Who's Who in the CFS/ME Community: Dr. Lucinda Bateman

Dr. Lucinda Bateman is an internist specializing in the treatment of CFS/ME. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Bateman interned at the University of Utah for Internal Medicine and became certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1991. Until 2000, when she opened her Fatigue Consultation Clinic, she practiced as a general internist.

Dr. Bateman's interest in CFS/ME began when she moved back to Utah in 1987 to begin her residency. Her older sister, Shauna Bateman Horne, had become chronically ill with a mysterious malady. The doctors were unable to diagnose her and came to the conclusion that she was suffering from depression. Their treatment recommendation was that she “take a night class.” Dr. Bateman suspected there was more going on and began investigating fibromyalgia and CFS/ME as possible causes of her sister's illness. In 2000, Shauna was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma and died from complications of a stem cell transplant in May of 2001. 

Dr. Bateman has served on the boards of the International Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (IACFS/ME) and the CFIDS Association of America. Dr. Bateman is also the co-founder and a board member of OFFER (the Organization for Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Education and Research). Since opening her Fatigue Consultation Clinic in 2000, Dr. Bateman has evaluated more than 1000 patients.


CONTACT
Dr. Lucinda Bateman
Fatigue Consultation Clinic 
1002 E. South Temple, Suite 408
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
Phone:  (801) 359-7400
Fax: (801) 359-7404
Email: FCClinic@Xmission.com
Website: http://www.fcclinic.com/Dr.Bateman.htm 

More Information

“CFS Treatment Tips”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWUz-yijDlo
This presentation was made for health care providers during the OFFER 2007 Conference. Dr. Bateman is a clear speaker, and makes several interesting points regarding diagnosis and treatment in this talk. 

“Dr. Lucinda Bateman: Fighting the Fight Against Pain and Fatigue” http://www.everydayhealth.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/spotlight-lucinda-bateman-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.aspx
This is an excellent article about Dr. Bateman's background and motivation for treating CFS/ME.

OFFER's Website
http://www.offerutah.org/aboutoffer.htm
OFFER has a very well organized website, with concise information about CFS/ME, support groups, events, and much more.

For more information on CFS/ME see: CFS Treatment Guide.

Books for those who can't read

People with CFS/ME suffer from a number of symptoms that can make reading nearly impossible: visual disturbances, headaches, vertigo, and cognitive impairments. These problems can also make watching TV or movies equally as difficult, resulting in a lifestyle that is severely restricted. A person who is too ill to engage in physical activity, and has no recourse to the distractions provided by books and films, may become even more isolated than the illness itself warrants.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to the problem. Audiobooks provide access to novels and works of non-fiction in a format that does not strain the eyes. In addition, listening to a human voice, especially one that is well modulated, can be quite soothing. (I find that listening to a pleasant voice in the night, when I have insomnia, is very relaxing.)

Most libraries have a good selection of audiobooks. But if your library does not, there are various free services. Itunes has a collection of roughly 5000 titles. Books Should Be Free, has thousands of public domain books which you can listen to for free. Project Gutenberg, which also lists thousands of free public domain works in print, offers human-read audio books in more than sixty different languages. You can browse these by author or by language. Librivox is another free service that offers audiobooks from the public domain. 

If you are able to spend the money, Audiobooks.com offers over 20,000 titles for a monthly subscription fee of $30. The books can be downloaded onto your computer. You can also purchase audiobooks on Amazon.com and from most major booksellers.

If you do a Google search for “audiobooks,” you will find many sites from which you can pick and choose according to your interests. There are also sites that review audiobooks. These are especially useful, because they not only cover the content of the book, but review the voice of the reader as well. (Nothing is worse than having to listen to a voice that is grating.) My favorite review site is Read To: Reviews of Books Provided by the Talking Books Service of the Royal National Institute of Blind People. This blog is maintained by Richard Wadwell, who does an excellent job of reviewing audiobooks and providing essential information.

Resources:
http://www.audiobooks.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks/id311507490?mt=8

http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/

http://www.read-to.blogspot.co.uk/

For more information on CFS/ME go to CFS Treatment Guide