Stephanie Land

Stephanie Land is a freelance writer and memoirist. She serves on The Blue Ribbon Foundation Board of Directors as the Communications Director. As a good friend of Whitney Dafoe, she is committed to writing about myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) to increase public awareness and dispel misconceptions.

Other writing topics include single parenting, poverty, and social and economic justice. Her memoir, MAID: A Single Mother’s Journey from Cleaning House to Finding Home, is about "working as a full-time maid, surviving domestic violence, and the life lessons she’s learned from cleaning other people’s houses."

Articles about ME/CFS

• Mar 11, 2014, "Professor Ron Davis to Present at 11th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2016" (in Let's Do It for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)
• Mar 24, 2016, "Therein Lies your Calling" (in Stepville blog)
• March 30, 2016, "‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Isn’t What You Think It Is — It’s Much Worse’" (in The Huffington Post)
• Apr 11, 2016, "How did I get here? Jumping feet-first into the ME/CFS community" (in The Blue Ribbon Foundation)
• Apr 22, 2016, "Visiting Whitney Dafoe: a dear friend who suffers from severe ME/CFS" (in ProHealth)
• Apr 25, 2016, "Send a Special #MillionsMissing Advocacy Kit to Congress, Courtesy of the Blue Ribbon Foundation" (in #MEAction.net)
• May, 2016, "Solo Moms Living with Chronic Illness" (in ESME)
• May 2, 2016, "Wear your Undies on the Outside for OMF!" (in #MEAction.net)
• May 2, 2016, “Patients with Chronic Illness Rally to Raise Funds, Awareness, and Hope” (in The Huffington Post)
• May 13, 2016 - Updated April 2017, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Isn't Just 'Fatigue' — It's a Deadly Disease" (in SheKnows)
• Sept 29, 2016, Advocacy in Action: Ryan Prior (in Stepville blog)
• Oct 24, 2016, "The Love of a Thousand Muskoxen: Grieving a Love Lost to Time and Sickness" (in Longreads)
• Nov 17, 2016, "Sometimes You Go To California" - blog post about visiting Jamison Hill (in Stepville blog)

Awards

• 2016, Advocate of the Year, awarded by The Blue Ribbon Foundation

Online presence

• Blog
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.