Planet Thrive

Remember seeing pictures of old time sanitariums for tuberculosis convalescence? All those people laying outside in lawn chairs covered with blankets makes me start to think about what chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) recovery should be like in a perfect world.

Imagine if you got diagnosed with CFS and were given the option to go to a beautiful center where everyone understood your illness and the treatment you got actually made you better? The centers would be in ideal locations near waterfront beaches with all-inclusive privacy. They’d be safe, confidential and supportive places whose premise for healing would be integrative medicine with a focus on restoring balance and long lasting health and recovery.

There would be no chemicals allowed in the centers because the doctors, nurses, and other workers would understand how toxic chemicals are. They wouldn’t come to work assaulting the patients with their perfume or exuding the smell of fabric softeners from their clothes. Beds would be comfortable, sheets always nice and clean, rooms airy and private of course!

You’d get taken outside for your daily dose of Vitamin D and then to get a massage. Bedridden patients would also be carefully wheeled outside where they would have someone with them when they needed company so they wouldn’t have to be isolated in some dreary bedroom like I know so many people are.

You’d be served meals and snacks of perfectly balanced organic food. You’d sip on pure water and organic herbal tea. And when you’re recovered enough you could attend classes on how to buy and cook whole food meals.

Stressors and sensory input would be minimized and all patients would be treated as individuals by teams of world-class professionals specializing in treating CFS. Every person’s unique medical, physical, psychological, emotional, nutritional, fitness and spiritual needs would be addressed in personalized ways.

Okay, a person can dream, can’t she? But you know it took a long time for the medical world to realize that conditions like Anorexia Nervosa needed special attention so maybe it’ll happen for CFS patients too. It makes me sad to know that there are so many people stuck in their homes isolated because they can’t get the care that they need and deserve. What if the right medical treatments were offered along with all the supportive care needed to heal? All the people who are being made sicker because of continual financial and other stressors could become well and live their lives again. I know it’s an expensive dream but in my opinion it’d be worth it.

Maybe we’ll never reach perfection but even if we get to a point of understanding and compassion by doctors, nurses, and the community it would be a nice start wouldn’t it?