This isn’t something I share often, but at the age of 13 after getting a chill whilst playing lacrosse at school, it turned into what I thought at the time was flu. I went from a girl who did Guides on a Monday, tennis on a Tuesday, golf on a Wednesday (& both again at the weekend), A grade A student who read books at the speed of light & loved school to hardly being able to get out of bed. After a year of all sorts of tests I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (also really badly called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

I got through school and my GCSE's by dropping sport, art and cooking and all elements of a social life. I would sleep 12 hours a day and nearly all weekend. Any exertion physically or mentally meant pain and stiffness the next day, or nausea/extreme fatigue, sensory overload causing panic attacks, claustrophobia, dizziness, tremors, body temperature drops or spikes, short term and visual memory issues - all sorts.

When I got to A levels the extra mental energy was too much. I had some lovely friends who I would need to lean on just to walk between classes. Sometimes I couldn’t tell you how to spell my own name, let alone study chemistry, biology and maths. My dream of going to Oxford and studying biochemistry disappeared when I had to drop out of school.

I tried a full time job that required little mental energy, but after 3 months at the Oval (loving every second) I realised the physical energy was too much. A lovely wellness clinic in my home town gave me a job as a receptionist for 16 hours a week - handy when you can have an acupuncture session to help you get through the day. I started doing the books for them under the guidance of their very friendly accountant.

Then when I met my husband (at a roti stand at the Kensington Oval Barbados, watching an England test match), I moved 100 miles north. I knew I couldn’t work full time, didn’t drive and didn’t know what to do. That lovely accountant suggested I get my bookkeeping qualifications. It took 9 months of studying - just to make sure everything went in - but I passed my bookkeeping and then computerised bookkeeping exams.

Last weekend there was an announcement from NICE, that the guidelines for treating M.E will no longer just be CBT (they finally said it will help with anxiety around it, but not the condition itself) and GET. Which hopefully means the stigma of people being accused of being lazy, not bothered or making it up, will start to disappear.

That is why last week was extra special. Almost 20 years since I thought my future had slipped through my grasp, I achieved something brilliant. My health is at the point where I can work full time, I can even play golf at the weekend and I’ve built an award winning business. I still might not be an early riser, sleep more than most, have to watch what I do and have the occasional bad day, but I have achieved more than I ever thought possible.