What Should I Tell Friends About CFS/ME/FM?

February 16, 2012 / Charles W. Lapp, MD / Ask The Doctor

What should I tell friends or employers who ask about CFS/ME/FM? Don’t you get tired of explaining?! If you explain “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” the likely response is “oh yeah, I get tired a lot myself,” or “isn’t that the ‘Yuppie Flu’?” Both responses are justifiable grounds for homicide, in my opinion! At worst the word […]

ADA, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

The Hunter-Hopkins name derives from two individuals who were memorialized because of the invaluable lessons they taught to Dr. Lapp.

Linda Hopkins presented to the emergency room complaining that she could not breath when she nodded off to sleep. As a result she had not slept in weeks. Other physicians had discounted her story as impossible, but Linda and her mother convinced Dr. Lapp to look into it further. Linda was hospitalized and monitored overnight. Sure enough, as soon as she nodded off, Linda went into respiratory arrest – a very severe form of sleep apnea now known as “Ondine’s Curse.” Once the problem was identified, Linda was fitted with a respirator to be used while sleeping. Lesson learned: listen to the patient.

Allison Hunter was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but lived in Australia, where the providers of socialized medicine ‘did not believe’ in the diagnosis. As a result she was misnamed a malingerer, hysterical, or Munchhausen – a term reserved for individuals who purposely pretend to be sick. When Alli developed convulsions they were attributed to this ‘phantom illness’ and went untreated. As a result, she died during a grand mal seizure. Lessons learned: (1) diligently look into all complaints and don’t discount them, and (2) don’t trust socialized medicine.

Allison’s parents went on to found the Allison Hunter Memorial Foundation, which has promoted CFS throughout the Pacific Basin and provides superb seminars for practitioners to learn more about CFS and FM.

So we have admired and memorialized these two young women who taught us much about the importance of diligence and listening to the patient.

Hunter-Hopkins Center, PLLC

What Should I Tell Friends About CFS/ME/FM?

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