Listen to an edited audio recording of the event above. Download an MP3.

Lucy, a music teacher and performer, has coped with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS, sometimes called ME, or myalgic encephalomyelitis) for much of the past decade. A talented musician, she had to stop playing and teaching music.

She experienced trouble walking unassisted across a room and could not climb stairs unaided. Her neurological symptoms included brain fog, postural muscle collapse, brain and spinal chord fizz, and limb twitch. For a long time, she could do nothing and stayed in bed.

To build herself up over the years, Lucy had to reinvent the concept of movement every time she wanted to complete even the simplest action. Much of the help she received came from various clinics and CFS programmes at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

She also talked through the stages of her predicament with GP Elizabeth Goodburn, who acknowledges that she is not an expert in CFS but describes herself as eager to learn from her patients about their conditions. It is no wonder that patient and physician can combine in this mutually beneficial way: CFS remains one of the most contested diagnoses of our time, and its physical and psychological components are often misunderstood. Even the name of this condition is unstable.

This event is FREE.

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Facilitator
George Rousseau, Professor of History, University of Oxford

Speakers
Lucy Legg, Patient
Elizabeth Goodburn, GP

This event is part of the series Tell it to Your Doctor.

Image used with permission from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.