On Monday June 19th, I arrived in Stockholm for the second part of my Swedish visit. I was welcomed by our friends at RME, Kerstin Heiling, Hendrik Fransson and Jenny Lundgren. They organized and hosted a talk with about 30 people, including many parents.
At the event, I met Susanne Froroth, also from RME. I was touched that she presented me with a pair of hand-made socks. She makes these for bed-ridden patients who commonly experience cold feet. What a sweet gesture. After the event she shared with me, “I found your speech extremely interesting and it really brought hope to us all. You are doing such a great job!!!” The feeling was very mutual. The RME group is doing fantastic things to support patients including Susanne’s dedication and these great socks.
I also had the great pleasure to finally meet in person Cecilia Ekhem, our Motivational Monday master poet and photographer. Cecilia inspires us every Monday with her fantastic poetry and pictures. In addition, Cecilia has personally raised and donated over $5,000 to OMF by writing and selling her inspiring poetry. From our entire OMF family: Thank you Cecilia!
The next day, Jenny Lundgren of RME and I met with Dr. Anna Lindquist and Emilie Karlsson at the ME / CFS Clinic Stora Skondal. I had the pleasure to tour and learn about how patients are evaluated and helped at the Stockholm clinic. With no evidence-based treatments available, the goals are to help patients handle their illness, reduce symptoms and prevent crashes. The clinic physicians do understand that this is truly a biological disease, but they express the need for published treatment trials for ME / CFS-specific treatments to patients.
Stockholm was my last talk in Europe, and it’s time to go home. I have learned a lot, met wonderful people, and received a lot of support. Many patients have told us that this tour has given them a lot of hope. I could not have asked for anything better than that! In the coming days, I will update you all with some reflections on my End ME / CFS Worldwide – European Tour of Hope.
This has been a truly inspiring experience.
With hope for all,