Hi everyone – it’s Kara’s team here, writing on her behalf. In truth, Kara is rarely up to writing her own updates. What’s different this time is that she’s too ill for us even to discuss the wording with her.
Last week was an amazing one for Kara and all of us involved with her album. As you will have read in last week’s post, It’s Still M.E reached number 8 in the official download charts in its first week of release. This in addition to spending most of the week as the Amazon best-seller and the top singer songwriter album on iTunes. Her story was told in numerous places, including the Daily Express and Channel 5 News.
If life were a movie, Kara would be so buoyed up by the success of her album that she’d currently be enjoying a new lease of life. But the reality is sadly very different. As anyone living with severe ME knows, even the smallest exertion leads to a terrifying payback of suffering. Kara pushed herself hard in order to give her album the best launch possible – and this week is paying a very heavy price. Her symptoms have been so severe that a trip to A&E was necessary, though fortunately she avoided hospital admission on this occasion. Her silence tells us how much she is suffering. Usually she is brimming with ideas and eager to share them; but for most of the week she’s been too ill to communicate with the rest of us on the team.
We know that Kara wouldn’t want anyone to worry, and that she’d tell you she’ll be back soon. But it seemed important to us to share the reality of living with severe ME. Kara’s dream of releasing an album has come true, and that album has enjoyed incredible success; but Kara remains trapped inside a body that suffers agonising pain and periods of total paralysis. She’s a fiercely determined young woman, but that determination can’t cancel out her condition.
This is why her beautiful music is so important. It gives voice to the many thousands of people suffering similarly, and raises vital funding for research into the severest cases of ME. (Read more here.) If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to listen to her music and to tell others about her album. It can be purchased here.
On a happier note, despite our not being able to promote the album much this week, It’s Still M.E remains in the official download chart at number 48. This is fantastic – thank you so much to everyone continuing to support it. Kara was delighted when we told her the news.
We have some exciting things in the pipeline, which we will announce over the coming weeks. Watch this space! In the meantime, our love and thoughts to all suffering like Kara. To paraphrase her song, Be With Me: we hold your hand and wrap you up in the love that you need just to breathe.
Kara Jane 