My Name Is Erik Johnson
My name is Erik Johnson. I'm a survivor of the 1985 Lake Tahoe "mystery Illness" and here is how I got involved in the creation of the new syndrome called CFS.
Dr. Cheney called me into his office, "How would you like to be a prototype for a syndrome?"
It didn't take more than a moment's reflection to say no. I didn't think this was a good idea. I told Dr. Cheney that thanks to mold avoidance, including creating a mold free camper as a refuge, I had already improved to the point that I was no longer a good representative of the unexplained illness.
But there was something else that stopped me. I was a Cheney patient in Fall of 1984, from before the mysterious flu had struck town, and I knew that this flu-like illness was what the CDC had been called for. I didn't want to complicate matters by tossing in my prior mold complaints.
I told Dr. Cheney to get someone else, there must be many people who would serve better, and I didn't think it would be ethical of me to act as a representative for the Raggedy Ann syndrome, knowing I had something other than what they wished to study.
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