Are you suffering post-viral complications of Long COVID?
Have you been recently diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis?
Struggling to get support or advice from your doctor?
Contact experienced longhauler Sam Pearce to arrange an online consultation: sam(at)africaclockwise.co.za
Sam on her bed in the truck Jan 2021
Sam Pearce fell ill with glandular fever just before her final university exams in 1991 and, after contracting dysentery while travelling in Asia the following year, was finally diagnosed with M.E. in 1993. She has been managing energy-limiting chronic illness for nearly 30 years: acute 1992-93, severe 1994-5, moderate 1996-98, mild 1999-2011, moderate 2012-2017, severe/moderate 2018-20.
See her writing on the need for solidarity between chronic illness sufferers here and the history of M.E. here.
She can provide practical guidance on the following:
– diet and sleep management, including supplements
– pacing strategies: how to manage your ‘energy envelope’
– how to manage the mental health repercussions of such a devastating physical disability
– how to handle disbelieving doctors, family members and employers
– how to study, work or parent despite post-viral syndrome
Sam has 2 children, a BA Oxon, a Masters in Diversity Studies from UCT and recently completed a 6 year trek Africa Clockwise in a truck running on waste vegetable oil (travelling with a bed and kitchen in tow).
Sam on ME Awareness Day 12th May 2018 in the back of the truck travelling through Ethiopia
Stuck in a garage in Malawi with the truck in 2019
Initial online consultation 45 mins:
R400 for South Africans, £35 UK, $50 USA.
Follow up weekly coaching sessions 30 mins:
R300 SA, £25 UK, $35 USA.
Sessions are free for residents of Masiphumelele and Ocean View.
Testimonial:
“I reached out to Sam many years ago, after reading an article she had published in the local paper. I had been battling with crippling exhaustion, excruciating fibromyalgia, brain fog, post exertional malaise and moderate situational depression. No one fully understood what I was going through and many thought I was just lazy, flaky or looking for attention. It was desperate to constantly be letting my friends and family down and to be faced with the taunting smiles from various doctors telling me I was ‘just fine’ and my bloodwork looked ‘perfect, so there is nothing to worry about.’
Sam was like a shining beacon in a dark storm. She arrived with a deep and profound sense of understanding, not only of the totality of my physical symptoms, but of my driven personality and the mental fallout that can come from losing everything you were once capable of, without any real understanding from those around you. Her advice gave me the permission I needed to truly rest. To allow my body to do its work and to focus on the intelligence and wisdom within myself. I have gone on to help countless others because of the invaluable gifts that Sam afforded me: acceptance, patience, resilience and hope. When we surrender the angst that comes from resisting our present moment, we can bare witness to the endless potential within ourselves and the inherent worth of our being. Your worth is not connected to your productivity.
I am forever grateful to Sam for the difference she made in my life at such a pivotal time, and would recommend her support and services, without hesitation, to anyone searching for answers and a sense of purpose in the confusion.”
Cat Simmons, convener of Chronic Fatigue/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Support Group on Facebook.
Sam on her way back to SA in winter 2019
Africa Clockwise 