Hello,
Foggy is having an amazing time sipping cocktails with Uncle Derek and Aunty Pauline in Kerala, soaking up some culture and lounging around in the beautiful sunshine.
Sally has told Foggy he needs to pull his weight and do a little bit of work while he is kicking up his heels so here is his latest blog post.
Foggy finds it hard to understand how M.E. sufferers find the energy needed to do their own fundraising and campaigning. He has been impressed by how many sufferers are writing blogs, undertaking challenges and campaigning to raise funds and awareness for the various M.E. support organisations around the globe. Sally has had to explain to him why it is difficult for non-sufferers to understand and empathise with an invisible illness. There are non-sufferer supporters and campaigners but, in the main, it is down to sufferers to raise funds and awareness. Those with the least amount of energy have to put in time and effort to make others understand.
Foggy is amazed that Sally is able to put as much effort into the campaign as she is currently managing. She spends at least a couple of hours a day (before work, lunchtime and after work) emailing, doing social media, taking photos, recruiting Foggy sitters, trying to fix silly IT problems, checking legal stuff like copyright, snuggling Patch (oops that’s not work), networking, making things for Foggy playtime and organising photos over and over again. Foggy knows how exhausted Sally is at the end of her usual working day and this extra work is definitely a test. Foggy can see that Sally’s symptoms have worsened slightly and is worried about her. But, she is taking care of herself as much as possible and is determined to keep pushing this campaign until Foggy’s mission is complete. In a perfect world, Foggy’s HQ would consist of a marketing, legal, IT, publishing, illustration, and finance department. Unfortunately, it doesn’t and Sally has become a bit of a one-woman band.
Because Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is invisible and misunderstood it would be extremely difficult for non-sufferers to talk knowledgeably about the condition. OK, doctors may know some of the biological effects but do they know what dead legs feel like? Have they ever experienced absolute complete exhaustion when you can’t feel your body and you can’t get your brain to cooperate? It is only people who experience this dreadful illness first hand who can communicate how life-destroying it is.
Foggy snogs xxxxx