Daily Record: 'Crippled by M.E but doctors say it's MY fault'

[AndyPR]

'Crippled by M.E but doctors say it's MY fault' Protest highlights plight of Scots sufferers who struggle with condition and have no drug therapy

When Emma Shorter was 10, she asked her parents for a special birthday present. Could she, as a huge treat, climb a Munro?

They did, and for the next five years, that was how the family celebrated her birthday. Their home is full of photos of Emma with sister Kirsty and parents Janet and Richard. In most of them, they are in cagoules and woolly hats.

Today, Emma is 24. If she is not in bed, she is on the couch. She has ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Doing anything other than lying still takes an almost superhuman effort.

There is no drug therapy available in the UK for ME. The initial treatment she received made her condition worse and doctors questioned whether she’d tried hard enough with the therapy. Emma said: “It still astonishes me how wrong we are about ME in the UK.”

When she was diagnosed, at age 19, she laughed at the doctor.

Emma said: “He said this could be CFS. I said, ‘Don’t be so ridiculous.’ Our family are a little bit macho. We do not get sick. We do the Three Peak Challenge and if you break your leg, you carry on walking on it.”

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/crippled-me-doctors-say-its-10388830

Good job @emsho

 

[RogerBlack]

Yay. A week, and two great stories in UK media.

 

[SamanthaJ]

Brilliant article.

 

[dangermouse]

Very well done

 

[TiredSam]

Great stuff.