Part time teacher (by choice) | Occasional freelance writer | Full time sick/disabled person (ME/CFS) | Published in various places. Cis, but 🏳️⚧️ ally
There’s a narrative in our society re: mobility aids that they should be used as a last resort. Ie. not a moment before or after we absolutely need them.
On the contrary, we should encourage people to use mobility aids when they might help prevent a condition deteriorating.
@KaitMarieox
Great job insulting all the wonderful people who, through no fault of their own, can’t have children.
I guess they’re just collateral damage in your culture war though...
@corybernardi
@jeremycorbyn
Hey Cory, even if we accept IQ as a useful and objective measure of anything (I don’t…), do you think maybe there are some external factors influencing the outcomes of Gaza’s children on standardised test scores?
Genuinely wild that teenage-run
@6NewsAU
and
@Leo_Puglisi6
are reporting on the Sydney stabbings with more ethical responsibility than some of our legacy media groups. Maybe the kids are alright.
@corybernardi
@jeremycorbyn
So… what? You believe that the people of Gaza are just genetically inferior to people elsewhere? Are we really going with race science? Why don’t we consult a phrenologist while we’re at it…
I seem to have some kind of non-COVID cold/flu type thing (I’ve been doing daily RATs while symptomatic) and I forgot how annoying it is to get sick even with normal things. Still, first time since COVID in December so I’m glad I am masking.
@corybernardi
@jeremycorbyn
I’m not the one claiming that IQ is a reliable indicator of anything here, which goes to show I have more intellectual curiosity than you…
@redlianak
@joshuasharf
The experiment is that you’re going to post a hypothetical situation that very transparently alludes to the Israel-Hamas situation and then, what? Act smug when people point out what you’re doing?
@PatrickLenton
I used to think the "all transphobes are into trans porn" trope was like the "all homophobes are secretly gay" nonsense... but gee it sure is more than a handful of them isn't it...
I’ve started seeing a new physio who knows a lot about ME/CFS and POTS and, honestly, it’s magical. She’s given me some really simple things to do and they help a thousand-fold. I can’t believe it.
@BernieTranders
Wow imagine having pride in your body?
Wonder if she would say that it’s “disgusting” to celebrate a body with mastectomy scars if the surgery had been performed for any other reason. Or is it just trans people who voluntarily have top surgery you’re allowed to hate on?
Thinking of writing an article about living with ME/CFS called something like “Nobody cares about my illness because I’m not dying” but I don’t know what I would put in it other than just screaming.
Why is Holly Lawford-Smith retweeting well-known convicted domestic-violence perpetrator Avi Yemini? I thought this was about women’s rights but she’s platforming this guy???
@JJ_Poff
@kelseybolar
You’ve written “turned a family’s life upside down” but what you actually mean is that the parents’ transphobia drove a wedge between them and their child, and the community supporting that child.
I just had a thought: how many people here were taught by a teacher who was open about having a disability? We often talk about school accessibility for kids, but much more rarely talk about staff.
I almost never read books any more because my brain fog and
#MECFS
have stolen my ability to focus on long form writing. I wanted to say something profound about this but here’s what I actually think: This really fucking sucks.
Finally digging into some detailed critiques of the PACE trials for
#MECFS
and holy crap this is so much worse than I could have possibly thought? How did this garbage get published in the first place…
One of the frustrating things about even mild
#MECFS
is that if you want to do something (eg. go out with a friend to lunch, go on a date, go to some kind of event, go to the doctor) then you have to treat that thing like your
#1
priority in the leadup. 1/
A regular infection has really knocked me about for nearly a month, causing a significant flare up in my MECFS symptoms (despite the acute phase only lasting about 1 week).
When people wonder why I’m still taking COVID precautions: this is why. 1/2
@ThomasonTown
The only difference being that Star Wars will release a line of figures where they name the character Slurp Rimjo and then you're left with even more questions.
I started using a walking stick. A few weeks back it was out of necessity, but now I don’t need it. I do, however, use it when I’m going to be walking or standing a lot (eg. work/shopping centres, etc). I’ve found it very helpful for managing fatigue, and minimising crashes.
One thing I think doctors need to learn is that when test results come back negative, that’s not the end of the issue. Like, I’m still here getting symptoms from something! It would be good to know what that is...
The knee-jerk assumption that people are faking
#LongCOVID
or
#MECFS
for benefits harms all disabled people.
I don’t know a single person who is riding a benefits gravy-train for being disabled. On the flipside, I do know many who are unable to get adequate gov support. 1/
This is a good thing. It means, overall, I have better function and mobility. It means I can use the walking stick as a tool, rather than being forced to rely on it. There should be no shame in this.
I’ve had
#MECFS
for over half a decade and still people come to me with the most patronisingly obvious advice, as if I hadn’t considered changing my diet, fixing my sleep, losing some weight, or doing some exercise.
Then they expect me to heap on thanks for their sage wisdom…
@shaun_vids
Is he implying that his result would be physical violence? Imagine explaining that to the police when you get arrested for assault… “I didn’t like the neutral adjective he used to describe me!”
As an aside, I feel like nearly all the criticism I’ve seen on this has come from interstate with very little from Qld. I wonder if that’s possibly because Qlders have a lot of trust in Dr Young and her decisions, and know that her calls are almost always very sensible. 10/9
Given certain types of Long COVID are likely a form of ME/CFS, I have sympathy and solidarity for people with LC.
Also: anyone who tells me that I—a person who has had ME/CFS since before COVID19 was a thing—don’t understand the “urgency” experienced by LC patients can get lost.
@redlianak
@joshuasharf
Well go on, elaborate. What is the purpose of this hypothetical you’ve posed if not to make the point that we should allow Israel to keep bombing?
One of the reasons self-care is so hard when you have
#MECFS
is that there is hugely disproportionate input to output. You can do everything ‘right’—eat well, take your meds, perfect sleep hygiene, minimise PEM etc.—and the benefits are minimal if existent at all…
One of the frustrating things about
#MECFS
is that symptom severity waxes and wanes for seemingly no logical reason, which makes it hard to tell if the new thing you’re trying is actually working, or if it’s just coincidence.
Am I maybe the only person with ME/CFS who doesn’t actually care whether we call it “ME”, “CFS”, or “splarglefork”? Maybe that’s because I’m just as equally unenthused by both the “ME” and the “CFS” option.
Also it’s nice to talk to someone who just *gets it*. Like when I walked in to see her for the first time she asked if I wanted to sit on a chair or lie down on the bed while we talked because she knows sitting upright can be hard for people with ME/CFS and POTS.
@Kmehring
@PhillyinRVA
@TristanSnell
Sure let’s completely ignore the fact that we’re talking about a Government’s capacity to do something and act like an individual has the same power 🙄
A thing that’s frustrating about having a chronic illness is that people think that by meeting you “half way” that they are being equitable. But if it’s 10x harder for me to get to the middle-point than it is for you, is that really “meeting in the middle”?
#PWME
#MECFS
#NEISVoid
Also the first time she said that, it *was* in line with the ATAGI guidelines that people under 60 shouldn’t get the AZ unless it was an urgent situation. People have tried to spin it, but the head of ATAGI clarified that Dr Young basically interpreted the advice as intended. 3/9
At the risk of engaging in Discourse™️, I think it’s worth remembering that the term “toxic masculinity” does not demonise all men. In fact, by virtue of using an adjective to describe a specific sub-type of masculinity, it implies that not all masculinity is toxic. 1/6🧵
Recently I was like “Boy I sure am glad I don’t have medical trauma like lots of people with complex chronic illness” and then I realised I’ve spent the last week worrying about how to talk to my new specialist this arvo to make sure he actually believes I’m sick.
And depending on how strenuous the activity is, that means turning down other things for days (weeks?) beforehand and, if you're being realistic, days/weeks after as well. So it sucks because people don't seem to understand why you can't just commit to something minor... 2/2
She’s the CHO—it’s her job to make that kind of risk assessment, and while you are entitled to disagree with what she’s said (and have concerns about how it may contribute to hesitancy) some people are acting like she’s not fit for the job. The hyperbole is really incredible. 2/9
While your individual risk of dying from the AZ is very low, the CHO has to take into account that (due to the law of averages) if she recommended everyone under 60 rush out to get AZ that there would likely be deaths. Some people see that as alarmist, but it’s just a fact. 5/9
One annoying thing about being chronically ill is having to constantly explain to people that actually I am not looking for more work, because pushing to do more work would cause my body to collapse in on itself like a dying star.
#MECFS
1/
If Andrew Bolt’s idea of a “toxic influence” is a person completely unashamedly decrying sexual violence and pedophilia… what does that say about what Bolt considers “toxic”?
One of my internalised ableism fears is that if I ever get a long term partner I will be a financial burden to them, because of my fluctuating ability to work. Maybe I’ve just internalised too much neoliberalism (I definitely have), but it’s also a reality of the world we live in
I suspect there is going to be a lot said about this
#MECFS
study, but my initial cursory glance wants to note two things. 1. There were only 17 people in the cohort - very small cohort. 2. PEM was not a criteria for inclusion🤦♂️
In last week’s Coronacast, Dr Norman Swan suggested GET was an appropriate treatment for
#LongCOVID
and
#MECFS
.
@nickcarlton
has put up a petition asking for those comments to be retracted & more. I’d encourage you to sign & share.
#PWME
#POTS
Disappointed to see
@normanswan
doubling-down on promoting GET for Long COVID and ME/CFS on today’s Coronacast. He continues to suggest that it’s an evidence-based treatment when that is not a claim that can be made with certainty. Thanks
@teegstar
for pushing back a bit on it.
So, sure, she shouldn’t be immune to criticism and go ahead and do that if you want to. But it really feels like some people have completely lost perspective on this point and are acting like she’s some anti-vax raving lunatic… 9/9
Finally, I also wonder if lots of people sharing her out of context words actually do more harm in promoting hesitancy than the words themselves. In-context, she has always couched these statements by noting that it was a judgment made based on the risks *at the time*. 7/9
@MeToobirdy
@KatyMontgomerie
Amazing victim blaming you've got going on there. A woman, who was minding her own business, was unnecessarily harassed by a transphobe. Even if that person *was* trans, they were doing nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be harassed.
@ntaddei
@Revsparrow
@wickettred
The funny thing is that it might have actually helped with the pain! The menthol in Vicks can actually have a mild analgesic effect on muscular pain (sort of like Deep Heat).
People out here are saying “trust the experts”. But when Queensland’s CHO says that she’s looked at the evidence and, based on that, doesn’t think young people should be rushing out to get AZ *at this point* you’re all acting like she’s said vaccines cause autism. 1/9
The idea that
#PWME
just don’t want to get better is, frankly, insulting. Everyone I personally know with
#MECFS
has tried everything under the sun to recover. Many are still willing to try new things if they think it will help.
#NEISVoid
1/
@OwenJones84
As someone living in an Australian state with 6 deaths... I genuinely don’t know how people in the UK and US are not rising up and overthrowing their inept governments.
Here’s a thought: maybe if you “had ME/CFS” but were “cured” by treating your depression and anxiety… maybe you didn’t actually have ME/CFS, and just had depression and anxiety.
@PissedOffMandaP
@CaelanConrad
Ah and here it is again, the admission that this is actually about policing people’s femininity, not their ‘biological sex’…
She has to weigh up the very serious chance that people would die, with the fact that (based on the evidence at the time anyway) there is a safer alternative available — even if it’s not immediately available. 6/9
PEM is so weird. I went for a gentle walk on the flat today because the weather was nice and I couldn’t help myself, and now not only are my legs sore but my arms and neck are sore? Wtf, body?
#MECFS
#POTS
#PWME
And also has always encouraged people in the recommended age groups to get the AZ vaccine (getting the AZ herself, by the way). Today she even made the statement that people should go talk to they’re doctor if they’re <60 and really worried about the virus. 8/9
@OwenJones84
I’ve always said that the fact these men seem to think being called a “cuck” is the worst possible insult reflects some really deep insecurities on their part...
Curious to hear from other disabled people: How do you define “disability”?
I think I was very uncomfortable with the word because my disability is both invisible and dynamic, so I didn’t feel “disabled enough”. But even now I still kind of have trouble defining it.
#NEISVoid
Also with all this “psychogenic origin of
#MECFS
” talk going around, I can’t help but think of how I’ve improved more in the 3+ years since I accepted I have ME/CFS than I did in the two preceding years that I was in denial.
@JessHealyWalton
This is absurd. If Centrelink is the one who made an administrative error by approving an allowance they shouldn’t have, then that shouldn’t be the responsibility of the person who did everything right…
Just going to put it out there, but as a teacher I have never once encountered a student who I have thought was inappropriately diagnosed with autism or ADHD. If anything, there have been many students I thought would benefit from a diagnosis, but don’t have one.
I have seen, twice in the past week, comments from different people that effectively say people with
#MECFS
should try CBT/GET because the alternative is just sitting around and doing nothing.
It’s like… Wow, they almost get it, but have just missed the mark… 1/
@SoozUK
@LValdo84
@minusplnp
“Anyway excuse me while I go back to harassing someone who I think might be a trans woman in the bathroom and if they’re cis oh well that’s acceptable collateral damage in the culture war.”
How do other chronic illness people avoid falling into quackery traps?
I feel like I’m pretty good at spotting red flags, but when I’m more worn down I can’t help but think about trying stuff that, in my more lucid moments, I recognise as nonsense.
#MECFS
#POTS
#LongCOVID
@TristanEdge
@snowttrpg
The tone is pretty damn rude though. If someone I was playing with decided to word the rules like this I would simply no longer play with them.
@RottenInDenmark
Right? Do you get offended when other people you don’t find attractive appear on a dating app? Or do you just ignore/reject/block them like a normal person?
@PPantsdown
@joshuabadge
“How were we supposed to know they were Nazis? The arm I was literally shaking only had one of the most well-known Nazi symbols tattooed right on it!”
@ryanaboyd
In Australia we have had face to face school for most of last year and this year (sans Victoria during their outbreak). Why? Because we actually got COVID under control...
@MrKRudd
Kevin, you’re a smart man. You must know that Labor’s current climate targets are inadequate. You can argue with the Greens all you want on that, but you can’t argue with the climate.
@AlboMP
Given the precedent you set with UNRWA, surely you should suspend all funding and military exports for Israel until the outcome of an independent investigation?
One thing I think is important for the general public to know is that post-infectious* illnesses like
#MECFS
and
#LongCovid
can be and often are worse than the initial illness that precipitated the ongoing chronic health issues.
*Or “post-acute” - whatever nomenclature we use.
@bennessb
Literally when I said to a coworker that I had ME/CFS and that's why I hadn't worked full time in two years, he was like "Oh yeah, I wish I could get Chronic Fatigue so I didn't have to work full time." I was so hurt I nearly cried in front of him at work.
I found the actual press release announcing Dr Gerrard’s research. I think the “Expert Reactions” at the bottom do a good job at taking apart his claim that we should stop talking about “Long COVID”…
I don’t know how to describe my illness in a way that people understand. The only language I have is imperfect analogies.
I feel like I have been injected with poison and that I am dying. I feel hypoxic, like my limbs are suffocating. I feel heavy, but light-headed.
#MECFS
#PWME