Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Life as an Invisible
Living with Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Welcome to the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Support site. We are a small group of People who all deal with the same illness, pain, fatigue, and misunderstanding.
Many of us deal with this horrid pain and fatigue on a daily basis with no support from loved ones, friends, or family. This web page helps us express what we Fibromyalgia sufferers feel, go through, and have to deal with on a daily basis. Some of us with Fibromyalgia only have each other, since most if not all of the people we know do not understand, believe, or know how to deal with our illness. Some of us with Fibromyalgia are lucky enough to have a family that tries to understand, but for those with Fibromyalgia who don't, we have each other. This web page is dedicated to our friends with Fibromyalgia and/or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and to their family members to better help them understand what we are dealing with on a daily basis as sufferers of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Welcome to our web site, I hope we can become a part of your life and help you understand this devastating disease known as Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or as Fibromyalgia, or as just Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).
My name is Linda Fletcher, I am 48 years old. I am married to a wonderful man named Brian who does his best to understand this disabling disease called Fibromyalgia. I have two beautiful children; Amber, who is 27 and also has Fibromyalgia she was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when she was 18 and Justin, my son, who is 25. I live in Maine and I love it here, but my body doesn't. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1992. At that time I worked In the home health field as a Nurse, and I was an emergency medical technician with the local ambulance for 10 years. The ambulance was all-volunteer, and we would get calls all day and all night. If we were available, we would go. In 1992 I had to give up the home health work due to the pain I was in at the end of the day thanks to the Fibromyalgia. I changed jobs to become a HeadStart teacher. I still worked with the ambulance, but I could only volunteer less hours. After working in this manner for five years, I awoke one January morning unable to get out of bed due to severe pain in my neck, shoulders, and upper back, that was the beginning of the end; Hello, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In 2001 I was awarded Social Security Disability (SSD) due to the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I started getting my disability checks, not enough to live on by any means. I searched a lot on the Internet and joined different support groups. In July of 2006 JKPeachy (Jeannie) and I started our own Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, chat room; it led to the establishment of this website "OPEN ARMS". In chat I am known as Willowprin. Please enjoy your look around our web site, and if you would like to be a member just e-mail fibro_open_arms@hotmail.com or jkpeachy@insightbb.com thank you for looking at us and we hope to be hearing from you if you suffer from Fibromyalgia or CFS, or have a family member that does.
may Love and soft ((((( )))))) Open Arms hugs be with you
I Have A Mission
April 2, 2007
I Have A Mission
Dear Friends,
I have been asked to write a little something about how my life has changed, since was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1992.
I’m not to sure but, maybe I should tell you what hasn’t changed in my life since i was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia: the list would be a lot shorter! Let's see, since I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I have learned to appreciate the small things in life, and I take the time to stop and smell the roses, and I do not rush by all the important things in life.
When I was working the important thing was get to work on time and don’t be late. When I got home it was rush and cook supper and get the kids ready for bed after their homework is finished. After that it was do my damnedest to make my husband enjoy the short time we have alone together before we went to sleep and got up the next day, and start it all over again. Don’t get me wrong I loved my work! I truly miss my work! I wish I could go back to it today! But that isn’t how life works with this disease called Fibromyalgia. Now I am not able to take care of my family as I want and feel I should because of Fibromyalgia. I can’t always put a hot meal on the table at night because of Fibromyalgia. I don’t get up and get Brian’s lunch ready and prepare his breakfast because of Fibromyalgia. I don’t wake at 2 AM to go help out a neighbor who is just scared and wants some company, so she calls the ambulance, and I go to her house and comfort her thanks to Fibromyalgia. All of these changes in my life are thanks to Fibromyalgia!
I don’t have grandchildren yet. I don’t know if I will be able to take care of them when I do get them. But I am going to give it all I’ve got! And they will know they are loved! People are the most important thing on earth to me, and I have a mission to make life just a little nicer and easier on people. I don’t have the drive nor the stamina I used to have thanks to Fibromyalgia, but my heart is still in it, just as much as it was when I was able to go out every night and help them! Fibromyalgia affects every facet of one's life! Now, the simpler things matter to me -- like a butterfly on a daisy, or an ant carrying a load of food back to its den. I even enjoy the wonder and amazement that goes into the spider's web under our porch railing! I no longer knock them off just because I can. When family comes over, or friends come to visit, I don’t worry if the dishes stay in the sink. Hell, after all, they are here to see me, not how clean my house is. And, even if I was as strict and as stiff with my life as most people are, I wouldn’t be able to walk around the house singing as my son, in the other side of the house is singing the next verse, back and forth between us. Fibromyalgia affects all facets of my life! Oh to sit in the morning sun, and let the heat bake into me! now that is something I just never took the time to do! Now, though, since my life has had to change due to Fibromyalgia, I move in new directions. I find it’s the "small stuff" that makes me smile. Even when I see that my dog is running through the water at the lake, I treasure life more than I used to. Before Fibromyalgia, everything and everyone was always in such a hurry that we never took the time to notice, stop, and enjoy them.
One other thing besides all the small innuendos that I so enjoy is my chat room and all the wonderful people who have become a second family (FMily) to me. People I can confide in, people who understand what I am going through, because they are dealing with the same issues, be they Fibromyalgia, or Firomyalgia AND Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). People who don’t judge you because you didn’t have the energy to get out of bed in the morning...or at all for that matter. People who, when you say you are "FINE," it has the same meaning for everyone in the room: F.I.N.E. the meaning in the fm,cfs world.
Frustrated
Insecure
Neurotic
Emotional
Well, I am supposed to be telling you how the chat room has helped my fibromyalgia. I guess in a way I have been doing that. You see, this Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome chat room has become a second family for most of us. I know for me this has become a second family, and a reason to do things. I have a reason again, and I am able to help people again. Not in the same way as I used to before Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but in a new way! I am still able to reach out to people, to help them, to comfort them. I again have a purpose! And I matter! Each and everyone of you in this chat room should feel the same as I do, we are all important!
Linda Fletcher/Willowprin