lifestyle

Lockdown Is Nothing New For Me, Says Lancashire’s Katie

Imagine the isolation you’ve been living with became your new normal. You’re unable to meet a friend for coffee, go to your favourite restaurant or travel on holiday. Your job becomes uncertain, and you live your life on permanent lockdown.

This is what life is like for many of the 5,949 adults, children and young people in Lancashire living with the serious neurological condition, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Katie (not her real name), 31, of Morley, has been sharing her story with UK charity Action for M.E. Her journey started in January 2012, just after she married: “I began to sleep 12 to 14 hours a day and not feel refreshed. Everything was an effort and I didn’t know why.”

Katie was diagnosed with M.E. in the September. She said: “I was a fully healthy kickboxer who exercised five nights a week, worked 40 hours and enjoyed time relaxing and spending time with my family. I’m now bed-bound.”

M.E. affects people’s bodies and brains ability to recover normally after any activity, physical and mental, and however small. On top of the significant daily challenges this presents fluctuating condition presents, much of the support and services people with M.E. in Lancashire have come to rely on – such as supermarket deliveries or carers providing personal care – have disappeared overnight.

“We have been contacted by people with M.E. in truly desperate situations,” explains Sonya Chowdhury, Chief Executive, Action for M.E.

“So we set up our new Crisis, Support and Advocacy Service to meet this urgent need, sourcing practical local assistance such as help with shopping and picking-up medications, connecting people with peer-support, and advising on the ongoing changes to welfare benefits.

“So far, we have seen a three-fold increase in requests for urgent support – all at a time when our income is expected to drop by at least 50%. Like many other organisations and charities, we made the difficult decision to furlough several staff. We are continuing to make critical decisions to ensure we are here for people with M.E., now and in the future.”

For M.E. Awareness Month throughout May, the charity is encouraging people with M.E. to share their insight and experience when it comes to living with uncertainty and isolation, with the aim of shining a spotlight on this hidden condition.

Katie said: “Lockdown is my life. Nothing will change about my life, except I will be even more scared to go out to hospital appointments than I am now.
“My hope is that I can finally hug my mum when lockdown is lifted. She has seen me through the window, but it kills me that I can't hug her.”

Anyone living with or caring for someone with M.E., of any age, can contact Action for M.E.’s Crisis, Support and Advocacy Service by email at questions@actionforme.org.uk or call on 0117 927 9551.