Wendy Boutilier

Wendy Boutilier, a Canadian artist, developed ME in 2008, after a bout of sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis, caused by a very severe infection of Streptococcus pyogenes Necrotizing Fasciitis sometimes called “flesh-eating bacteria". She continues to suffer from moderate to severe ME leaving her disabled & 75% housebound. She holds a Batchelor of Arts Degree in fine art, art history & anthropology from Western University, London, Ontario. She worked in the Caribbean, Central & South America until she became ill in Barbados in 2008. She uses her art as her solace.

Boutilier guest blogged for Just ME on 12 May 2014 where she discussed Sophia Mirza's death, the image problem cause by the trivializing disease name and outdated psychological explanations of its etiology. She highlighted Dr. Kenny de Meirleir's work and outlined biomedical abnormalities caused by the illness. She admins on several ME Support FB pages and is an active ME Advocate.

Since 2014, Boutilier has been working on an art project called Tears for ME, a pictorial memorial wall of some of those who have lost their lives to ME. She grants permission for the images to be reused to promote the suffering of ME, especially on Severe ME Awareness Day on Aug 8.

Boutilier supplies art images to be used on social media for May 12th Awareness Events, sponsored by the May12th.org.

In 2016, she wrote to the Canadian Federal Minister of Health after the Canadian Institute of Health Research denied a grant for ME based on a psychological approach to the illness and that their denial cited erroneous and outdated research. In her letter she urged the ministry to adopt the WHO ICC 2011 definition and diagnostic code for ME.

She has also been published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal with respect to treatment of ME. She urged the Medical Profession to remove GET & CBT since the Scientific Research Trial Study of PACE was found to lack good science. The PACE trial has been debunked. Published in Stonebird, UK on the cost of ME.

A Founder of Global Advocates 4 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. A small group of advocates dedicated to education & information about ME-ICC, ME-Ramsay, ME-Hyde.

GAME Website:

https://artzstudios1.wixsite.com/globaladvocatesmeicc

GAME ME-ICC Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/347665639177551/

GAME Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/ga4me

Learn more

• The Faces of Sepsis - Wendy Boutilier
• Body Count: the tragic stories of severe ME
• http://stonebird.co.uk/Price%20of%20Myalgic%20Encephalomyelitis.pdf

Online Presence

• Artzstudio/Wendy Boutilier Facebook

etiology The cause of origin, especially of a disease.

World Health Organization (WHO) - "A specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the Health Organization, was an agency of the League of Nations." The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is maintained by WHO.

International Consensus Criteria (ICC) - A set of diagnostic criteria, based on the Canadian Consensus Criteria, that argued for the abandonment of the term "chronic fatigue syndrome" and encouraged the sole use of the term "myalgic encephalomyelitis".

graded exercise therapy (GET) - A gradual increase in exercise or activity, according to a pre-defined plan. Focuses on overcoming the patient's alleged unhelpful illness beliefs that exertion can exacerbate symptoms, rather than on reversing physical deconditioning. Considered controversial, and possibly harmful, in the treatment or management of ME. One of the treatment arms of the controversial PACE trial.

cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) - A type of psychotherapy geared toward modifying alleged unhealthy thinking, behaviors or illness beliefs. One of the treatment arms used in the controversial PACE trial.

PACE trial A controversial study which claimed that CBT and GET were effective in treating "CFS/ME", despite the fact that its own data did not support this conclusion. Its results and methodology were widely disputed by patients, scientists, and the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

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.