I have taken on a new endeavor, and I am trying to write a book about living with Fibro (but also other life experiences too). When I was diagnosed, Fibro. was a new disease that many doctors did not know about, especially in a teenager. My mom told me years ago that I needed to write to help other kids dealing with chronic pain. At the time I didn't think it was such a good idea, because I had no idea what was going on with my body. Now that I am older, and lived with and without medicine I think I could give an uplifting perspective. Again, it's not just about Fibro., but there have been situations in my life that I have happened that have shaped the way I live with Fibro. and I kick ass.
The day after high school graduation, I moved out of my parents house, and took a job in the next county. I started college a few months later, and took on another job. I worked so hard to maintain my grades and making ridiculous tuition payments. Four and a half years later I was done with college and have an amazing job helping at-risk youth. I'd like to say that this journey was easy, but life was a roller coaster, and I was not always strapped in. I fell and I fell hard, but with the support of my loved ones I picked myself back up and continue on my journey. When my book is completed (and there is no guarantee that that will even happen), I hope you read it and help me Find My Strengths.
Good Night.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Finding My Strengths
FMS no longer has to stand for Fibromyalgia Syndrome, instead it will mean Finding My Strengths. I am not a medical expert, but a personal expert, living with Fibromyalgia for the past eleven and a half years, (that’s almost half my life!).
I want to write, not to share my day-to-day pain, but to offer some insights and encouragement that living with Fibro is not always easy, but doable, and enjoyable.
I am a few months shy of my twenty-fifth birthday, and I can honestly say that each day I become more and more happy. Living with Fibromyalgia has made me a strong person and I know I can do anything I set heart and mind to. I have no idea how I developed Fibro, and at age thirteen I don’t think any teenager (or anyone, for that matter) should have to experience the intensity of pain and a sudden life change I was thrown in to.
Here is some background on when my new life journey began: I was in seventh grade and it was back-to-school night. My Pops and I were walking class to class and I told each teacher that I would not be going to school tomorrow (Friday) because I had an ear infection and I would be going to the doctors. The next morning my mom and I went to the doctors and expressed concern that this ear infection was not like most. I was given antibiotics and left. That afternoon, my right eye began to twitch and that's when my life changed. My mom and I returned to the doctor's office on Monday to find out that the right side of my face went paralyzed and I was rushed to the hospital for an MRI. I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy and thankfully it only lasted a week and a half. Long story short, tons of pain had emerged (and I can remember having intense headaches since the fourth grade) but the pain went widespread to my whole body. I was pulled from school, put on twenty-three pills a day, and couldn't walk straight or tell you my name if my life depended on it.
Three months went by, two MRI's (I had to do another because I had braces and the first one didn't work because of the metal in my mouth, so I had to get my braces off, get another MRI and had my braces put back on), a nerve block surgery (I woke up during the procedure and experienced the worst pain of my life, and gained chest pain), getting blood tests every other day and I was finally diagnosed with Fibro after many doctors telling me the pain was in my head and making up pain for "attention", or possibly having Lupus.
As a child, (but I matured quickly after the diagnoses), I was always the center of attention. I loved making people laugh and would do anything goofy to do so. When I was placed on the medications, I became a zombie and did not like the person I had become. Without telling anyone, I chose to stop taking medication, and my fun-loving personality came back. My mom became suspicious, and on our way into a doctor's office, she said, "I need to know the truth. Are you taking your medicine?" "No," I answered.
I was Finding My Strengths. Even at a young age, I realized that this was not the life I wanted to live. To this day, I do not take medicine and for the lack of a better phrase, I embrace the pain. I would rather (learn to) control my pain than having the pain and medications control me.
Each day, week, month, year, I experience different amounts of pain and I welcome the challenge. If I let the pain get the best of me, I would not have just participated and finished my first 5k. 2009 started out and continues to be one of the best years of my life. It's only been eleven and a half years, and I have a lot more years yet to come as I continue Finding My Strengths (FMS).
I want to write, not to share my day-to-day pain, but to offer some insights and encouragement that living with Fibro is not always easy, but doable, and enjoyable.
I am a few months shy of my twenty-fifth birthday, and I can honestly say that each day I become more and more happy. Living with Fibromyalgia has made me a strong person and I know I can do anything I set heart and mind to. I have no idea how I developed Fibro, and at age thirteen I don’t think any teenager (or anyone, for that matter) should have to experience the intensity of pain and a sudden life change I was thrown in to.
Here is some background on when my new life journey began: I was in seventh grade and it was back-to-school night. My Pops and I were walking class to class and I told each teacher that I would not be going to school tomorrow (Friday) because I had an ear infection and I would be going to the doctors. The next morning my mom and I went to the doctors and expressed concern that this ear infection was not like most. I was given antibiotics and left. That afternoon, my right eye began to twitch and that's when my life changed. My mom and I returned to the doctor's office on Monday to find out that the right side of my face went paralyzed and I was rushed to the hospital for an MRI. I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy and thankfully it only lasted a week and a half. Long story short, tons of pain had emerged (and I can remember having intense headaches since the fourth grade) but the pain went widespread to my whole body. I was pulled from school, put on twenty-three pills a day, and couldn't walk straight or tell you my name if my life depended on it.
Three months went by, two MRI's (I had to do another because I had braces and the first one didn't work because of the metal in my mouth, so I had to get my braces off, get another MRI and had my braces put back on), a nerve block surgery (I woke up during the procedure and experienced the worst pain of my life, and gained chest pain), getting blood tests every other day and I was finally diagnosed with Fibro after many doctors telling me the pain was in my head and making up pain for "attention", or possibly having Lupus.
As a child, (but I matured quickly after the diagnoses), I was always the center of attention. I loved making people laugh and would do anything goofy to do so. When I was placed on the medications, I became a zombie and did not like the person I had become. Without telling anyone, I chose to stop taking medication, and my fun-loving personality came back. My mom became suspicious, and on our way into a doctor's office, she said, "I need to know the truth. Are you taking your medicine?" "No," I answered.
I was Finding My Strengths. Even at a young age, I realized that this was not the life I wanted to live. To this day, I do not take medicine and for the lack of a better phrase, I embrace the pain. I would rather (learn to) control my pain than having the pain and medications control me.
Each day, week, month, year, I experience different amounts of pain and I welcome the challenge. If I let the pain get the best of me, I would not have just participated and finished my first 5k. 2009 started out and continues to be one of the best years of my life. It's only been eleven and a half years, and I have a lot more years yet to come as I continue Finding My Strengths (FMS).
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