Wednesday, November 9, 2011

My Fibroduck Arrived


I received my Fibroduck today. She is already dreaming of slack packing the Appalachian Trail one day. She knows that prior to fibromyalgia hiking and camping were two of my favorite activities. I hope to camp a few weekends in 2012, so I can slowly begin hiking again. She wants to go on adventures with me, but she promises to remind me to start low and take it slow (as my rheumatologist says).


Visit fibroduck.com to see photographs of this and other fibroducks. Fibroduck.com explains the fibroduck:


     People with fibromyalgia and ME/CFS were almost always hard-working and fiercely independent  people. Now that they are ill, their pain and fatigue prevents them from living the lives they had before. Tasks that used to be easy are now very difficult, and many people cannot do the things they once took pride in. They often have to rely on others, and often stress about what goes undone.
We picked a duck to represent people with fibromyalgia/ME/CFS because having these conditions makes them feel as though they are operating in an unfamiliar world – like ducks out of water. A duck on land can still get about and do things, but not as quickly and fluidly as it would in the water.
The dots on the duck represent the painful muscles and joints experienced by people with fibromyalgia.
So, the challenge is to draw attention to fibromyalgia by sending in pictures showing the duck in places a duck wouldn’t usually go, and doing things a duck wouldn’t normally do.

I appreciate the work fibroduck is doing to bring awareness to fibromyalgia. I will do my best to help raise awareness of all invisible illnesses. Will you help too?

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Dang, not another fibro flare!


Fibromites are a lot like Humpty Dumpty. When we “fall”, it is difficult to put us back together again. An injury tends to spiral out of control into a fibro flare. About two years ago I suddenly turned into a klutz, or so it seemed.

My fifty pound pittador retriever (one of my rescue dogs) was racing through the house towards the back door with an antler in his mouth, eager to run outside to play, when he clipped the back of my legs. My legs flew out from under me, and I landed on the floor with my back straddling two steps.

The dog went outside to play without me without even realizing I had been sidelined. Since that moment, my left elbow and shoulder have hurt daily. My knees and back have never been the same. Two and a half years later, I am in physical therapy trying to strengthen my knees.

I believe that this fall may have somehow triggered my fibromyalgia. Yep, fibromites are like Humpty-Dumpty. GPs, PTs, chiropractors, orthopedists, rheumatologists, and all the king’s horses have all tried, to no avail, to put me back together again.

Of course it doesn’t help matters when I continue to injure myself. Ten and a half months ago, I slipped on icy steps during one of Atlanta’s rare winter storms and landed on an ice-covered cement path. I was knocked unconscious for what I believe was only a split second and suffered a concussion.

With this fall, one of my pittador retrievers came to my rescue. She pushed her head under my body and managed to shove me towards the steps. I wrapped my arms around her warm fur, and I let her drag me into the house. I call her my rescue dog now (instead of my rescued dog).

So, am I a klutz or do fibromites push their tired, aching bodies to the point where it is difficult to recover from one tiny misstep? Are fibromites too weak to support the activities we push ourselves through?

Just last night, I fell again. I went to work, went to physical therapy, went to my son’s school and stood on cement for one hour happily viewing the night sky through a telescope … my legs were exhausted. I came home, and I fell directly on my sore knees. This morning when I attempted to crawl out of bed, I realized my hands, shoulders, back, and ankles were also sore from the fall.

Dang, not another fibro flare! Will they ever put Humpty-Dumpty back together again?