Johan Mares, a CFS patient in Belgium, has been documenting his experience with the Himmunitas biomedical clinic near Brussels. I’ve enjoyed reading his methodical approach to his treatment, especially the issue of whether to get tested for XMRV. In his first post, he raises the question and puts it to his readers, and in his second post, he explains the process that led him to his decision. Since I’ve been on such a rampage lately about the lack of skepticism surrounding XMRV, I wanted to highlight Johan’s work as a contrast. And of course I wish him well with his treatment!
In other news, I’m changing my main post from Mondays to Tuesdays. So if any of you were wandering around here on Monday, confused and frightened by the lack of a post, you can call off the investigation and tell David Caruso to put his sunglasses back on.
I had been planning to send you off with OK Go’s awesome new Rube Goldberg video, but now that everyone and their hairdressers’ dogs have seen it, I’m continuing the Creme Egg theme instead. See you Tuesday!
As you guys are my witness
Back when I started this blog, I wrote about exercise and why it’s such an ordeal for people with CFS. To summarize, a hallmark symptom is post-exertional malaise, which means that as much as the body needs exercise, it intensifies our symptoms. Depending on the day, a 15-minute walk around the block can land me in bed for the evening, conked out asleep with a fever. For people worse off than I am, it would mean the rest of the week in bed. If this sounds ridiculous, believe me, it feels even more so, especially since even things like writing or talking on the phone can bring this on.
However, this isn’t an excuse not to exercise, for those of us who are still remotely capable of it. And if you think I’m about to get preachy, let me assure you: I’m telling myself this as much as I’m telling anyone else. I hopped off the wagon months ago; my aversion to exercise has gotten the better of me for far too long. And the truth is that since I’m likely to feel crappy on any given day, I might as well at least get the benefits of exercising. Right?
I think I need this DVD.
So I’m going to attempt to motivate myself with the threat of semi-public humiliation, by making a pledge that I’m going to do at least some exercise every day, starting yesterday, and every Friday posting the number of days in a row I’ve managed to do it. I’m counting on you guys to keep me honest — and I promise to try to not take it out on you. (It’s not a coincidence I decided to start this on a week when Paul’s out of town.)
For my day to count, I have to do a set of crunches and push-ups, and a stretching session, and one of the following unless I seriously can’t get out of bed:
Yeah, it’s far from the time when I would spend two hours at the gym on the days when I didn’t have fencing practice, but it’s better than nothing. Wish me luck?