- Messages
- 41
- Location
- northern Colorado
My remarks to Oz
Thanks to Wayne for bringing the GMA show to our attention, and to Cort for his continued hosting of this forum where we can all find information and support. And to Dreambirdie -- huge thanks for your continual activism on our behalf, and most of all, for urging everyone to become activists, too. You hit the nail when you said that this cause is not unlike the civil rights movement or any other worthy cause -- no one is going to do it for us. We have to be warriors on our own behalf. It's a longterm struggle. But look what the AIDS community achieved with their activism! And so many other communities!
I applaud every single person here for sending a letter, or doing whatever they can to move our cause forward. You are all warrior/heroes. I know how hard it can be to send an email to a show when sick with this illness, and I've found that when I actually do something like that, it gives me a sense of empowerment and accomplishment. We HAVE TO defend our dignity and worth as human beings with this illness. I'm sorry, I don't recall who wrote the brilliant analogy of Teitlebaum taking "kids" (patients) who've been abandoned by "parents" (the medicos) and raping them -- but what truth in that! And like survivors of all kinds of hostile, predatory actions, we have to STAND UP and KEEP STANDING UP, over and over, even if our "standing up" is metaphorical. We are gaining strength collectively as a movement, with each wave of letters.
Here are my remarks sent to Oz:
I am writing in reference to Dr. Oz's appearance last week on Good Morning America, in which he characterized Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as "a short circuit of the energy system" and then went on to recommend green tea and Ribose for this serious medical condition. As a person who has lived with CFS for 25 years this month, believe me, if green tea and mushrooms were the answer, I would have been working, traveling, and living life to the fullest instead of carefully negotiating each expenditure of energy, and using a wheelchair to just get through a store on the rare day when I can DO a store at all. Dr. Oz's remarks only add to the misperception that CFS can be easily overcome with a couple of little energy-boosting tweaks. I seriously doubt that he would be so cavalier about the fatigue associated with MS, AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, people undergoing chemo, or other serious disorders -- why were such conditions not included in his list and given similar quick-and-pithy treatment remedies like green tea? Because that would be an insult to those suffering with such serious illnesses? Right. And that is why I object to his oversimplified snappy patter about CFS and green tea and mushrooms. His remarks were ridiculous and insulting to people with this serious and debilitating illness.
Thanks to Wayne for bringing the GMA show to our attention, and to Cort for his continued hosting of this forum where we can all find information and support. And to Dreambirdie -- huge thanks for your continual activism on our behalf, and most of all, for urging everyone to become activists, too. You hit the nail when you said that this cause is not unlike the civil rights movement or any other worthy cause -- no one is going to do it for us. We have to be warriors on our own behalf. It's a longterm struggle. But look what the AIDS community achieved with their activism! And so many other communities!
I applaud every single person here for sending a letter, or doing whatever they can to move our cause forward. You are all warrior/heroes. I know how hard it can be to send an email to a show when sick with this illness, and I've found that when I actually do something like that, it gives me a sense of empowerment and accomplishment. We HAVE TO defend our dignity and worth as human beings with this illness. I'm sorry, I don't recall who wrote the brilliant analogy of Teitlebaum taking "kids" (patients) who've been abandoned by "parents" (the medicos) and raping them -- but what truth in that! And like survivors of all kinds of hostile, predatory actions, we have to STAND UP and KEEP STANDING UP, over and over, even if our "standing up" is metaphorical. We are gaining strength collectively as a movement, with each wave of letters.
Here are my remarks sent to Oz:
I am writing in reference to Dr. Oz's appearance last week on Good Morning America, in which he characterized Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as "a short circuit of the energy system" and then went on to recommend green tea and Ribose for this serious medical condition. As a person who has lived with CFS for 25 years this month, believe me, if green tea and mushrooms were the answer, I would have been working, traveling, and living life to the fullest instead of carefully negotiating each expenditure of energy, and using a wheelchair to just get through a store on the rare day when I can DO a store at all. Dr. Oz's remarks only add to the misperception that CFS can be easily overcome with a couple of little energy-boosting tweaks. I seriously doubt that he would be so cavalier about the fatigue associated with MS, AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, people undergoing chemo, or other serious disorders -- why were such conditions not included in his list and given similar quick-and-pithy treatment remedies like green tea? Because that would be an insult to those suffering with such serious illnesses? Right. And that is why I object to his oversimplified snappy patter about CFS and green tea and mushrooms. His remarks were ridiculous and insulting to people with this serious and debilitating illness.