“But you don’t look sick?”

If you’ve battled Lyme disease (or any other chronic and/or neurological illness) for a small amount of time you’ve probably heard this phrase posed to you by doctors, family, friends, and strangers a number of times. And my guess is you’re pretty sick of it by now. Yeah, I know the feeling. It’s so funny that no matter who I talk to this always comes up. It’s also funny that when I talk to other “Lymies”, this topic is always mentioned somewhere in our conversation…and it is spoken of with great agitation.

It’s frustrating because as a chronically ill person who’s battled an “invisible illness” for a long period of time you don’t exactly know what to say when someone comments, “Oh but you look so good!” I know I should be glad that people think I look “so good” even after being sick for…

Nearly 250 children are “at risk” of being sexually exploited across Greater Manchester, the BBC has learned.

Figures show that out of 246 children being dealt with by local councils, 111 were deemed to be at high risk of being sexually exploited.

Rochdale Council had the highest number of children at risk, but said tackling sexual exploitation was one of its top priorities.

In 2012 nine men were jailed for running a child sex ring in the town.

‘High risk’

Manchester City Council had 36 children known to it, of which 20 were at high risk.

Rochdale Council said there were 40 children at risk but only three of those fell into the high risk category, making them susceptible to being targeted by groomers.

The council’s assessment looks at school attendance, home life, sexual health and types of risky behaviour.

Each area is rated between 1-5, with an extra rating…