Zoe's Win [Paperback]

Zoe's Win is an ME-friendly book. Printed in clear type, it
opens with Zoe's uplifting story, designed to be read aloud if the child or
young person's not well enough to read. Zoe's not a real person but the
things that happen to her have really happened and Zoe does find out how to
win with ME. You can too, because the help section really is helpful.

This is a moving and very lovely little book. The author knows
all about ME at first hand and her voice is the authentic voice of a
sufferer. She is also an ME expert with many publications to her name. A
former head teacher, she runs a charity to support children with ME that
has political support at the highest level. But that's not why you should
read Zoe's Win. If your child has ME, or if you teach children with ME, you
will be glad you did.

People ask me how I got into the mind of a child with ME.
It's because I had been in that dark place myself. I knew how it was, what
it felt like, how the body won't work properly, the pain and the other
stuff that 'outsiders' - including most doctors - just don't know. They
haven't been there. I've got the T shirt.

It's funny how characters will get into your head. Zoe got into my head and
started talking. She would tell me things. One day, when she was trying to
eat something, she told me: 'The toast tastes like sawdust, it's so hard to
chew. it's making my jaw ache. I never knew it took so much energy to chew.
I'm getting breathless too... I can see myself in the kitchen mirror. My
face is a horrible colour, like dough that hasn't been cooked. And down one
side it feels like a lump of dough, not like skin at all. And now my left
eyelid's twitching too, just like my legs - Oh what? I've knocked the soup
bowl onto the floor. Oh, yuk. What a mess.' In between all this, her mum
was trying to sort things out, get the doctor - and clear up the sloppy
mess on the floor! Never fear. Things look up for Zoe - and her swimming
teacher - the one who didn't understand at first - ends up a real-life
hero. I can't say any more or I'll give the drama
away.

'Packed with practical advice on how to cope, Zoe's Win
advocates collaboration between fellow sufferers, their carers and
professional advisers. A truly welcome addition to the ME/CFS literature.'
Dr Nigel Hunt, General Practitioner, Assistant Director of Post Graduate GP
Training, Eastern Deanery.

A respected author, Jane Colby's last book ME - The New Plague,
investigated the link between ME and polio.

A Head Teacher of a primary school, Jane Colby got ME from a
virus related to poliomyelitis. In incredible pain, she had no idea what
she was dealing with. Following doctors' advice to 'do as much as you can'
she became worse, was bedridden and for years depended on a wheelchair.
Learning from the best ME experts whose knowledge shows that ME is a
serious neurological illness not to be messed with, Jane carried out with a
microbiologist the largest study of ME ever undertaken, into a school roll
of 333,000 pupils. The study, published in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome, revealed that ME is the biggest cause of long term sickness
absence from school. A member of the Chief Medical Officer's Working Group,
Jane played a major role in writing the children's chapter of the 2002 Dept
of Health Report. She now runs The Young ME Sufferers Trust (Tymes Trust),
a charity where everyone including Jane gives their time free of charge.