Hi All,
I’m in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic, half way through the first round of tests. After hearing from so many of you I wasn’t expecting much, but to my surprise was assigned a wonderful doctor, Zayd Razouki, who specializes in chronic fatigue syndrome. He acknowledged that Mayo still lumps various disparate illnesses under one umbrella (CFS, fibromyalgia, etc.), but they are well aware of ME as a discrete diagnosis, and he was very knowledgeable about it. I’ll be having a lot more tests, including a brain MRI to rule out other possible reasons for the brain fog, but for the first time I feel confident that I’m in good hands. I appreciated his forthrightness about there being no immediate cure, and encouraged by his knowledge of and receptivity to ongoing research. In short, the trip was absolutely worthwhile and my spirts have been lifted a little. No one in my area (upstate NY) had a clue how to deal with me, so I basically had to diagnose myself. It was a relief to have that corroborated by someone who clearly knew all about it.
I’ll keep you updated on any developments, but for now I hope that all of you find solace one way or another. Thank you for being there. This community has really helped me, and I’m grateful.