As a person with M. E/C. F. S, I find myself lucky to live in Glasgow and therefore have access to such a ward.
I was in the ward twice this year (a week at a time) and each time has been very helpful. M. E is an illness with no real treatment or cure. We need to learn to manage symptoms. Spending time in the ward helped me dramatically with this.
I was helped with my sleep pattern (invaluable when the illness leaves me with very little energy). I was helped with pacing (an energy management technique that is very difficult to put in place without help).
Furthermore, I was surrounded by staff who understood the challenges of living with a chronic illness and how it affects everything in your life. I was surrounded by staff who listened and gave us all the help they can.
As someone who is mostly housebound, I couldn't have simply come back and forth to the hospital to attend the classes offered to us during the week in the ward. I couldn't have climbed up and down the stairs to my flat and taken a taxi twice a day for a week.
A week in the ward allowed me to access the classes, a knowledgeable staff, others patients with the same illness (some of them now "online" friends), an amazing garden (with no stairs! ); all this while being able to rest in a bed between classes/meals and sleeping on site.
People with M. E have very little in terms of specialist help. This is because of the nature of the illness. We are lucky in Glasgow to have it.
"Glasgow Centre for Integrative Care inpatient ward"
About: Centre for Integrative Care (formerly Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital) Centre for Integrative Care (formerly Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital) Glasgow G12 0YN
Posted by scalygirl (as ),
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