Josie has a little known about illness, called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) - sometimes mislabeled Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (a totally different entity, but confused since the 80's with ME). Josie became ill suddenly, with an acute upper respiratory tract infection, at the age of 13. She went on to develop other symptoms which did not abate, and subsequently, she has spent the last nearly 8 years predominantly at home and bed bound. Her range of symptoms from back when she was only 13, to now, at the age of 21 are profound and extremely debilitating: muscular and skeletal pain, head pain, nausea, gut problems, flushing, temperature irregularities, tachycardia, shortness of breath, noise and light sensitivity, difficulty in standing for any length of time (beyond 5 minutes at the most), and other multi-system symptoms that leave her suffering for the greater part of each day.
Due to the confusion between ME and CFS, Josie has suffered additionally in regards to social stigma and isolation. Having lost her whole social structure and routine at the age of 13, she has also suffered severe depression in the following years.
There is no known cure for ME....