In our world there are plenty of diseases and illnesses such as cancer, lukimea, Parkinson's, the flu. And there's one thing in common with all of them - can you guess what it is? It's that we all heard of them. I know an illness that not many are aware of. An illness that can effect the old and the young. This is the story of a young girl living with a painful and scary condition which limits her life.

Ever since she was a child, she was active and fun. She would bounce off the walls excited as she entered the building which held her accomplishments and dreams. Since this child was 3 years old she danced, dressed head to toe in bright glittery pink, and went competitions you would see on TV. Medals and trophies were constantly won and a proud mother would cheer in the crowd. Hitting age 7, she placed her interests else where, drama. Many professionals complimented her for energetic acting and entered her into theaters to perform. For such a young girl, she felt she was lost in a dream land, where no one could stop her. She was able to be herself.

Other activities she was doing were lifesaving, gymnastics, archery, Zumba, singing classes and horse riding. All of these each week, somehow she found time.

School wasn't average for this this girl. Yes, she was bullied in one school, which is rather normal. However the amount of schools was abnormal. Moving from one school to the other, her learning was disrupted and it was tough to leave all of her friends behind, but she swore she would stay in touch, and to this day she thinks of them.

At home, she was loved dearly by her mother and brother. They cared for her and set a healthy example for her to follow, however everyone has a side which people don't see. She was scared, lonely and in denial that her parents would get back together. She was little, so the idea that her parents could get back together, when they don't even live in the same country was a fair thought.

Hitting age 11, more was expected. School expected her to pass all of her exams without failure so one the day she had her SATs, she tried her best and accomplished more than possibly thought of her. After receiving her marks , she was suffocated by her family with hugs, and they celebrated throughout the evening. The next day, the class were congratulated by their proud teacher and had joke Friday, which is where the teacher skips maths and shares jokes with the class. Next was P.E ,a typical annoying subject where kids would die from heatstroke after running on a field for hours. However, the teacher decided that plastic hockey would be best, so this girl gives her all because she is determined to make the best of everything, even the worst subject. All was going well until the class were dismissed into the changing rooms. The girl collapsed in pain rocking back forth holding her knee. Tears fell, and the students paused in shock. 'Should we get the teacher.' Keeping in mind the teacher was male and she wasn't dressed she said no, until she stepped on her left foot. The pain was unbearable. She held onto her teacher as she was handed her mother.

Any normal person would think, you must have hurt yourself during the lesson , hockey is quite rough, and would shrug it off. Which is exactly what she did.

She moved on through the next two years making new friends in her new senior school. One thing that became a problem was that without warning her leg would give way. E.g. she is walking to the bus stop on a summers morning when her leg jolts to the side making her fall over. This would happen 2 a month at first, but by the end of the two years this was occurring rapidly throughout the weeks. The doctors couldn't understand why this was happing, theories concluded that it was uneven feet soles, the change in temperature and even a tight muscle. Therapy and physiology were given however none of this worked.

Year 9 finally came and she noticed she was struggling to stay awake during lessons, to be fair she didn't sleep during the nigh well so it could be that she thought. Eventually, her mother became extremely worried because she was no longer able to wake up in time for school, and started missing a few days. The doctors concluded anemia, thyroid and basically anything which would make this unknown patient go away as they couldn't find the cause. The girl knew something was wrong so she would constantly go to the doctors, mostly in yr 10.
This girl was one day reading her GCSE book for English literature when she suddenly couldn't remember anything of what she had just read. In school, reading, writing was a pain because she couldn't remember anything. It was as if a thick mist has come from the sea and spread all over her mind, hence she would constantly focus. Re reading everything made it click that this wasn't normal to forget this much. Later on in the year 'boom' , she fainted in the girls toilets. The frightening thing was no one knew that she had even though her friends were there. She awoke with tears, she had flashbacks of her parents divorce which was horrific for her as she hadn't come to the acceptance of her dad remarrying and living with his new family. The fact that not one person saw her faint allowed the teacher to believe she was lying. They were fed up with this quiet girl who missed about two days a week of school. The girl saddened, declined herself from society. In school she wouldn't talk to anyone, she wanted to be alone. If her friends didn't believe she was ill, she did t want to hang out with them.

Then the new came that the school was closing, which was heart wrenching as the school were like her family as they were close knit. All the tears from the students and teachers caused a flood to form, and everyone died . The end! Nope not really but what happens next makes her wish the flood was real. Her year was transferred, alienated from this posh private school students. The head of year was precious, this cat lady was always there for her. However, pressure was placed on her to perform as she couldn't function very well in class e.g. she couldn't actually lift her head off the desk. Every night she would have about a 10 minute cry to herself because she was frustrated that she didn't know what was wrong. Her friends finally said the words without knowing I was close, 'she is just attention seeking. Just don't bother, it's just sad. It's not fair that she's off this much.' These words killed her, running as fast as she could to the girls toilets, she collapsed in the cubicle eventually laughing at how much of a mess she must have looked.

She felt that everyone hated her, she hated herself because she didn't know what was wrong.

The teens mother stated ' I have booked a doctors appointment' and of course the girl had been to so many that she didn't see the point and insisted she shouldn't go as they've failed to diagnose her for several years. But the mother has the final word and they headed off to the doctors. They didn't have to wait long before being seen, and that's when the doctor said ' I'm just going to be straight forward with you, you have M.E.'

...

ME stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as the hidden illness because you look exactly the same, you don't change color or lose hair like others. This disease includes:
- sleep problems
- extreme tiredness/ weakness
- muscle or joint pain
- headaches
- a sore throat or sore glands that aren't swollen
- problems thinking, remembering or concentrating
- fainting
- feeling dizzy or sick
- fast or irregular heartbeats (heart palpitations)
- death
- weight problems

Most people find overexercising makes their symptoms worse which is why the doctors contacted the school and explained under no circumstances were she allowed to participate in physical activity. After a month of watching her friends have fun and move freely, this girl missed that she couldn't do this anymore. It sounds crazy because no one likes PE , and most would be glad that they could get out of it but not her. She was filled with envy and jealousy that she couldn't do this.
The severity of symptoms can vary from day to day, or even within a day.

The point is that this girl can no longer run, no longer talk for long periods, cannot feel refreshed and have more energy after she's slept. She has a constant dull pain in her arms, legs, back and front. She can't write her exams as they are too long for her wrists to not hurt. During the exam she feels embarrassed so much because she feels eyes staring at her, see the tears drip drop into the page. The whole idea that one day you can wake up , go to the cinema, gym , restaurant, and even walk all in that one day. And the next, you are bed ridden because your body has failed to move. The thought that she was able to complete all of these activities and was outgoing , would give anything a shot, had vanished , she had changed. Stuck in a paralysis which restricts your life and independence.

There are many people like this little girl who are unable to do anything because of this disease that haunts them. In the end, her mother also gained this illness and was wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. If you know anyone who is going through any illness, even something minor, be there for them and remember not everything is as simple as it seems so don't say things you'll regret. Awareness focuses on larger illnesses which cause vast deaths which is understandable but just to acknowledge that there are other illnesses out there, means a lot to the person who is victimized.

Thank you for reading.