Welcome! My name is Jaime Wellman, and I was diagnosed with CFIDS in August of 1995. I began working on this site in the early part of 1996, and although it has changed looks a few times since then, and there has been a few periods of time where I completely neglected the site, the main idea of the site has always stuck around. With this site I originally hoped to accomplish two things: meet other people dealing with CFIDS and help others find CFIDS-related information on the WWW.
1996 was the year that we got the Internet at home. My mom thought it would be a good idea since I was learning from home by then. I loved the idea of chatting with people from other states, let alone other countries (remember the days when that was just mind-boggling). I also liked being able to learn new things, even though I wasn't physically in school due to be so sick. I started to learn how to make my own web pages, which was just about the coolest thing to me then, and of course I had to make one concerning CFIDS.
Now back to my explanation about the goals of this site…
My first goal was to meet other people with CFIDS, as I didn't even know what CFIDS was until I was diagnosed. I wanted to know if I was the only one out there, if there were others my age who were having a hard time with school and what they were doing to get through it, and just what other people were doing to try and get better. I made many friends Online who had CFIDS as well, many of which I have still never met, but their company during those first few years I will always remember. I even met a lot of kids my age, ranging from grade school up to college, who were sick and trying to pass whatever grade it was they were in. I must say, as sad as it was, it was a relief to know I was not the only one. As for the learning what other people were doing to get better, I have learned that may not be the best way to treat yourself. People will do strange things when they are desperate, and they will swear it is working. I am not putting anyone down who is trying to do the best they can, I just worry that not everyone know that what is best for one may not be best for another.
My second goal was to improve the awareness and accessibility of information
concerning Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I found that finding information
about CFIDS was difficult back then, so when I did find something, it
was important to keep. This website as allowed me to record all of those
sites that I have found helpful and informative, and the also be able
to share what I have found with others. I hope you find this website a
pleasure to visit, and I hope that you found what you were looking for,
and maybe more.
Before you go, I would like to share with you a bit more of the personal side of CFIDS, since here I really only got into the plans and hopes for this site here. Please follow the link immediately below to view the essays, ramblings, or whatever you really want to call them, written by me back when I first became ill. Thanks again for reading!