* By Patti Stilley Schmidt
Health coach & consultant
- You want to learn more about CIRS.
- You feel alone; you want support from people who “get it.”
- You feel stuck in general, and your health difficulties are just a part of the problem.
- You want information about what’s worked to help and to heal others.
- You need clarity about this illness and your response to it. How do others feel about being sick with a stigmatized illness? How do they handle it?
- Your whole life is about being sick, and you want to experience more joy and contentment.
- You need help and support dealing with the emotional fallout of being ill and suffering so many losses.
- You want to know how others have convinced family members, friends and health practitioners that they’re genuinely sick with a legitimate, empirically supported illness.
- You want to know how others have found a health care team that helps them heal.
- You’re isolated and sometimes feel like you’re running out of hope.
* Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome
Patti Stilley Schmidt is a health coach, counselor and consultant. She’s a chronic illness survivor, with years of experience managing, researching and advocating to improve the lives of the chronically ill, especially those with stigmatized illnesses like CIRS. She’s been a peer counselor, support group leader, national advocacy organization board member, and has written dozens of articles on these topics, along with the book Mold Warriors with Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. She coaches and runs several support groups for CIRS clients.