I got an interesting e-mail a few weeks ago. It was from LiveJournal, one the first (perhaps the very first?) early blog platforms, wishing me a happy 19th anniversary! I had forgotten all about my LiveJournal account, so I clicked the link and stepped back in time ...
I only wrote 14 short entries, between 2003 and 2006, on the site (and then switched to Blogger in 2006), but that brief glimpse into our early years with chronic illness is a fascinating one!
In those very short posts during that timeframe, you can see a huge part of our illness journey. I was dealing with my own brand-new diagnosis of ME/CFS (called CFIDS back then), my son's first brush with Lyme disease, the beginnings of trying treatments for ME/CFS, my struggles with parenting while sick, the extreme highs and lows of chronic illness, and finally, the beginning of my sons' experiences ME/CFS.
In addition, in those few posts, you can see the beginnings of this blog, my mission to find effective treatments, and even my first thoughts of reaching out to find others to connect with.
And here we are, 19 years later! I've been writing this blog for 16 years now, started a local support group that has greatly expanded over the years, started multiple online support groups, and now have a huge network of friends all over the world that I feel connected to.
You can read those early LiveJournal entries here. It's interesting and eye-opening to take a look back, to see where all this began and how far we've come. Jump in the time machine with me!
Did you keep a journal or other records of the early days of your illness?
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