Just months before becoming disabled by ME/CFS, Tina was hiking the Appalachian Trail, fostering homeless animals, working full-time in scientific research software, dancing ballet several nights a week, and spending weekends with family and friends.
Then everything changed.
Today, Tina writes her story from bed, often unable to think clearly or even stand for more than a few minutes without becoming faint with a racing heartrate. Once active and independent, she is now disabled by ME/CFS.
“My doctor told me there were no treatments and no cure,” she shared. “I was told to go home, grieve, and learn to be disabled.”
For people living with ME/CFS, the most basic parts of daily life can become overwhelming or impossible. Simple activities like taking a shower, answering a text, or spending time with loved ones can trigger debilitating symptom crashes known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). To avoid further deterioration, many patients are forced to drastically reduce physical, mental, and social activity — shrinking their lives in ways most people would struggle to imagine.
“I can barely stand, much less dance or hike,” she wrote. “My life as it was is forever over.”
Yet even after losing so much, she found a new sense of purpose: helping fight for research, awareness, and answers for millions living with ME/CFS.
“Although I can do very little these days, my purpose has become donating what little energy I have to ME advocacy and research.”
At Open Medicine Foundation, Tina and millions of others who are suffering are why we refuse to stop pushing research forward. People living with ME/CFS have waited far too long for diagnostics, treatments, and hope grounded in science.
Your support during May Momentum accelerates critical research initiatives designed to bring effective treatments to all who need them.
Please give today. Your gift is hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Donate your appreciated stock directly to OMF and you can receive an immediate income-tax deduction for the fair market value of the securities on the date of transfer (even if you originally paid much less for them).