from the author of Seabiscuit:

"...When I opened my eyes on the morning of the fourth day, I had a black feeling. I couldn't get up.

For as long as two months at a time, I couldn't get down the stairs. Bathing became nearly impossible. Once a week or so, I sat on the edge of the tub and rubbed a washcloth over myself. The smallest exertion plunged me into a 'crash.' First, my legs would weaken and I'd lose the strength to stand. Then I wouldn't be able to sit up. My arms would go next, and I'd he unable to lift them. I couldn't roll over. Soon, I would lose the strength to speak. Only my eyes were capable of movement. At the bottom of each breath, I would wonder if I'd be able to draw the next one..."

Laura Hillenbrand's riveting account of years of frustration and illness with the misdiagnosed and little-understood myalgic encephalomyelitis at the M.E. site

link from the Bookslut