I know I usually write charming little mom-edy pieces, but lately I have been overwhelmed and how many ‘sisters in pain’ I have found on Word Press aka fibromyalgia sufferers. I thought it might be helpful to share my story.
About 9 years ago, I was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy, which was pretty horrible in and of itself. The good news in that is that it was caught early enough and I am now perfectly healthy and have had completely normal pregnancies before and after that pregnancy, but that’s not really the focus of this blog.
The doctor projected that I would recover within a 6-8 week period, and although I began feeling stronger, I was still in immense amounts of pain. What was odd too, was that the pain that was once in my lower abdominal area was now spreading throughout my body, into my joints, legs, knees and even my jaw and seemed more of a ‘nerve pain’. Desperately, I would seek advice from this doctor and that doctor, trying to find out what was wrong with me, but all of my tests came back normal. The only advice that they could give me was to rest, which, as an active young mother, only added to my depression.Waking up every morning and judging the day on the measure of my pain was no way to live.
Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and one morning after waking up in almost unbearable, and ever spreading pain, I took myself to the emergency room. The doctor there diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. And you know how I felt? I was actually kind of happy. Why? Because I was certain that whatever I had was some sort of a degenerative bone disease or something that would surely contribute to my deterioration. When I found out it was none of these, I was actually relieved!
Of course reality soon set in. I still had a painful condition to which there was no cure. But little did I realize I had taken my first step in my battle against fibromyalgia which was defeating depression.
I also realized that I could be active again. I began strengthening my body. I had been limping ever since my operation, but with the renewed strength in my body, the limp went away which also made me feel better about my body image. I swam and worked out, but probably the most helpful of all these activities was pilates. The gentle stretching was just the kind of therapy my body needed, not to mention the almost meditative state my mind would go into when exercising.
Today I am not without fibromyalgia pain, but it is so slight, I describe my state as being ‘in remission’. It is also helpful to know that it is so much better than it’s ever been.
I encourage anyone dealing with fibromyalgia to reach out at any time because there are people who know what you are going through, and there is hope.
http://sickandsickofit.wordpress.com/fibro-what/
http://sickandsickofit.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/im-scared/
http://joannebest.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/another-day-another-blahg/
Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth 