There are still no drugs for it, and the NIH, incredibly, is still spending about the same paltry amounts on it that it was twenty-seven years ago. Twenty-seven years later, as Unbroken opens on Christmas day, the medical system is still “broken” for people with ME/CFSīut doctors still don’t study ME./CFS. She still has chronic vertigo and is still mostly homebound. In some ways, things have changed – Laura’s found new drugs to help suppress some of her worst symptoms – and in many ways it hasn’t. I said, you deserve this more than me.” Louis Zamperini People at these vigorous moments in their lives – it’s my way of living vicariously.” Laura Hillenbrand Still Very Broken And it’s just fantastic to be there alongside Louie as he’s breaking the NCAA mile record. It was a beautiful thing to ride Seabiscuit in my imagination. I can’t have it physically, so I’m going to have it intellectually. Not many people go to work to escape a disorder that’s ravaging their bodies, but that’s exactly what Laura does. There have been weeks and months - indeed, sometimes years - when the mere effort to lift her hands and write has been all that she can muster.” The Unbreakable Laura Hillenbrand Even the physical act of writing can occasionally stymie her, as the room spins and her brain swims to find words in a cognitive haze.

“She cannot attend literary festivals, deliver bookstore readings or give library talks and signings. Both present vivid portrayals of the limitations the disorder presents. In this weekend’s New York Times Magazine (“ The Unbreakable Laura Hillenbrand“) and, in particular, in the Washington Post ( Laura Hillenbrand releases new book while fighting chronic fatigue syndrome) articles, Laura talks about the disorder frankly and at length. Laura Hillenbrand clearly doesn’t want to be the everyday face of ME/CFS, but every couple of years, when a book or a movie about a book comes out, she is willing to be very clear about its devastating effects. The Face of ME/CFS – Every Five Years or So. All the medical resources in the world, after all, can’t help you when little is known about your disorder.

With some of the best medical care in the world an hour’s drive away, Laura Hillenbrand, twenty-seven years after she became ill, remains mostly home bound. And once you’re caught you’re probably not going to get out of it. It presents a huge opportunity for the public to understand that this is a real illness with severe consequences which can affect anyone – even one of the best known and loved authors in the world. Admit one – to Louis Zamperini’s and Laura Hillenbrand’s story

Author of seabiscuit and unbroken