Here is a piece authored by the cousin of one our Berlin Changers Lilan (who along with her fur baby Leopold is a dear friend of the Change for ME team): Living Despite It All My Cousin’s Mysterious Illness and Her Art of Hope When my American cousin Lilan and I were ten, we sat on a boat, dangled our feet in the water, and pictured our lives to come. We both wanted to be writers. Today the bed Lilan lies in is just a few blocks away from me, but she’s mostly too sick to receive visitors. At 42, she has a multisystem neuro-immune disease with the complicated name myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME for short). For the past four years, my cousin has left the house only to deal with doctors and bureaucrats. She has so many symptoms I won’t even begin to list them. The slightest exertion lays her flat. Once, she had a gait so quick she always wore her heels down to the sole; today she crouches as she opens the door for me, because even standing sends her pulse sky-high. Once, she had so many suitors she had to hide one on a balcony; today the only male who sidles up to her is Leopold, her cat. Make sure you scroll to the bottom for the English translation. Annika like Lilan is a treasure and an advocate and another voice for change added to the cacophony of sound that will soon be so loud they will not be able to talk over the top of us. Hope for Change Amara Change for ME Australia
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:22:57 +0000
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