Have Faith! The Bible (paraphrased) says not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough going on to monopolize our minds. This is true for everyone, but for a Fibromyalgia sufferer it’s VERY true. Worry can add stress to our minds, which overflows to our bodies, which causes immeasurable, debilitating pain that is all-consuming and can last for days.

Worry is something I am good at doing; I also know what worrying does to me physically. 

As a Fibromyalgia sufferer, I have to continually watch out what my mind thinks about. I run a large household, I home-school and I manage our family’s bluegrass band. My husband also has bone cancer. I have oodles to worry about in any given day! The key is for me to take my thoughts captive and “Cast all my cares upon the Lord.”

Easier said than done, but I do try. Some days I manage just fine, others…well…

Remember…

“Today is the Tomorrow you Worried About Yesterday.”

Take life one day at a time, one moment at a time. 

The pain will still be there, but we can help control the flares by minimizing the worrying!

Hang in there-
~The Fibro Momma of Ten

June has been quite a month for this Fibro Momma! Music engagements, family visits, Father’s Day, my 28th Anniversary…all has kept me busy, busy. Life does not slow down for Fibromyalgia.

So, What do you do when life does not slow down for Fibromyalgia sufferers and your body desperately needs it to?? 

Pacing yourself is vital. I use a planner/organizer to help keep me on track. I am a borderline diabetic, so I keep track of all my meals and glucose levels daily along with weather conditions and how I am feeling day-to-day. The planner helps me to pace myself and recall what may or may not cause a flare.

But what about life happenings? Can you slow down life?…not always. Here are some examples of just a three-week span of time in my life-

We played music at a four-day Bluegrass Festival several hours away at the end of May. I admit I lived on Ibuprofen that whole time. Who wants to come to a band’s tent and not see a vibrant, smiling Mom greeting them and talking of the many CD’s our booth has to offer! (Well, I don’t know about vibrant, but I was smiling because the “edge” was off the pain a bit and I had to keep going for four days straight feeding and caring for the clan and greeting fellow Bluegrass lovers!)

After our return home, and still on Ibuprofen, I decided it was a good time to redo our basement and change things up a bit… We were on summer break and it was on my “to-do” list so “why not now???” Well, three days later and I could scarcely move, even on meds…but, golly-gee, the basement looked pretty good! I, on the other hand….did not!

Rest I needed and rest I took!-I could control “life” this time.

A few days later and still recovering from the previous week’s events, I decided it was a good time to scratch another item off my summer to-do list and embarked on canning fresh strawberry jam! An hour into it and my son calls me to ask me to come outside where he and my eleven year old daughter had been riding horses…

I found her writhing in pain and not able to move; she was repeating the same six questions over and over. I came to learn that the horse had gotten spooked and she was thrown from the horse taking quite the tumble! My life literally changed in a moment when I found myself in the back of an ambulance 2x in 6 hours with her. My adrenaline kept me going, but my body could scarcely keep up. I spent a rather uncomfortable night on a futon at a children’s hospital to be with her. Thankfully, she only broke her thumb, she also had a concussion, was battered and bruised up, but it was not a skeletal issue, just muscular and walking would be a challenge for her for a few weeks. 48 hours later and we got to come home. My life did not stop for me then. 

Next, my father came for a week’s long visit two days after the accident.  My body was exhausted from the emotional hospital ordeal, lack of sleep and rest, not to mention all the pre-visit preparations (cleaning, organizing, decluttering) that still awaited me when we returned. 

The temps here in the mid-west were soaring that week and the humidity made the heat index well over 100 degrees. Now, the heat does not throw me into a flare (thankfully!!), but rain and storms do.

The good news it that it did not rain the whole time my father was here, but we did play an outside event on one of the hottest days that week. My husband stayed home with our daughter while she was on bed rest and so it was up to me to drive to this event. The drive was over an hour and a half (driving does wear me out!) and the walking to the event was hard on me due to a great deal of steps and inclines. My dad walks with a cane, but seeing him struggle the steps made me feel almost foolish when I, too, was struggling. (Actually, I think he got along better than me!!!) This music event was not one I could cancel and no matter how I felt, I still had to go. Life could not slow down for me that day, either.

Fast-forward to this past four days…

I get these electric sort of zaps on my scalp when a flare is about to begin. It sounds crazy, unless you have Fibro, but I have learned it is a sign for me. Next came the rain…then storms…and for three days it has done nothing but storm. I have felt run-over, battered and am completely zombified, I have had back-to-back migraines, extreme joint pain and nothing, not even Ibuprofen, seems to help. Not even to take the edge off. 

Storms wreak havoc on my Fibro body!

Our anniversary fell on day two of this flare…I pushed myself that day to make a pleasant memory for us both. We ended the day with a pizza and a movie at home. (My husband understands me!)

I am now on day four of this flare and am currently writing this in a great deal of pain…more than I have had in a while and I see no end to this flare up. (I know there will be, I just can’t see it…)

My head feels like it is full of cotton, my bones feel like they are literally falling off, I hurt E-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.

The rain has not let up and guess what? My daughter had a followup appointment yesterday for the accident over an hour away. It was storming and the last thing I wanted to do was leave the house. I had to MAKE myself go. Pain and all, storms and all…Life did not stop for me yesterday. 

Today, I was able to take it easy. I still make myself get up and put myself together every day…even if it takes me three times longer than it should. This mornings shower was hotter and longer just to get me going. They (the trauma team) had cut off the bottoms my daughter was wearing the day of the accident and she had asked me to sew her new ones. I scratched that off my list today, making record time and had it done in less than two hours before falling onto the recliner for a much-needed rest. I was able to control life today…

What about tomorrow…well, the PLAN is to rest up some more. Fibros know that planning is dangerous!!

God Bless-

The Fibro Momma of Ten

May is Fibromyalgia Awareness Month. It is also Lupus Awareness Month. Please be compassionate to those who suffer from either of these two conditions…or worse, both.

Happy May-

~The Fibro Momma of Ten

When a Fibromyalgia flare never seems to end, what do you do? How about when “life” seems to overtake you and the Fibro has you immobilized and you can barely move from the intense pain that has befallen your Fibro body, what about that? Does your pain seem to come and go on different parts of your body on different days making you feel like a hypochondriac?

Fibromyalgia is a very misunderstood condition that causes widespread body pain that comes and goes based on what you do (or don’t do) and can make getting through one’s day (or night) quite difficult. 

I felt a flare begin six days ago. Today I am in a full-blown-no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-fibro-flare. I’m talking MAJOR pain. Last week it was my hips and knees making it difficult to get up from a sitting position, drive and just do life.

We are remodeling our guest bathroom and my assistance was needed at times to help carry out large items, which did not help. (Was my assistance really needed? Depends on who you ask. My help DID help expedite the process, just saying.) Over the weekend, my daughter had an asthma attack causing me to be up and down with her throughout the night, per her Asthma Action Plan. The next day, our family also played music an hour and a half away. I probably should have stayed home, but I love to minister to the people. They help me as much as (I hope) our music helps them. However, halfway there, I knew this flare was about to triple. True to my past experiences, my body threw a fit. This time it was my neck, shoulders (and shoulder blades) and arms, leaving my fingers feeling quite cold and tingling.

Six hours later, we got home and I took a hot shower. I heated two rice socks and with the help of a heating pad, I laid down. I still could not find release from the incredible pain that had befallen me. I could not even turn my head.  By midnight I tried to get up (took me 30 minutes) and swallowed several Ibuprofen and drank a whole cup of water. That is a necessary thing to do if you take Ibuprofen. Your vital organs need the water to properly distribute the meds with the least bit of damage occurring. 

It seemed like it took forever for the meds to kick in; for me to finally get into a comfortable position to sleep. But, sleep did finally arrive, or must have, because I awoke at first light and found my pain rising with the sun. (Why can’t Ibuprofen last 12 hours??) I have tried Naproxon Sodium with little effect, just saying. 

My life continues and my pain does, too.

Truly this is the worst flare I have had in a while. How do I handle it? 

With a lot of prayer and an understanding family. Actually, my family gets upset with me when I do things that may (most likely will) cause a flare. I fight my old nature daily. My old go-get-em, get-em-done personality. I try to simplify my life, but life never seems to be simplifiable. (Is that even a word???)

I struggle daily with Fibromyalgia pain, but I cannot let it get me down. My pain waxes and wans, burns brightly and then dims, knocks me off my feet and can (quite often) keep me there. I have had to curb my desire to deep clean, sweep the patio and scrub the floors. I have had to learn to “downward-delegate” and hope for the best! 

I often feel robbed of the me I once knew and try to (find) embrace the new me.

I am a work in progress. When the fiery darts seem to fly, I must dodge them and lay low. (But dodge s-l-o-w-l-y, or It’ll begin a flare!)

The one thing about flares is they don’t last. They may last longer than others, but they eventually fade…and come back…and fade…and…come…back…

The Lord is my strength.

Gentle, gentle hugs today-and forgive me if I just stand there. My arms are not working well…

~The Fibro Momma of Ten

“There’s a change in the weather, says I”

Yep. It’s true. I don’t need the weather app to tell me a storm is coming. I can feel it.  Hours before it happens, I know. My hips, my knees, and my shoulders. You know, any part of me with ball and sockets…and everything on me that hinges and seemingly everything in-between just knows.

My head gets that hazy feeling and it’s downhill from there.

Wait. Can you go downhill if your already at the bottom?

Funny…

For those with chronic pain conditions like Fibromyalgia, it’s a twisted sort of funny.  Almost sarcastically true.

Some days I feel like I plummet farther in body pain, but in reality, I think I just notice it more. Spring is a few weeks away and that means weather changes. It means rain. It means pain.

Okay, I mean more pain .

But not the normal pain of “rusty” feeling joints. No, but the deep, deep gnawing feeling that makes you feel like the tendons are being ripped off your bones and your joints are just dangling there. The feeling that you don’t want to move at all. The feeling that it’ll never end.

The good news is it will.

Well, no it won’t, but it won’t stay excruciatingly painful. It will become tolerable, but the question is when.  How long will that take?

That’s another good question that is highly personal and decidedly not answerable.

Again, if you deal with chronic pain you can understand all that I’ve written.

I have Fibromyalgia- The absolutely most ridiculous condition never to be understood except by those who suffer from it. 

The rain is coming, my body is aching. I feel bruised with no physical signs of bruises, I cannot sleep well, I awaken each time I roll over from my hips screaming at me.

Yes, this has not been a good day for me physically and I see no light for a couple of days, but it is my new normal.

My outlook is everything.

If I were to dwell on my pain, it would drive me and everyone around me mad.

My perspective is everything.

It must be a positive one…and I do my best to keep it that way.

No matter your pain, keep your head up and smile. Smiling does make a difference. Not just to those around you, but also to yourself.

Make smiling a habit. Find your sense if humor in the pain. It’s harder done than said.

I’m trying, are you??

Gentle hugs-

-The Fibro Momma of Ten-

I’m a Fibromyalgia Warrior and it’s the last week in February and the good Lord has given me a day of sunshine! So, after school lessons were done, we headed outside to enjoy the day! However, this Momma decided to attack the neglected patio due to dreary winter weather instead of sitting quietly in the sunshine. Was this a wise choice?

No, it wasn’t.

Now, I did enjoy getting out the broom and going at it. It actually felt good to do! I thought “Hmmm, maybe I am not as bad as I think…the stretching from sweeping actually feels good…maybe I will be able to work outside this spring with no pain or repercussions….”

This I thought as I swept…dreamily thinking of a beautifully manicured yard as my mind trailed off….and my body did not follow.

Yep, that’s right. My body locked up.

Not right away, of course.

No, it tricked me into thinking I might actually be able to enjoy working outside again.

And then the pain hit me at about the same time my Navy son called me. (He just got back from deployment last week!)

“Hey, Mom, what are you doing?”

Well, that was not a question I wanted to answer…I knew he would not be happy with me. He may live over a day’s drive away and may have just come home from a six month deployment, but I knew he would not want to know what I had really been doing.

Of course I told him…

…Of course he told me…

…to STOP…

“Make a list,” he said,  “Of everything you need done and when I get leave to come home, I will do it.”

Well, now, that sounded like my son had grown into a man while he’d been gone.

Tears stung my eyes from being proud of my son and how much he cares for his Momma.

I admit, I knew I should not have even picked up the broom. This is my battle continually. My old self and the new one. Fibromyalgia steals away your old self and replaces it with, well, pain. Pain everywhere, all-the-time.

I promised my son I’d behave and pace myself. I promised I would sit and enjoy the sunshine.  After all, my sweet girls wanted me to sit with them and do that anyway. I should have listened….

But there is always so much that needs to be done…..

And there always will be.

Today’s lesson?? Don’t overdo it. Pace yourself and keep the pains at bay. There are plenty of pains just moving through the day naturally anyway, right?

I am thankful for my children who love me and don’t like to see me suffer. (Or find out about it via the telephone…)

Happy Monday and gentle hugs!

I hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods…and that you are sitting and enjoying it.

I know I will be.

When you have Fibromyalgia, you have to divide up your chores into segments. That means NOT doing things all in one day. For me, this is a hard rule to follow. Especially when my old, pre-fibro self used to “do-it-all” in one day!

Take summer gardening. Once upon a time used to pick, wash, cook and squeeze our fresh blackberries to get all that yummy berry juice! I would then make blackberry jelly the same day. When summer tomatoes were ripe, they, too, were picked, boiled, skinned, puree’d and canned either as tomatoes or as pizza sauce…the same day.

Now that I have Fibromyalgia, these things need to be accomplished in stages.

Some of you may even be thinking…”or not done at all…”

Okay, but there are some things I enjoy doing and canning is one of them. There is just something about growing your own food and preserving them for your family to enjoy. I have had to give up and alter many things in my life since this dreaded condition befell my body.

So, since I cannot “do-it-all” in one day anymore, I have learned to freeze my tomatoes and berry juice in the summer and can in the winter! When winter hits, the defrosted bags of tomatoes are puree’d with my stick blender for pizza sauce making. The berry juice is boiled down for jelly.

So, on this cold and blustery January day, it seemed like a good time to make blackberry jelly and pizza sauce from the blackberries and tomatoes that were picked last summer.

I have learned to can my jams and jellies and even pizza sauce in the winter.

It makes more sense, really.

Canning makes a kitchen hot! Why can in the summer when the air-conditioner is running when you can can in the winter when you want your home nice and warm!

Today I canned 18 jars of blackberry jelly and 14 quarts of pizza sauce.

I divided the tasks between yesterday and today to help me survive the pain.

I got all the bags of frozen tomatoes and the berry juice out of the freezer last night to defrost overnight in each respective pot. I washed the canning jars and placed them into the canner and had my sons put the heavy canning pots onto the stove for me.

In the morning, I turned the pots on high and let them boil to sanitize for canning. In the meantime, I prepared and puree’d the tomatoes with my stick blender and added the seasonings. I rested for 20 minutes.

Then I prepared and made the jelly in batches (three total).( Good thing I had help with the stirring!!) Those jars were placed in the canner and I rested another 10 minutes.

Next I cooked the sauce and had a daughter help stir the pot! Then into the hot jars the sauce went! Once those were in the canner, I rested yet again, for the forty minutes they needed to process.

It was a productive morning.

By evening, my body decided that it was done and ready for bed much earlier than usual. I am sure the stirring and mechanical movements of the canning process is the cause. I may pay for it tomorrow…but it will be worth it to put some yummy blackberry jelly on toast!

Happy 2018 with Fibromyalgia!

What? Can you even put the word “happy” with Fibromyalgia?

No, not really.

But it is a new year and everyone says “Happy New Year!!”, right?

A positive outlook is crucial with a condition like Fibromyalgia. Sadly, I must admit that I am not always as upbeat as I try to sound to you all. There are days when I really struggle. There are days when I think I can make it okay. There are even days when I feel I cannot make it and can scarcely move.

My New Year’s resolution is to make my outlook about this horrific condition (that robs you of the life you once had, brings you unrelenting pain with everything you try to do, and causes you to want to curl up and never move again) as positive as possible on a daily basis.

**If at first

you don’t succeed,

try, try again.**

Happy New Year from one Fibro to another! May 2018 bring you and me some pain-free moments that we will cherish forever.

Fibromyalgia, stress and Fibro-fog do not go hand-in-hand. When I awoke this morning I knew what kind of day I was going to have because my brain was not thinking clearly. I immediately set out to stay calm, move slowly, follow a list, and keep my day as structured and orderly as possible.

I think the enemy had other plans! Just after prayer time this morning with the children, I set out to give them their morning chore list, complete with expectations. I let them all know I had some computer work and bills that needed my attention this morning while those chores were being accomplished.

With that done, I went downstairs, put some beef bones and seasonings on simmer for veggie-beef soup tonight, sat at my desk and began my list of things to do. At that point, I struggled with remembering what I was supposed to be writing on my list.

Sidebar:

I have a large family. The youngest is nine and I home-school year-round. We always take December off to enjoy the holiday season and all it has to offer. Chores are a daily task that need to be done-school or not! My kiddos know what to do with (usually) minimal overseeing and so I feel free to pay bills, make phone calls, lesson plan or work on this blog during chore time. I have a general idea of how long the chores take, so when they get done sooner than expected my assumption is:

A) It did not get done

B) It was not done correctly or completely

C) It was not done neatly

D) Squabbling occurred (What??? You mean my children do not always get along and work together as one unit???)

Uh, no. Unfortunately their sin nature seems to take hold more often than not…

End of Sidebar.

Needless to say, “D” is what was happening while I was trying to remember what to put on my list. Today was one of those days where I was truly not able to remember much, save the order that I had given them of our day.

Suddenly my world was turned upside-down when that “order” got changed. Not once, not twice, but yes….more than my brain could manage and I snapped. I could not think. My anxiety began to rise. I was breathing heavy. Why? Because at that moment everything I have ever read about Fibro-fog and stress and how to handle it seemed to have been written for me. What’s worse is even as I thought that, I could not remember any of it. I am even struggling to write this now. My brain is not with it.

I had to leave what I had not even begun to do to handle the various issues that seemed to be so utterly important to those who demanded my attention.

My father has a saying. He would say, “You can’t put a square peg in a round hole without forcing it.” In other words, If the plans are being changed, but it is not going to be a smooth transition, don’t force it. I have headed that advise more than I could count. Except today. I had too many people telling me how it was going to be (and why), my brain could not compute most of it, and I told them to do whatever they saw fit and I walked upstairs. I tried to calm myself down with calmer breathing when it all began again as I was followed up the stairs.

So, here I sit, venting on whoever is reading this. My brain is pretty much dead, I feel exhausted from the last hour and I cannot even recall what my original plan for the day even was.

Thankfully, I had already ordered supplies from a construction company who will be dropping my order off this afternoon for our daughter’s new whelping house and office for her AKC Dachshund business she is expanding. Part of the changes that were made this  morning that just “had” to occur means my son may no longer be home for the drywall when it arrives. *Sigh*

People who suffer from Fibromyalgia cannot take mornings like the one I just had without repercussions.  And guess what…??? It is not even noon, yet.  I am still trying to make sense of it all and trying to collect the pieces of my day and allow my brain to function.

I chose to write in the hopes it would allow me a way to think clearly. Has it? I will have to get back to you on that one.

Stress and Fibro-fog….a horrible combination!

The symptoms of Fibro-fog can range from mild to severe. They often vary from day-to-day. Some symptoms of Fibro-fog may include:

Trouble with Words – Difficulty recalling words or names, the use of incorrect words, trouble holding conversations, understanding conversations, and expressing thoughts.

Short-term Memory Problems – Forgetfulness, difficulty remembering where you put things or remembering plans, forgetting what you are doing, unable to recall what was heard or read.

Trouble Concentrating – Easily distracted, trouble processing information, inability to pay attention to more than one thing at a time, unable to complete a task.

Trouble with Simple Math – Difficulty performing simple math, the processes of math, transposing numbers.

Experiencing Fibro-fog can be frustrating and stressful. The brain fog can be almost as cumbersome as the pain and fatigue. Your anxiety can go through the roof when you cannot concentrate or you get distracted and suddenly you begin to mix up words and you are unable to form a complete sentence. The anxiety you experience during these times can be stressful in itself and cause a Fibro-flare.

Tips to Cope with Fibro-Fog

So, what can you do when you are feeling confused and forgetful? The most important thing to do is to STAY CALM. When your mental capabilities are dimmed by Fibro-fog, it  can be truly scary. But it can also let you know it is time to slow down. If you are around stressful people or a stressful situation, remove yourself as soon a possible.

Here are some tips to help cope with Fibro-fog:

Rest – Respect your body’s need for rest. Overactivity (physical or mental) can worsen cognitive functions, so it may be important to take frequent rest breaks. Frequent rest breaks can actually help prevent Fibro-fog and other flare-ups associated with Fibromyalgia.

Follow a Routine – Establish a daily routine for simple tasks. Doing things in a predictable manner will help reduce Fibro-fog. Make a schedule and stick to it.

Stay Organized – Find a system that helps you stay on top of things. Create daily to-do lists. Use a planner to keep track of appointments. Use a weekly pill-box to keep track of medications, if you take them.

De-Clutter – A cluttered environment can be overwhelming and distracting, cause additional stress and make brain fog worse. Organize your home so that everything has a designated place.

Avoid Multi-Tasking – Focus on one thing at a time. It is harder to concentrate when you’re trying to do too much at once.

Avoid Over-Stimulation – Since one of the causes of Fibro-fog is over stimulation, find ways to limit sensory input. For example, if you are hypersensitive to noise, move to a quiet place to avoid distractions.

De-Stress – Stress may cause Fibro-fog to worsen. You can learn to relax by listening to soothing music and breathing deeply.

Exercise Regularly – Exercise not only improves blood flow, but also helps improve sleep, which can help alleviate some of the cognitive difficulties associated with Fibromyalgia. Yes, it truly helps.

Improve Sleep – Lack of restorative sleep can cause and exacerbate cognitive problems. Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time, too.

I hope this helps!

Today I attended a wake of a dear friend’s husband.  His death was unexpected and hit the family very hard. The line for the wake was wrapped around the building and it took 3 hours to get to the front to show your respects.

As I stood in that line I began to notice all the people. Some faces were familiar while others were not. Some people were speaking quietly while others were laughing. Some were smiling while others were complacent. But none looked as if they were in dire pain.

It was then that I realized how the faces of people are like the faces of Fibromyalgia; meaning that to look at one’s face you cannot tell who has Fibro and who does not.

I was chatting with a friend in the line and she commented on how good I looked. That always makes me chuckle because I had often thought if I looked as I really feel, I would scare the pucky out of someone!

At the same time I thought it was a good thing I DID NOT look like I felt or people would wonder how I was even walking at all!

I guess what I’m saying is that it is a good thing Fibromyalgia does not effect our outward appearance. It was good to know I “wear my pain” well. (At least in public. At home may be different…).

On the flip side, however, is our inner self. You know, the one who feels the pain. The one who deals with the reality of their current situation every day. The one that no one seems to understand.  The one we wish we could forget. The one who feels robbed of their former self and inwardly wants to scream that it is not fair! (and maybe does).

If you have Fibromyalgia and are reading this then you can relate. If you know someone who suffers from this dreaded, misunderstood condition, then study up on it. Pray for them. Pray for how you can help them. Let them know you care.  (Provided you do care. Because if you don’t, it’ll only bring added stress into their life and all Fibros know that stress is a HUGE factor for Flare-ups!)

The faces of Fibromyalgia are everywhere going unnoticed and seemingly uncared about.

The pain is real.

So are the people dealing with that pain…24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Fibromyalgia won’t kill you, it just feels like it will.

Fibromyalgia awareness is important.  People must be educated about this condition.

So as you look around at the sea of faces throughout your day, know that someone in that crowd may have Fibromyalgia. But if you already know someone who has it, then take time to see the pain in their eyes while they are (trying to) smiling.

A gentle hug of understanding is all they may need.

God bless!

Well, yesterday was Wednesday of my Thanksgiving week. I have Fibromyalgia and I feel like I have it…

I have been baking and preparing for Thanksgiving all week and I tried to complete the list I had made earlier in the week to keep me in track.

In conjunction with a turkey craft and Jell-o mold, I also made an apple pie with my two youngest daughters. My hands just cannot peel the apples as they once could! The reality is that I had to stop several times for the burning and aching in my hands to subside before continuing. (I could tell my body had had about all it was going to take! However, there was more to do!)

I then helped my daughter roll out the crust and mix the ingredients together.  Daughter number 2 (actually, she is number 10 and the last blessing of children I received!) helped me cut out the leaf shapes for the top of the pie.

I also made two coffee cakes, homemade refried beans as well as a Mexican chicken casserole for our Wednesday night dinner. I did not get to the two casseroles for our Thanksgiving Day meal, however. By 2pm I sank onto the bed for a much-needed rest. Approximately 23 minutes later, I was trying my best to pick up my body and keep going.

The positives in my day were the children who were feeling better and the fire my son built-in our double-sided fireplace that morning.

I just love a fireplace fire! It is super cozy and inviting. I also find it to be soothing and peaceful. That alone helped me through my day.

I fell asleep like a rock only to toss and turn all night.  It is then that this got written…it is my hope that if you are a Fibro sufferer, that your holiday baking week goes a bit better than mine! I still have more to do to see the Thanksgiving table be as picturesque as it can be! That will  (hopefully) occur today!

Happy Thanksgiving and happy meal prep!

Well, It is Tuesday afternoon of Thanksgiving week and I just finished baking 6 pumpkin pies, one coconut cream and one vanilla cream pie. My “helpers” have been fighting a virus that causes a headache and makes them lethargic and seems to last about 24 hours so I baked all the pies, save the vanilla cream that my oldest daughter at home helped with.  (Her 24 hour bug ended yesterday).

I was fortunate to have had my oldest son at home help me make (all) the pie crusts before he left for work at the bank and his college classes early this morning. The recipe I have used for years makes enough for 20 pie crusts that are freezable. With the size of our family, that is a much-needed recipe!!! It makes the most amazing, tender, flaky pie crusts, too! All that mixing is taxing on my joints and I was super excited when he said he’d help!

My pies turned out pretty good and my daughter even made her Beau a sweet potato pie!

Earlier today, I had my younger “headachers” sit and string cranberries and popcorn for our Christmas tree that will be going up (Lord willing) this coming weekend. Stringing cranberries and popcorn is a family tradition during Thanksgiving week. It gives the kiddos something to do, while keeping us all together while baking. All those luscious looking cranberries made me begin to crave some cranberry bread and so I spontaneously made some!  (As I type this, I can smell it baking.)

I also made the home-made cranberry sauce and cut up the onions and celery for the stuffing.

I admit this was not how I envisioned my week, nor is it how I wrote out my list for the week!  Normally, I have too much help and today I was on my own. That makes it rougher on a Fibro body. At one point I thought I was not doing too bad considering…but then I remembered I had taken Motrin at 9am for a migraine I felt coming on like a train speeding out of control…I guess it took the edge off because I had forgotten I took it.  However, when I stopped to rest, the moment was gone and my body just screamed at me! The pains came from some deep, dark, recessed area of my joints and even my bones ached.

I have decided to make the casserole that is on my list for today on Thanksgiving morning instead and just take it easy the rest of the day. With the time change, it gets dark in the Midwest around 4:30pm. That makes for a longer evening with the family, which I adore. I love this time of year!!

I hope your holiday baking is not too taxing on you!

God Bless!

Today is Monday of Thanksgiving week and I’ve been cooking down pumpkins! Cooking and Fibromyalgia don’t often go together!!  Good thing I had my handy list available to keep me on track! (Fibro-fog!) That list said I was to cook down pumpkins today for pie! Did I succeed? Well, 4 pumpkins gave their lives for our Thanksgiving table, yielding enough for 5 pies plus about 10 more throughout the coming year which was frozen in 3 cup increments!

I’ll admit I conked out about 2pm for an hour. My whole body just went “slump!” See, I have 2 ovens but one is downstairs and the other is on the main level.  Carrying trays of pumpkin up and down, plus bending over to put them in and pull them out is rough on a Fibro body! All my helpers were outside raking leaves into piles (and jumping in them) and so I was on my own! But that is okay because we will be having the freshest pumpkin pies on our street!

Tomorrow’s list is much longer and this Fibro Momma needs to get rested up to bake 8 pies tomorrow!

May you and I get a good night’s rest…

There are many forms of exercise for Fibro sufferers. I have had inquiries as to whether or not the pool therapy and the myofascial massage I tried this past summer has benefited me.

In all honesty, I would have to say no. The pool therapy made my normal daily routine more cumbersome to maneuver through. After six weeks of determining to see it through (which I did), I felt it did not help my pain levels at all and even made me feel more debilitated.

As to the myofascial massage, I feel that it was beneficial to my over-all daily life, but took quite a bit out of my days with driving 30 minutes to get there and then 30 minutes home. It was also difficult to make it a normal part of my weekly life when “life” itself can be hard enough. The Graston tools they used on me did bring me a form of pain release, but so does my Body Back Buddy. I use that several times each week for trigger point release. Just be sure to drink lots of water when using as it releases built-up toxins into your body that need to be flushed away as soon as you use it.

With that said, I do believe the myofascial message had its benefits. Keep in mind that each person responds to each treatment differently and what did not work for me, may work for you and vise-versa.

For example, walking around my property is a benefit to me. It not only offers exercise, but also brings me a peace and comfort that going to the gym or therapist could never do. Likewise, my Schwinn AirDyne bike I like to use in the cold-weather months, offers me the comforts of home, the flexibility of time and the added bonus of being easy to get to.

The bottom line is that we all need to keep moving. Even on extremely painful days and even if it’s only five minutes. But we do need to set a schedule for walking or whatever form of exercise we choose to do, and keep at it.

I have heard that Pilates can be beneficial to Fibro sufferers. I have not exhausted that one, yet. If you have insight to this, please feel free to leave a comment about your experience. I may try it in the future!

All in all, we cannot become stagnant in our daily activities. I would suggest speaking with your Primary Care Physician or Rheumotologist about a recommendation for you. Perhaps there is a form of Physical Therapy that would work for you. Just keep the communications open with your doctor!

Have a blessed day and gentle hugs!

If you suffer from Fibromyalgia, stress can be a contributing factor to flares. How do you handle stress? Well, that has been an ongoing investigation for this Momma!

I am a homeschooling mother with six children still living at home, four still being educated by me, and four already out of the house. Stress just comes with the territory! For years I have been handling these various ages, hormone levels with both male and female, pre-pubescent and full-swing hormones, all running a muck! Not to mention normal daily family issues, unusual daily family issues, as well as teaching them (to work together) for years. We are a work in progress! We have in no way “arrived.”

How do I handle those stressful times and still keep my body from going through a flare?

When I find the answer, I will let you know! Ha, ha.

Seriously, though, I don’t have a cut and dry answer, but what I do have is insight to trial and error. I have been dealing with many stressful issues for years just keeping up with the routine we call life.

Before my body decided to betray me, I was a very organized, routined person. I had schedules and deadlines and structure. I made lists and abided by them. Now, I cannot find the lists I write. Actually, I cannot remember what I was going to write down before I can find the paper that had the list on it. Worse, I cannot remember starting the list in the first place, let alone finding it to write on. Post-it Notes have one or two items on them pasted all over the place and I find myself staring at them trying to remember what I could possibly have been thinking when I wrote them.

My brain suffers from Fibro-fog often and some days are really bad. After each lesson, I write down the page number of the book or topic we are reading in my teacher’s log so I can pick up where we left off the next day. On those days that the bookmark falls out and my teacher’s log goes missing is a sad day indeed…although my children may say the opposite…

On those days when my brain was working more clearly, I made a list of things to do so when my brain is NOT working, I can refer to that and keep the education going! Thankfully, I have good kiddos who are strong learners and can work independently, if needed! I even have a housecleaning list because on the really bad Fibro-fog days, certain routined things escape me.

Now, all these things that I have mentioned can cause stress on your body. When your mind cannot recollect the normal things it is accustomed to, it causes stress on your body. When you can barely move from the joint pain, it causes stress on your body. Stress does not have to be caused by another person, although that can be a HUGE stressy factor.

I laugh out loud when I read other blogs or medical sites that say to cut out the people who cause you stress and throw you into a flare! Sometimes that is a relative or close friend. Then what? Yeah…that is a topic for a later post! Ha!

The answer to these stress-problems is to pace yourself.

This goes against my Type-A personality. I fight this all the time!

Do a little. Rest. Do a little more. Rest. etc. etc. Some days it seems like I barely get anything done. But…..if I don’t pace myself-even on the good days-I will have more bad days. Did you hear that? (Of course you didn’t. You are reading this. So read this out-loud…)

“If I don’t pace myself-even on the good days-I will have more bad days.”

This is where the pacing goes against the inward desire to do-do-do!

Today, I planted mums. I bought 7 mums and with the help of one of my children, I dug four holes, and then bent down and planted all of the mums. Guess what? I cannot move hardly at all as I write this. My hips are screaming at me. Should I have stopped at three holes? Maybe only planted a couple and did the rest over a period of a few days? My personality says,

“No-way! Do it NOW! Get it DONE! Rest LATER!!”

But what I should have been thinking was, “This can wait until another day when someone else can plant these. After all, if I had not bought them, they would still be sitting outside the store in the same containers waiting to be watered and so they can sit here another day or two.” But which scene wins out? Well, the OLD way of thinking, of course!

No. No. No. We must create the NEW way of thinking. This, my friend, is the single-most hardest part of living with the constant, continual, never-ending, perpetually chronic body pain called FIBROMYALGIA!

You need to say good-bye to your old self. Yes, it is a sort of mourning. It may even take you months to let it go. But when you do, it is quite freeing!

Now you can embrace the NEW you. The I-CAN-do this (albeit a little slower) you.  The, “My stress is not as bad as it once was now that I am pacing myself,” you.

It is reformatting the way we have thought for years…I am a work in progress. If I overdo and allow the stress to hurl me into a flare, I can learn from it so I do not repeat the pattern. If stressful people or stressful situations throw me into a flare, I have to learn from that, too.

Oh, but what if you don’t remember the incident (Fibro-fog). My answer is to keep a journal. This way, you can recall what you did and help yourself to manage it better the next time.

Yes, I have Fibromyalgia. Yes, on varying levels, I hurt 24/7. Yes, I can learn to pace myself. Yes, I can reduce the stress on my body by pacing. Yes, I can switch gears and reprogram my reactions to things. Yes, I can rest without feeling guilty. I am a warrior! I’ve got this!

Is it possible to see Fibromyalgia as a blessing??? Well, if you have been diagnosed with this horrific illness, I am sure that is the last adjective you would use to describe it.

As a stay-at-home-mother I can assure you that you need to find the good in the not-so-good on most days! Children crying, schedules to maintain, broken dish(es), must needed potty breaks (for you!!!), living in daily pain, cooking, cleaning, etc….it may be hard to find joy. But the triumphs are when you get beyond the superficial daily grind and realize there are blessings to be found in the little things.  YOUR outlook is vital, not only to yourself, but to those around you. 

That is the blessing of this disease. Did you just read the word blessing associated with Fibromyalgia??

Um, why, yes, you read it correctly. 

You must find the good in the bad or you will go crazy. 

The blessing is that Fibro won’t kill you, though it feels like it will at times. 

The blessing is that the flare won’t last, even though when your in the middle of one you can’t imagine that it will go away. 

The blessing is when the flare is over you cannot really remember how bad it truly was…until it occurs again. (But that is another story.)

Those are blessings. 

Now, when I am in the middle of a full-swing flare I am not going to tell you I say to myself, “Wow, this pain is really intense and such a blessing!”

On the contrary,  I can assure you. But when your living day to day with chronic pain, it’s what you think that defines you. The phrase “there is power of positive thinking” may be a bit cliche, but it does work!

Try it and see if you can name a few blessings to your chronic pain condition(s) and let the “Power of Positive Thinking” reign in your mind and life!

Blessings from one Fibro to another!

Okay, so let’s talk about the realities of having Fibromyalgia or another chronic pain disease. Few websites or blogs will touch on this subject. I will do my best to do so. See, I am a daily Fibromyalgia warrior. I fight the battle of pain every day and it is a very real issue for me. I want you to know you are not alone.

Fibros already know that just waking up in the morning can be overwhelming. That is when the positive thoughts need to kick in. You know what I mean…But how about when you cannot remember what day it is, what you have to do that day, or what you even did yesterday? Not the best way to start the day, but it does happen.

So, now your awake and you begin to move. After the grunts and groans and the electric-like shocks stop flowing in like the tide, you need to tell your brain to begin those ever-needed positive thoughts that say…”Get up”.

Once you determine in your mind you need to get up, you begin the process. Now you are sitting up at the edge of your bed. More pain. Places that should never feel pain, has pain. You say to yourself that is too early to feel this way. You pause and look out the window, willing the day to just float you through it. Then your feet touch the floor. (If you are like me, this is a painful morning occurrence. On go the flip-flops, Crocs or slippers.)

Now that you have your barrings, you paddle your way to the bathroom. Here is where no one actually discusses how hard it is to pee sitting down mainly because they know how hard it is going to be to get back up and “potty talk” is not discussed openly on most blogs. (This is assuming most of my readers are female. I am a sit-down female and I would not want to assume what a male with Fibro goes through at this point. Just saying.)

All Fibros, both male and female do know the deep-seeded feelings of painful joints and mornings are the WORST. We do not take toilet usage for granted! No.

Okay, so that part is over and we move on to regular morning rituals like teeth brushing, hair brushing, (and wiping out the sink that is laden with your once beautifully attached hair of only moments ago), makeup if you wear it, donning sunscreen liberally on all exposed areas, and (if your arms can handle it) you braid or pull your hair up in a ponytail or bun. Forget the curling iron…You then breathe a sigh as the pain in your shoulder joints begin to wind down their screaming. You turn to look at the reflection in the mirror and ask yourself “Why me?” (Please do not go there. I fight this, too, but to keep on keeping on, you MUST have a positive outlook. Just turn off the light and smile as you walk out.)

(If you are blessed with Lupus as well as Fibromyalgia and you have a butterfly rash across your cheeks, tell yourself you are beautiful and walk out of the bathroom. Besides, you are beautiful! This is the life that the Lord Jesus himself has allowed you to have-We must make the most out of it and beauty is found within, anyway, right?)

Did I say having a positive outlook would be easy? No, I did not.

So, how about getting dressed? God forbid the clothes we put on the first time don’t fit right or your brain suddenly kicks in and you remember that you had an appointment today so a different outfit is needed. Getting dressed once can be a challenge, but twice? Here comes more pain…

Sidebar: I began Physical Therapy by way of the pool last summer. Besides the fact that it did not help but actually added to my daily pain; the challenge wasn’t in the exercise, but the changing into and out of the swimsuit and back into the clothes each session. It was like showering 2x a day and that, my friend, is a challenge all its own. End of Sidebar.

So now we are dressed and ready to begin our day. (Is the coffee made yet???)

In my home I have several children of various ages that are being home educated by me, myself and I. I love being a stay-at-home mom! However, since my Fibromyalgia began in 2015, I have had to make some major adjustments!

Breakfasts and lunches have been simplified to allow for me to move a bit more slowly through the morning routine. Did I just say routine? Ha! The word routine got lost the day I was diagnosed! Fortunately for me, my children are beginning to see that my condition does in fact affect our life and can make our days a variable. This once routined (there’s that word again) Mother has now resorted to lists and Post-it-Notes to stay on track. It is a whole new way of life. (Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks???)

Does standing bother you? How about sitting? How about driving? How about walking? For me, it is all of the above. Some days I need to rest-A LOT-other days I can make it through without that nap I so desperately needed the day before.

We know cooking is a chore for the most healthy person, but with Fibro it presents a larger challenge to one’s day. If I use all my energy in the morning on the evening meal, it’s a bust day for me! Easy meals are a must! I have one word for you where cooking is concerned…

Ready?

No, that is not the word. The word is…

SIMPLIFY.

One word. Huge challenge. But it can be done.

Moment by moment, it can be done.

Now your day is over and you are exhausted. Maybe you got to rest, maybe you did not. Maybe you had to drive or maybe you stayed home. Regardless, it’s now time for bed.

You made yourself shower in the hopes the heat will help alleviate the pain. Your children are asleep and you look over at your husband, smile and sigh. (Here is the next thing most Fibro blogs tip-toe around.) You want to be intimate with your husband like you used to. Full of energy and abandon and joint pain free. You can, but not until you get to “that point” when you forget the joint pain. It’s a beautiful thing to “forget” the pain, but getting there is a painful thing indeed, just moving all those joints! (If your husband is compassionate to the new physical you, like mine, then praise the Lord and ask for more energy!! haha  If he is not, my heart hurts for you. Let him read this blog to get a better understanding that you are not alone and that this is a REAL condition!-and pray. Seriously, pray.)

The intimacy between you and your spouse is never to be left behind-pain or no pain.

It is what makes a marriage strong.

It is what makes a marriage whole.

It is what makes a marriage complete.

Perhaps you can’t be intimate as often as you used to. (Hey, we don’t stay 25 forever…) Or maybe you are 25. (Well, I cannot relate since I’m in my 40’s, but Fibro-pain is Fibro-pain no matter how old you are.) Just keep at the intimacy! When it is all over and the pain comes roaring back, (which it always does), you will have the wonderful memory of the connection between you and your husband to fill your mind with positive thoughts to fall asleep on.

Once sleep arrives (for some it takes longer than others), my prayer for you is that you will sleep well and wake up with renewed thoughts for a positive outlook on your day as the cycle begins again tomorrow.

And…24-48 hours later when you can hardly walk and are too stiff and sore to function, always remember that wonderful night with your husband and be thankful for the 24-48 hours earlier…

It is a vicious cycle of unrelenting pain. Yes, it is. The cycle is called life. The cycle is called living.

You CAN live with Fibromyalgia.

 And don’t forget to Simplify!

~The Fibro Momma of Ten

Fibro-fog is a real battle. It is not necessarily a daily fight for me, but when it does occur, it is quite hard to handle.

As I write this, I am suffering from Fibro-fog. The words just evaporate from my mind faster than I can think them. I feel like I am chasing word rabbits through the muddy fields of my mind. I literally can see the words hop away and I cannot remember what they were.

Trying to have a conversation on days like this can be amusing to the listener as I stutter out my thoughts, but it is a real struggle to my inward self. It makes me realize how bad this battle truly is for me and unfortunately how so out of my control it is for me as well. I find myself becoming more reclused and separated on these days, which I know is not good.

Oh, and forget grocery shopping, returning calls or paying bills on these days. I have tried doing these things when I am having a foggy day and then I don’t remember that I did them.

Or worse-when I thought I did them, only to find out I never did.

In the past three months, I have “forgotten” to pay some bills that I swear I did pay. When I realize that I did not pay them-days later-I get very shaken up because the reality of my situation hits me like a ton of bricks. Then I must face the truth about my health that I often times like to pretend is not really happening.

I have had people phone me on Fibro-fog days and I purposely will not answer the call because I know I won’t remember talking to them. Of course, I won’t remember to call them back, either. It’s a vicious cycle.

This is where Post-it-Notes come into play. My kids gave me a bunch of them at Christmas. I do my best to use them (if I can remember where I put them when I am remembering what I need to write down!). My cabinets are dotted with squares of colored papers. Who to call back, what is needed at the store., etc. I also date them. Days can go by in a sea of endless blur and it will surprise you how these dates multiply quickly.

On days when I am thinking more clearly I will make a list of things I need to do, bills that are due, groceries that need to be bought, etc. I have also found that writing down what I did do helps me to remember what was done. Sounds crazy, but it is my life. There are times when I really don’t remember that I did something and by writing down what I did and the date that I did it, helps me immensely.

In our home-school, I have a list of school oriented things we do on my painful foggy days when the regular routine just won’t work with my brain. Educational videos, worksheet reinforcements and student busy work all help me when my brain cannot follow one train of thought and those rabbits start hopping!

For Fibros, once again, it is all about restructuring this new way of living and trying to create a new version of our old self. We are the ones who have a hard time handling the life change and I am no exception! I battle change regularly as well.

The daily pain struggles of Fibromyalgia are hard enough, but when it is so bad that Fibro-fog kicks in, it makes for rougher sailing through one’s day. When you’re having a painful flare day and Fibro-fog day at the same time, it is almost impossible to survive.

But all of us Fibro-warriors know that flares come and go and so do the foggy days. After all…

Tomorrow is Another Day!

Do you have Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or another chronic invisible illness? Perhaps you have an over-lap condition to Lupus like, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Raynaud’s Phenomenon, Rheumatoid Arthritis, or Scleroderma?

If you have been diagnosed with any of these conditions, please know you are not alone.

When I was first diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I had a difficult time with all the information I read. Trying to process it all was overwhelming at first, to say the least. Truth is, I still struggle with it. I am currently in the midst of a Fibro flare. Day five, actually. I wake up wondering if it will be over today. Each day makes me feel lethargic and even more incredibly sore than usual. I am so tired and worn out! My joints *h*U*r*T* with every movement. My head continues to throb in the front and the back. Ibuprofen barely takes the edge off of any of it. It is a major drag, to say the least.

However, I still have to live life daily, flare or not. I only go through my day much… S-L-O-W-E-R. I still need to cook. I still need to do laundry. I still need to (remember) to pay bills. I still need to take care of my family. I still….still…still….

Now, I do read about Fibromyalgia and Lupus as often as I can. Especially when I have a new symptom. It helps me to know that others are going through this, yet, at the same time, makes me sad at the thought. I blame almost every pain I have on the Fibro because it probably is the Fibro causing the pain.

The hardest thing you will find to digest is the acceptance that you actually have what the doctors have said, what the blood tests show and what you are reading about. When you read about the condition and all the symptoms of the condition and you can relate to them-that’s rough.

I still have days where I feel alone in this new battle I find myself in. Some days I want to withdraw from others and recluse myself. Sometimes, I even feel sorry for myself. What???? Hey, I am only human. Unless a person actually suffers from this awful disease they have NO idea how the person with the disease feels. They can read about it, but unless THEY are experiencing it, they have NO understanding of what it means to feel this way. Just saying.

Yes, I have Fibromyalgia. Yes, I suffer daily. Yes, I implement the power of positive thinking daily. Yes, it does not always work! Yes, I am a fighter! Yes, I can DO this! And yes, so can YOU!

Let us persevere in this new race of chronic pain!

We are the champions, my friend!

Today was another “normal” day with Fibromyalgia. What does that mean, “normal”? It means we live through the day doing what needs to be done, resting when we need to rest and muddling through the stormy sea of unending pain that seems to always be our constant companion.

Yes, today was another day with Fibromyalgia. It also was Saturday. I awoke in the usual way with stiff joints and painful feet, but when that groggy feeling over swept me after only an hour of being awake, I knew immediately that it meant I would be fighting of enemy of fatigue today.

Due to this, I set out to keep myself busy so I could try to have some productivity in my day before my body completely gave out on me. What did I do? Well, I decided to clean the windows in my kitchen, which lead to hosing off the screens, which lead to scrubbing the storm door with Clorox Gel Bleach spray and a scrub brush. (We have the type of storm door with a rough texture which causes all the dirt and grime to just cling to it. The gel cleaner works amazingly well with not much effort to achieve a bright white door!)

Needless to say, I had to pause continuously to keep the pain from over-taking me. For those of you who are following this blog, you know I like to clean. It just makes me feel good on the inside and the satisfaction of a job well done is quite therapeutic, at least for me. Also, having things neat and orderly actually helps with Fibro-fog! However, the down side is the way deep cleaning makes me feel physically. It is a terrible clash of the chemical makeup I have and my newfound health problems! Nonetheless, I pressed forward until I could go no further. Then I rested and began again.

Everyone who was at home today had their own chores to be done. My husband and two oldest sons were building onto our storage shed and were consumed with this project or I may have enlisted their help in the window washing mood I found myself in. Our oldest daughter was working on her AKC Dachshund business she runs on our property, posting new puppy pictures to her website. Another daughter was ironing her father’s work shirts for the week and the two youngest were playing with their dolls in a playhouse designed of sheets and a picnic table. I am blessed with a large family and wonderful husband! There are no words to describe how great they all are!

When I finally took a rest from the joint pain from the up and down window washing motion, my dachshund daughter had finished her updates and had made everyone lunch!!

(**smiles all around!!**)

The pain and fatigue were overwhelming on my body as I ate and I finally gave in to a nap. An hour later I had to pull myself up. I was still…so…tired…so…sore…so…groggy…so…hurting…and needing to keep moving because I did not want to sleep my day away.

I slowly walked through the kitchen and grabbed my pruning shears, asked my pie-baking daughter to come help me and headed to the overgrown flower bed where I proceeded to cut back all those Red Bud trees that seem to appear overnight where they don’t belong.

My hands and a pair of shears are not a good combination, but nevertheless, I began as my daughter raked them all into a pile and hauled them to a deep section of our wooded property.

Then, it began to rain. It was a light rain, but I could feel it deep in my joints. The pain consumed me but I was determined to finish before it came down harder. The pain won. My determination ended in one large swoop. I s-l-o-w-l-y walked back to the house and porch and lowered myself into my anti-gravity lounge chair I found at Sam’s Club two summers ago. The pain seemed to engulf my very being. My brain cried out that I did this to myself and I consciously know this. I do not like feeling like this, but honestly, life still needs to happen and things still need to be done and I would feel pain even sitting in a chair. I cannot complain because I chose to do these things today. I am working on my countenance (body language, facial expressions), too, trying to keep things smiley and positive!

Soon it was dinner time and we grilled burgers, I showered and settled into a quiet evening trying not to move too much…The rain continued. My head still felt groggy and my joints were still screaming at me. Were the clean windows and pruned flower beds worth all that I went through today? Well, this IS a blog about the day in the life of a Fibro Momma. Was this a typical day? Yes, it was. Because no matter what I choose to do, there is always a level of pain that goes with it. Some days I can barely lift the coffee pot to pour the water in to make the coffee. Some days I HAVE to rest most of the day. But I do try to do at least one thing each day to be productive, even if it is only reading aloud to my girls. And even THAT makes for a very…productive…day!