Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Letters to the Editor
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Letters to the Editor

The Premium Debate: Subscribers react to mum who had to give up job to care for daughter with ME

Letters
Bay of Plenty Times
13 Sep, 2023 12:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Rebecca Miller has had to quit her job to look after her daughter, who is living with chronic fatigue syndrome. Photo / Alex Cairns

Rebecca Miller has had to quit her job to look after her daughter, who is living with chronic fatigue syndrome. Photo / Alex Cairns

OPINION

A Bay of Plenty mother has quit her job to become a fulltime carer for her 17-year-old daughter, who is living with an “invisible illness”.

Rebecca Miller’s daughter, Rachel Miller, was diagnosed with moderate to severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) – also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) – two years ago.

Rebecca said Rachel’s condition was a “heartbreak” for the Te Puke family and meant Rachel missed out on milestones such as graduating from high school, attending the school ball, going to university and getting a job.

Read the full story: Chronic fatigue syndrome: Bay of Plenty mother quits job to care for teen daughter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Have your say by going to bayofplentytimes.co.nz and becoming a Premium subscriber.

This article also highlights the challenges family carers face and impact families when they need to leave paid employment and provide care, with limited support for not only the person they care for, but for themselves.

Mchael S

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.


Too often, ME or chronic fatigue is casually dismissed as a physiological disorder, or just people shirking. It is a legitimate illness, although many GPs simply dismiss it as “tiredness”.

This ignorance often aggravates sufferers, who feel frustrated that they are not ‘heard’ and that the medical fraternity often fails to recognise just what exactly is reality.

David F


No one with ME/CFS such as myself (30 years with it) has had free help like that.

A few bed-bound sufferers get home cleaning, but that requires meeting a very high threshold of disability.

If you can afford hundreds of dollars for those services after losing your job because of illness or you have to give up your job to be a carer, then great.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The rest just have to suffer at home with advice from ANZMES, the national support group.

It is by far the most useful, as most GPs haven’t a clue and give the wrong advice, which makes the illness worse.

It needs to be recognised as a disability, and Te Whatu Ora needs to find out from ANZMES what is true about this illness and not be ignorant. Long Covid is going to be a real problem.

Frankie & P E L


I can only imagine that Rebecca provides a great deal of both emotional and physical support to her daughter.

As a stage-four cancer patient, I can say it is a lonely road, day in, day out, when you’re exhausted and by yourself, even if you can manage bathroom and toilet necessities.

Kerry B


There are some really good threads on Twitter [now X] on this condition. Contributors include scientists living with the condition themselves, especially post-Covid and post-vaccination. Hopefully a breakthrough is not far off.

Kate B

Republished comments may be edited at the editor’s discretion.

The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters from readers. Please note the following:

  • Letters should not exceed 200 words.
  • They should be opinions based on facts or current events.
  • If possible, please email.
  • No noms-de-plume.
  • Letters will be published with names and suburb/city.
  • Please include full name, address and contact details for our records only.
  • Local letter writers given preference.
  • Rejected letters are not normally acknowledged.
  • Letters may be edited, abridged, or rejected at the Editor’s discretion.
  • The Editor’s decision on publication is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

Email editor@bayofplentytimes.co.nz.

Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Police seek woman missing since Tuesday

18 Sep 05:27 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Nasa scientists to star in college's science celebration

18 Sep 05:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Entries open for Tauranga Business Awards 2026

18 Sep 02:30 AM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Police seek woman missing since Tuesday
Bay of Plenty Times

Police seek woman missing since Tuesday

Simran, 41, was last seen in Whakatāne on Tuesday night.

18 Sep 05:27 AM
Nasa scientists to star in college's science celebration
Bay of Plenty Times

Nasa scientists to star in college's science celebration

18 Sep 05:00 AM
Entries open for Tauranga Business Awards 2026
Bay of Plenty Times

Entries open for Tauranga Business Awards 2026

18 Sep 02:30 AM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP