part one.
So I have started to describe my condition in relation to a mobile phone. so many people ask about my illness and too many say, ‘so you get tired all the time’. It is just too difficult to explain, particularly as it can be so hard to remember them all, so I start with the ones I am experiencing in that moment, the conversation is never long enough.
So the mobile phone, you know the one, the one that seemed all shiny and exciting when purchased but now coming up for two years later, its not so much fun. Where you used to charge it intermittently, now it needs plugging in most days.
A number of strange things happen, you select to make a call, it calls someone unitended at random. Storage is low and no matter what you delete, there still just is never enough room.
You diligently updated and took care of it but now, apps won’t load, your photos have vanished, you cant read your emails, it switches off, won’t switch on, insufficient storage is a repeated message. and you charge, charge, charge, repeat.
Then Nooo! It freezes, will do nothing, just as you really need to take a call, it wont let you. It is as though the phone itself is out to get you, to ruin the calm and order you take for granted in life. you switch off and on again, Ta dah! with huge relief it teases you, it was just a blip, all is okay.
Until, aargh it was on charge all night, but wont switch on. You check the connection, check the lead, do that thing of plugging into a laptop, all to no avail. just as you’re giving up, you try it just once more, it turns on magically, seems charged and working, ten minutes later it warns it needs charging again, and that’s okay as long as it works.
Eventually you ring your provider, you explain the ghost taken over your phone; for more money you can upgrade to the next model, actually they tell you, you’re model is now officially obselete. But oh no, they can not replace it, you are still under contract and have 18 months left to run. How you ask, the phone doesnt work properly. Oh well you can change your package now, just pay the….
So there you are stuck with a phone that is nearly defunct, you charge and charge, unload all unnecessary files and data, you even remove social media, this way you can plod along, using your phone for what it is, a phone, no more. You are trapped!
Of course, most of us in this situation will complain and challenge the provider and most will have some luck when they begin the cancellation process and threaten with trading standards. Life will return to normal, its only a mobile phone afterall.
Imagine it is your body that seems so possessed?
Living With ME 