't move from the couch. She writes about how she lives with her fluctuating conditions.
As I enter my sister's house, a cloud of shame hangs over my head.
It feels like forever since I've last visited and I've missed her terribly. Happy to see me, she acts like no time has passed. She is perfect — immediately offers me the most comfortable chair and a hot water bottle for my pain.
I feel like a fraud for blaming my absence on my health.
Did I look too perky on social media recently? Do I look like I'm flaunting my medication when I take it at the dinner table?
As the minutes pass, I grow fatigued. I'd metaphorically scream my love for my family from my rooftops, but I can barely muster up adequate input to the conversation.
'My pain is real'
I have mixed chronic pain causing a grey-area disability.
Some days, I clean the house top to bottom. The next day I need my partner's help to put on my leggings.
When I say I can't do something, I often mean I'm technically able — it just causes several days of pain and fatigue.
My prolonged pain causes sensory and cognitive problems too. I randomly find noise intolerable, or my speech is jumbled up into word soup for a day.
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