Life with severe ME/CFS by Jodie Bassett

Jodie Bassett is a 29-year-old Australian woman who has suffered Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME aka CFS or CFIDS) for almost ten years now.

Jodie writes an account of an actual day she's had and explains "although it's a notoriously unstable illness, not just from day to day but from hour to hour as well, it is an accurate snapshot of my life at this time, an average day in my life."
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Interview with Jodie Bassett

On browsing through Technorati, I found the above link to Jodie through greenwords blog in Australia. It is such a rarity for me to find other severe ME/CFS sufferers who are bloggers, I hope greenwords won't mind if I copy the post on Jodie in full here below incase the link becomes broken. I've not had a chance to read greenwords posts or Jodie's first person accounts as I want to get this posted first incase it helps someone visiting this blog.

Note, greenword's sidebar says:

I am a person who lives with severe ME/CFS. That does not define my identity or my life but it does have an extreme impact on it. Mostly I am happy. Life's too brief and golden for me to choose otherwise! There is so much joy if you know where to look. I appreciate the good things in my life but I also thought it was time to shed some light on the reality of living with ME/CFS. This is my first ever blog - I hope you will read it gently. Go in peace. :-)

Here is the post:

JJJ interview with Jodi Bassett

Recently the ABC reporter Steve Cannane interviewed Jodi Bassett on his JJJ program 'Hack'. Jodi is an Australian woman who has severe ME/CFS. It was fantastic to hear someone with the severe form of this illness speaking publicly about her experience with it. The interview busts some of the persistent myths about ME/CFS and is well-worth listening to. I take my hat off to Jodi for her coherence on the day. For that half an hour, I felt that people with severe ME/CFS had a voice and were being heard. It was an amazing feeling.

You can hear Jodi's interview on the JJJ website:

Jodi Bassett on M.E. - In Bed for Nine Years

Jodi Bassett is 29 and she suffers from M.E. - Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - a disease that was re-named Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 1980s. But Jodi says ME has got nothing to do with fatigue. Jodi emailed Hack after hearing someone make a throwaway comment about chronic fatigue on the radio and she wanted to set the record straight about her condition. To find out more information head to Jodi's website on M.E. at www.ahummingbirdsguide.com.

Listen to Jodi Bassett on M.E. - In Bed for Nine Years (mp3, 6.20MB):

Click here for transcript at her website.

The interview aired on Triple J Radio Australia, on Steve Cannane's half-hour current affairs show Hack on August 22nd 2005.
An mp3 audio file of the interview is available at: www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/notes/me_m1107833.mp3
The interview was kindly transcribed by Claire Bassett.