In July of 2010, I was finally diagnosed with a debilitating condition known in the United States as either Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS).   This was not surprising, but instead was a confirmation of the fatigue, aches and pains I had been living with at that time for over a year.   Nor did it give me an infusion of hope or understanding, as the condition is very slowly being understood by the scientific community, and no definitive cause has been identified.   I am not unique in the condition, it is an affliction experienced by up to 17 million worldwide.   But, the disease in my case struck at a particular awkward moment, beginning just four months after I had begun a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at a large research university, and had moved to the opposite side of the United States.  So, I am trying to hold on, not only to a semi-normal life, but also to a position I dearly love but which requires a level of physical activity, through research and teaching at the university that are not seemingly possible at the moment.  Every possible solution is worth considering at this point, with the current constellation of possibilities including a raw food diet, three weeks at the Hippocrates Health Institute in December, and currently a 6 month treatment with an antiviral known as Valcyte.  

In this blog, I'll share my thoughts as I endeavor to recover from CFS, and little by little return to my neglected intellectual life.   My hope is that my story will be encouraging to other CFS patients, possibly providing a voice to those of us who lived very full, intellectually stimulating lives before CFS, and who have not yet reconciled ourselves to a "new normal" of fatigue, and loss of cognitive abilities.   For that reason, I am interested in hearing from other patients, others who are learning to live with CFS, who every day try to make small steps towards recovery, even when there seems to be no easy solution.