Thursday, May 10, 2018

Do you see M.E.?


Do you see M.E. Prime Minister Trudeau?

Up until 2015 I was a healthy, active woman, working full time as an Oncology Nurse, when I was struck with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

I’ve seen many doctors, been investigated, and finally diagnosed, only to find that’s the extent of it. There are no approved treatments for M.E., no clinical trials, no funds dedicated to this debilitating illness. It struck me in 2015, the year cases of ME spiked by 38% in Canada. This is an alarming statistic.

We are the missing millions, too weak to protest, walk, or raise funds to get our lives back. We grieve all we’ve lost, we fear we’ll be part of the 95% who are incurable. This disease needs to be studied. A bio-marker needs to be found so it can be diagnosed early and believed by the community and even some in the medical community. In the past, before MS and epilepsy were associated with bio-markers they were also classified as hysteria and dismissed.

This disease affects women disproportionately, and therefore our suffering is minimized or dismissed. You claim to care about women. Please be the Prime Minister who will direct funds towards the study of this devastating disease. Canada should be a leader in the study of this illness as we have one of the highest rates of M.E in the world. I am one of the 580,000 sufferers in Canada, and one of the 17 plus million worldwide.

I am missing from life. I can no longer work in the career I loved. I have to draw on disability funds when I would rather be working and active as I was before. I want to have hope; hope for a cure, if not for me, then for the others who will get this illness. It’s hard to prevent something you don’t understand. No one is safe from it. It affects men, women, and children. It can strike you or a loved one. My daughters have a 50% chance of developing this. That terrifies me. Please see M.E.

Pia Thompson
#MEawareness

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Happy Birthday to me


April Journaling

1.      Resurrection Sunday. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

2.      No school today because of Easter.

3.      A day off from Bible study. Trying to finish up my summary of Nehemiah.

4.      Chiro and massage. It always fixes my limp.

5.      Home day alone. I’m always surprised at how depressed I feel when I’m alone. I didn’t realize I was so needy. It’s not like I engage with my family so much when they’re home either. Curious.

6.      My granddaughter grabbed 1984 off the bookshelf and brought it to her mom to read.

7.      As I spend yet another afternoon in bed with pain and exhaustion, I long for Heaven where I will have a pain-free eternity. Illness weans you from this life.

8.      My husband got an 86 on his paper at Seminary. It’s the first paper he’s written in 30 years and he was nervous.

9.      Sunday, great preaching. My husband’s first Sunday as an Elder, taking part in the Lord’s Supper.

10.   My friend is visiting from out west overnight. She is the National Director for a parachurch ministry called Freedom Session which is a discipleship program. She has also done prison ministry, which intrigues me for some reason.

11.   Finishing up my message for Saturday’s WM Finale meeting. Making chicken noodle soup.

12.   Buying a small gift for the ladies on my ministry team as a thank-you. Yoga tonight.

13.   Making two soups for tomorrow. Finishing up my summary of Nehemiah for printing. Date night.

14.   Women’s ministry Finale brunch. Homemade tomato basil soup, homemade cream of mushroom soup, two quiches, homemade buns, pasta salad, green salad, taco salad, dessert. I’m speaking on VIRTUE, the Virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 and what that looks like today, and Emergency Preparedness drawn from old blog posts I did years ago. Then I’m finished with Women’s Ministry, other than the Retreat, but we have a separate team that plans that.

15.   No church today because of an ice storm. Good thing we spoke about emergency preparedness yesterday. Hopefully the women are somewhat prepared now. Slept deeply for 2-1/2 hours.

16.   A week of rain=a week of pain. Changed the school day this week for safety because of the storm. Is this mid-April?

17.   Bible study. Pain clinic for back injections. Then two stops on the way home for my nap.

18.   Doctor’s appointment to fill out forms for my pension to be covered one final year.

19.   School day. Missing yoga tonight; too bad, so sad. Not.

20.   Sending complaint letters to my MP about this “attestation clause” on applications for summer jobs money.

21.   I got a Kitchenaid stand mixer as one of my birthday gifts, now I can whip up some organic butter.

22.   Today at church there was a welcome lunch for newcomers, so we went since my husband is an elder now. Had to say a few words about ourselves.

23.   Possible terrorist attack today in Toronto. Nine killed, 16 injured when a man drove a van onto a sidewalk in North York. Sad, but the surprising thing is how surprised people are that it would happen here. There was a credible threat recently.

24.   Yikes! Because the government didn’t take any tax off my CPP back pay I now owe taxes. Plus we need to re-shingle our roof, so we had to cancel our flight out west. Sad. Maybe next year.

25.   Hair appointment. I should probably highlight my hair twice a year instead of only once, so I hide my greys.

26.   My daughter came over with the kids last night. Exhuasting. Today I had to drop off my car for a tire change-over and tune-up. My mom came over as well. My daughter brought cupcakes.

27.   Bible study at home; also sending out invitations for my husband’s party in June, 20 years cancer free.

28.   My husband is repairing our dishwasher. I didn’t enjoy handwashing for the past week.

29.   Church today.

30.   It’s my birthday! Safely through another year. I am going to Niagara Falls with my husband for two nights as he’s speaking at a conference on Water Supply.