MEAW - ME Awareness Week

It always creeps up on me and catches me unaware... like water bills and smear tests... and I never learn from my past mistakes. Yes everyone, I have once again forgotten to prepare properly any kind of fund-raising for ME awareness week this year. It takes place from 8-16th May (yes that is next week, and yes I really am that behind in my organisation). I was only reminded of it yesterday and since then have been tweeting and facebooking wildly to let everyone know how to get involved with 'ahem' other people's valiant efforts to fund-raise for this important and overlooked event. The irony of the situation doesn't escape me. I am one such person who overlooks ME awareness week and yet I am someone who should really be behind it, who needs it to be successful, but that is one of the key problems with ME awareness and fund-raising efforts. Sufferers are too tired to get involved, and their families too busy and exhausted caring for them. When we are enjoying better periods, or if we manage to shake the illness permanently, we often don't want to jinx it by getting back into that 'ill' frame of mind and fight, as we should, against prejudice and for research into our disease. Perhaps one of the problems or kinks in the process is that ME isn't fatal. Unlike families battling for cancer research etc we are not fighting to save our lives, just our quality of life. This disease makes our lives a living hell - physically and mentally,  and so perhaps like sufferers of PTSD we want to forget about it all whenever we can. Sadly this can lead to some oversights in how we should be supporting each other and really pushing for further research and medical help.

So, this ME week, belated as it may be, please get involved... if only by educating yourself a little better about the disease.

Alternatively, visit www.ayme.org.uk for fundraising events and links to research campaigns that need your support.