I deleted my previous message because it was not helpful. I'm going to try again.
I think the presentation went very well, and I was thrilled to see important topics covered, such as post excision malaise. I was also thrilled to see the differentiation between CFS and feeling tired. I must say, though, that the strongest picture I got was of someone being able to rest for a day, and then the next day they are off for shopping and soccer. I think that illustrates a high-functioning pwc, and missed how disabling this illness can be, how it increases our risk of cancer, hurts the immune system, etc.
I am all ears for any other metaphors that you like that I can use to illustrate this. I am also trying to think of any other illness that has a name that is totally confused with a symptom (eg. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome vs chronic fatigue).
I hope some of this helps.
I'd change the end of the car one to: "...except we can't simply put more gas in. No amount of rest removes CFS. It is like the system is broken and nobody can figure out how too fix it. "
Regarding the name: "Calling it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is like calling tuberculosis "Intermittent Cough Syndrome." It misses the point. It trivializes the illness. Everybody coughs from time to time, but it is hardly comparable to the kinds of problems that Tuberculosis can cause."
On depression. "The symptoms of CFS are not the same as depression. Depression doesn't lessen when someone lies down. Exercise doesn't make depression worse. Sore throats are not a symptom of depression. And it doesn't stop there."
Here's an analogy to my experience. Problem is, we are all different. But maybe this will help in some way: "Have you ever had a case of the flu where you were so sick you could hardly get out of bed. That forcing yourself to go shopping made you twice as sick. Where you could barely concentrate. Where delirium kept you awake half the night, and in the morning you were soaked in sweat. That's how I've spent much of the time since getting CFS. The rest of the time I've felt about half that bad. But I still wouldn't wish this on anyone."