I Remember Me

 

 

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Those of us who suffer from this disease can attest to the fact that part of the tragedy and suffering is caused by the lack of understanding which we face from those close to us and the medical community. Make everyone important in your life watch this great movie. If you are a victim of the disease, you will find comfort in knowing that you are not alone and you are not crazy. We need more movies like this to bring awareness of the severity of CFS to the general public. Then, possibly, more funding would be available for research. Personally, I believe that CFS, Fibromyalgia, TMJ, IBS, MVP and a host of other "vague syndromes" are all just symptoms of one base disease. I like to call it "Devastation Disease".

As a physician who has dedicated my career to treating patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, I found I Remember Me to be a poignant, touching and true to life documentary. Despite the fact that I see people on a regular basis who are disabled by the ravages of CFS, I still found the film to be simultaneously heart wrenching and hopeful, bringing tears my eyes several times. Everyone should see this film. It is informative on many levels, not only just for those afflicted, but family and friends, as well as every medical professional and the general public.

Kim Snyder has made an outstanding contribution towards elevating the public awareness of this debilitating syndrome through her educational and informative documentary. This is an important first step in alleviating the prejudices that these people to frequently encounter, not only by the public, but also frequently by medical professionals. You can read about CFS all day long, but until you really get involved in the life of a patient with it, either directly or indirectly by letting Kim Snyder give you a glimpse, a true understanding is difficult to achieve.

Aside from the informational aspects of I Remember Me, the cinematography is creative and expressive. Kim Snyder does more than just describe, define and date; she uses the film to let the viewer into her world, sharing the feelings, fears, and dreams of reality so frequently associated with chronic illness and shared by so many affected by CFS. She reveals a great deal of how the experience of life with CFS can be altered in so many ways, from the mundane details of daily life, to the grand realization of lifelong dreams. This is a very deep, personal expression of the journey patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome face.

I have endured this illness for over ten years. I do appreciate Kim Snyder's work and dedication to shedding light upon "CFIDS: Chronic Fatigue Immunodeficiency Syndrome" and hope to see her work continue; specifically focusing on the daily experiences of patients with CFIDS. Granted, I could be possibly missing a point about the production ("brain-fog") but after reading critical reviews I was expecting a hard-hitting tour de force targeting our daily experiences with fluctuating symptoms (CFIDS is actually a collection of many different and most-often life-altering symptoms) and the healthcare system plus how friends and family and society in general react to the illness. After purchasing and viewing the film I felt it was an introductory effort for the least exposed to CFIDS. Yes, good segments, good sound bytes, good points. Yet how I hope to see our illnesses presented in a totality of actual life experiences with female and male patients from all walks of life represented. How the symptoms vary constantly, how the symptoms ebb and flow and cluster with amazing variances even within one day, how CFIDS can affect us similarly yet differently as well, because the symptoms can present themselves in so many different manners, i.e., some are extremely ill from bacterial and viral infections for many years, others do not experience this ongoing issue yet suffer with increased symptoms of fibromyalgia, I'm glad for the film yet hope to see more work come out exposing what CFIDS is as a broad-spectrum experience. Psychologically many of us are faced with issues like a life-altering illness that is not considered terminal and is also largely invisible. This illness presents obstacles all along the patient's path: learning to communicate clearly the always-changing nature and degree of symptoms encountered is a challenge yet it is a challenge that must be faced for the patient to be able to communicate to their physician(s). Many of us have no physicians, many of us have physicians who think they understand our experiences when they do not, and still others experience physicians comprehending almost totally their patients' descriptions of symptoms yet are not as yet able to mediate other than through medication and lifestyle. Thanks for a valuable effort that I (selfishly) hope is the first step towards advancing knowledge of our illness.

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5.0 out of 5 stars What We Can't See!
This documentary film on the disease Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is touching, informative, enfuriating, and life-altering. Read more

Published on Jun 22 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars What We Can't See!
This documentary film on the disease Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is touching, informative, enfuriating, and life-altering. Read more

Published on Jun 22 2002

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