Hi Everyone,

I once again am starting to feel like a hypochondriac and becoming sensitive to odors, bright lights, and loud noises. While there are many situations that can contribute to my fibromyalgia symptoms, the weather, quality of my sleep, and over-exertion have contributed to my flare-up.

I recently experienced a bit of nausea preceded by vomiting. It felt like the nausea was never going to stop. The nurse was concerned about dehydration and I was concerned about not being able to hold down any type of medication. I felt like my stomach was never going to be the same. I was worried that the nausea was an indication of something more serious. I am finally feeling normal again. My eating habits have changed, I am now eating several small meals (snacks) throughout the day. My water intake has not improved however, I am slowly getting back to drinking the recommended amounts of water.

My current goal includes decreased visits to the doctor, learning to control recent spikes in my blood sugar levels, choosing healthier foods and increasing exercise without fatigue and pain. It felt like I was doing so well and all of the sudden I am back to experiencing symptoms! No fun!

Read my tips on dealing with nausea:

Instinctively after experiencing nausea we tend to temporarily discontinue medications (which can irritate the stomach and make vomiting worse), avoid solids, and liquids. To prevent nausea from developing, try the following:

• Eat small meals throughout the day instead of three large meals.
• Eat slowly.
• Consume foods that are cold or room temperature to avoid nausea from the smell of hot or warm foods.
• Avoid hard-to-digest foods.
• Rest after eating with your head elevated about 12 inches above your feet.
• Drink liquids between meals instead of during meals.
• Drink at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day to prevent dehydration.
• Try to eat when you feel less nauseated.

If you begin to feel nauseated, try drinking small amounts of clear, sweetened liquids such as soda or fruit juices, avoiding the juices that are acidic (orange or grapefruit).

As we all know by now, a person can't get over fibromyalgia and we will always have to remain mindful of what may trigger symptoms. 

Unfortunately, I am yet again reminded of my illness. I hope and pray my journey allows you to know....you are not alone.

 

Viv's tip: Acknowledge your situation, accept yourself (you are okay), and remain optimistic.

Consequence of eating certain foods

Hello Everyone,

One of the many challenges I deal with is IBS. I have successfully kept it under control and not suffered from IBS symptoms. When I started to eliminate foods, beef was something I eliminated. I am not fond of it, except for a small hamburger (little meat) with everything but onions.

On Thursday I decided to try some brisket, what a mistake! I had one piece of bread with two pieces of brisket for lunch and loved it. So what happened? I decided to have yet another half sandwich for dinner. My husband was amazed because he knows I do not like beef. However, we both forgot my body cannot handle beef.

I have been dealing with abdominal cramps and unbearable pain. I have spent most of the past two days in bed! I am trying Maalox, Zantac, baking soda and water and still hurting. I will never eat brisket again, never say never! Apparently, my memory failed me and I ate it. Nobody else is suffering from cramps or abdominal pain, so I know the brisket I purchased was good. No food poisoning, just my less than cooperative body!

Just wanted to report my latest experience with beef.I think I am starting to experience a flare because not only am I suffering from abdominal issues, I am experiencing a higher level of pain and fatigue. My ears are still very sensitive, I have headaches, muscle pain, sleep problems, and much more. The fatigue and pain is making me cranky. Thank goodness I am smart enough to warn my family when I am starting to feel cranky. I usually stay away from people when I am cranky. It isn't their fault I feel badly, so I just stay away to prevent further issues.

Enough of my complaints! I am going to bed and tomorrow will be a better day. I just know it will improve. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile, I hope and pray everyone is having a fatigue and pain free day.

Being Real

Hello Everyone,

Today I would like to share my thoughts on life and the many things we experience. Being real is one of the most important, yet difficult, things to do at certain times in our lives.

When I was first diagnosed, I felt relief that it wasn't all in my head. The thought of knowing and becoming aware of what was happening to me mentally and physically was somewhat comforting. I was feeling more confident that my illness was simply an experience or some type of process my body had to experience. The process of experiencing a variety of symptoms such as fatigue and pain without loosing hope and faith in God. The experience opens up your mind and heart.

It has been a way of discovering my inner thoughts and emotions. What I see and what happens and how I feel emotionally can be controlled by my inner thoughts. I know I have the power to give, share, be kind, compassionate, provide, love, and protect myself, family, and friends emotionally. It is a choice. We are not perfect, but we have the power to be real and honest.

Things happen that don't make sense, but does that mean we loose hope and faith in God? Ourselves? Our loved ones? No. Our experiences make us stronger and hopefully guide us to a better place emotionally. The key is to remain real and honest. I believe the key to experiencing the best of life is a matter of perception.

Accept your journey in life, even if you don't understand how or why. You do not have to be religious to have faith. Who we are and what we feel comes from the heart and our heart confirms what is true. Be real to yourself.

One last note, blame no one for anything, forgive everyone and everything. Meanwhile, what can you do with your pain? This is what I do: Every moment I breathe, I give my breath to God, and with this I feel an open heart. This is my opportunity to find out what is truly important in life and allow the trivial to pass understanding my pain is no different or stronger than other individuals dealing with a chronic illness. Sometimes I get lost in a pool of pity however, God stands by to listen and eventually leads or guides me towards rethinking about my circumstances , then I open up my heart and eyes responding in a different way. As I recognize my weaknesses I change my attitude and try to remain real to myself.

What about you? Want to share your thoughts?

I hope and pray you are experiencing a day without fatigue or pain.

Feeling Stronger Everyday

Hello Everyone!

How are you feeling today? These days I am feeling like I have the necessary emotional qualities to deal with stress, risk, and other physical and emotional difficulties. Spending time with family and friends leads to feeling tolerant of my fatigue and pain. One of the many ways of dealing with an illness is to get lost in the fantasy of our hopes and dreams by taking risks, allowing yourself to remain flexible and open to new adventures, and finding balance in your life.

Do yourself a favor and try something new, do something different, go out and have some fun. Allow yourself time to enjoy life and the people around you. The people in our lives are blessings God has given us. Spend some quality time with your family and friends. Time away from the reality of our daily tasks, chores, and responsibilities initiates a release of mental and physical tension and stress. Allow yourself to be freed from prejudice and receptive to new ideas. There are many ways of dealing with stress and daily responsibilities. Every now and then, we deserve a break. Take one today!

I hope and pray you had a pain and fatigue free day!

Thanks Everyone

Hi Everyone,
 .
I would like to thank everyone for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my posts. I enjoy stopping by other sites, researching, reviewing and reading other sites. There is always something new to learn.

On another note, I have been exercising with my younger sister. It is my humble opinion that any exercise activity beyond stretching softly, easy yoga moves and a small amount of quick steps is the extent of exercise acceptable for any individual with my health challenges. I do not feel better or stronger after extreme or harsh exercises. I have to pace, complete soft stretches, yoga, and only work on completing short step exercises. For those individuals that believe additional exercise will strengthen chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia patients.....they are crazy!

I do feel better after I have completed soft stretches,  simple yoga moves, and a few step exercise routines. If I overdo, forget it! The rest of my week is ruined. As a child and teenager I could not complete long harsh exercises because I felt worse. I was a band member in high school and always exhausted after practice. I could not figure out why some people felt better than I did or why I hated physical activity. It was because it was exhausting.

Anyway, I am trying to loose a few pounds and enjoying my time with my younger sis. We are not overdoing. She would have to carry me to the car and drive me home after our routine exercise program!

Tip of the day: Only complete soft stretching, easy and slow yoga moves and pace yourself. I hope and pray you had a pain and fatigue free day.

Gaining Strength One Day at a Time!

Hello Everyone!

I am sorry I have not posted since July! I am getting stronger and feeling better.  I was able to check out a couple of stores today, Steinmart, Kohls, and Walmart. I was beat after Walmart because the last stop was actual grocery shopping. No fun. Grocery shopping is not my cup of tea.

I started of at Steinmart finding the coolest ring (pearl and silver bead shaker. ring), two pairs of sandals (7.94 a pair- on clearance!), and a blouse. The shaker ring is silly, cheap, and fun. Allow yourself silly thoughts, buys, finds, etc....it keeps you smiling:) Jerry found five blouses at Kohls (they cost anywhere from $4.00 to 8.00). Three of them were nicely decorated t-shirts and two were dressy blouses. They were having a 70% off sale! This is my kind of shopping.

My oldest son gifted money with rules: (I listened and enjoyed!)


Do not use the money on bills,
Spend the money on yourself and buy something that makes you smile,
Be kind to yourself and enjoy spending the money on yourself.

My birthday is tomorrow  and I am already having a great Friday the13th! I love having birthday's on Friday the 13th because they tend to turn out great.

After my shopping spree I came home and took a nice long nap. Tomorrow I am scheduled to visit my PCP. I think I have thyroid problems based on the symptoms I am experiencing. I will keep everyone updated. Please do not ignore any new symptoms you may be experiencing.


Today's lesson includes taking time out for yourself, splurging on occasion, pacing, resting, and paying attention to new symptoms.


I hope and pray you enjoy your day, pace yourself, rest, listen to your body, and splurge or do something goofy! Do whatever it takes to laugh, smile, love, and share your heart and experience with someone. Write to me and let me know what you are up to. I would love to hear about your day!

Soft hugs and warm wishes from Viv:)

Making it One Day at a Time

Hello Everyone,

It seems these days I feel like I am making it one day at a time. It is a constant struggle to stay motivated with the extreme fatigue I am experiencing. I lost my purse and that seemed to get me down. I am simply concerned about my medication and the possibility of someone else using it.

I believe I am having some thyroid issues therefore, I have requested an appointment with my PCP.I am also scheduled to visit my pain management doctor.

The house chores are weighing me down. Cooking and cleaning seems harder these days and it is taking longer to complete chores. This gets overwhelming and depressing.

I think it is time to go visit my beautiful grandchildren. The twins are so happy, full of love and enjoy life. When you are a child and have wonderful parents who love and nurture you, it is easy to enjoy life and make others around you feel loved. They remind you to smile, laugh, love, and share positive emotions.

Anyway, my plan is to remind myself of the following to help me get motivated and continue on my daily journey of living life to the fullest:


* Discovering your inner peace - is the process of creative goals and visions, making them a reality.

* Realizing what, when, and where, then determine the steps required to start managing and achieving those goals...one step at a time.

* Keep an open mind and be receptive to new ideas.

* Be realistic and let yourself feel joy.

As I meditate, I must clear my mind, breathe deeply, give myself a break, accept my shortcomings, pace myself, and remain receptive to new ideas on how to complete simple chores one day at a time. Wish me luck!

I hope and pray my daily experiences encourage you to accept yourself, pace yourself, and set realistic goals. Spend time with people that encourage love, laughter, and joy.

Moving Slowly and Lacking Motivation

Hello Everyone,

It must have been about 3:30 A.M. when I last glanced at the clock in the bedroom. I could not stop thinking about Jerry (my hubby). I called him before I retired to bed and he sounded horrible. Poor baby is having such a difficult time with his breathing.

I have been trying to complete my laundry chores for three days! I cannot get motivated to complete this chore. My washer and dryer are located in the garage:( I need to catch up on filing bills and medical receipts, no fun. I need to clean out my bedroom closet, not motivated. I need a good kick in the bottom!

I am slowly catching up on e-mails and reading my favorite blog sites. My eyes have been giving me lots of trouble and I know I need to make an eye appointment. I don't want to visit another doctor! I have been taking Jerry to his appointments and seem to be getting burned out. Do you ever have days like that? Today, I am dragging, dragging, dragging.

Do you ever feel drained out? I think I am experiencing that drained out feeling today. It is time to step back, take a deep breath, clear my mind, and get a jump start. Lets see, what is stopping me from moving forward? My darn body and fatigue! Pacing is not the problem.

Stress drags me down, so I need to go escape and unwind. A good long bath, meditation, and positive self=talk will get me back on track before it gets out of hands. I am in control of my thoughts and emotions and must work on keeping things in perspective. This time will pass, I will allow myself to relax, enjoy the day and people around me. After all, if I don't take care of myself, what good am I to Jerry? Time for a plan.

Here is my plan:

1). Take a long hot bath, meditate and work on diminishing my anxiety
3). Eat healthy, complete some simple stretching exercises
4). Instead of reading, I think I will listen to some upbeat music that will get me moving, energized, and smiling. I am going to work on releasing some endorphins.
5). Catch up on television series with my son, Sean.
6). Get plenty of rest.

Wish me luck!

I hope and pray you are not experiencing fatigue, stress, anxiety, or pain.

Just Reflecting On Life, Change, and New Developments

Hello Everyone,

Today I wanted to post about Life, how we feel about it, whether we are less-than-satisfied with the life we are living, and what we can do to improve different areas of our life.

Our illness has lead to changes in our life and it is up to us to make the best of life. We are developing and acquiring knowledge or skills based on what we are experiencing. There are positive and important lessons learned through our journey. We realize there are areas of our life that must be complete so that we can live our best life.

While I have always been a person with a vision, my vision has changed. Please remember that the first step to living our best life is to develop a powerful, motivating vision for our life. We must understand life’s purpose and embrace our own greatness as we change and have to reframe our inner views. Do you or have you reinvented yourself in areas where you might have been blocking your own progress? Think about it, many of us were engrossed in our careers and perhaps not living a balanced life.

People have always been of interest to me and I have enjoyed the diverse beautiful individuals who have crossed my path. In many ways, I am still achieving my goals. I am passionately committed to living and focusing on the people in my life who enrich my soul. To achieve the personal and emotional success I crave, I observe, study, and embrace people. God has empowered me by helping me determine and nurture my personal vision and purpose.

I have used life’s challenges as stepping-stones to my dreams. I have dreamed of connecting with diverse individuals in deeper, broader, and more meaningful ways by expressing my thoughts and emotions. It is okay to share your thoughts and emotions, seek out friendships, and discover the benefit of other individual strengths, passions, skills, values and uniqueness. We were brought to this world to do something special and to make a difference.

Reading and learning about how people deal with their misfortunes, illnesses, and the strength they have to overcome their weaknesses has given me strength and faith I continue to have in God. I thank all of my reader’s for taking time out of their day to read my posts and comment online or via email. God wills that we share with others the joy of his boundless love and I pray that I may be generous enough to share the trials, tribulations, and joy of life with others. I may have written a whole lot of nothing, but it sure feels good to share.

I hope and pray everyone has a pain and fatigue free day.

Good Night!

Hi Evieryone!

I just wanted to say Good Night. I will try to post tomorrow. I have to take Jerry to a couple of appointments, so it may not happen.

Sweet dreams and may tomorrow be full of wonderful new experiences!

With Love,

Viv

How have you been SLEEPING?

Hello Everyone!

I would like to start by wishing everyone a great Fourth of July! I have been taking it easy today. A lazy day indeed:0

There have been studies that implied the symptoms of fibromyalgia could be due to night after night of disturbed sleep, but scientists were unable to show how poor sleep contributed to the pain of fibromyalgia.

Remember I mentioned taking care of my twin granddaughters (2.5 years old)? The first night Alessandra was suffering from nasal drip and virtually had no sleep. It was a rough night for both of us. The next morning I was able to stay awake, cook, play, and complete simple chores. I was experiencing a lot of pain and moving like a turtle. Thank goodness, my girls are on a schedule and take daily naps. I was able to rest during their nap and that evening I went to bed when they did, 8:30 P.M. I was able to fall asleep without any sleep aids.

The next morning I actually woke-up before my hubby and girls! Deep sleep made a difference in my case. I was alert and able to play with my girls. My pain level had decreased and I was mentally alert. Jerry normally has to wake me up, give me my medication, and I slowly become coherent. Personally, I believe God helps me find the strength to take care of my grandchildren and spending time with them simply makes the pain tolerable.

The next evening I ended up staying up late with my husband and had trouble sleeping. The next day my pain had increased, I moved like a turtle, and had to increase my pain medication. Once the pain medication took affect, I was back to normal (my normal).

I wish I could experience deep sleep on a daily basis. The second night was the only time I was able to go into deep sleep. It took one night of sleep deprivation followed by an active day to set my body, mind, and spirit to sleep. Sometimes I cannot shut down my mind, thoughts, or body. I must be synchronized. I mention spirit because while I am asleep I am able to hear people around me. It is a weird feeling.

Do you have trouble sleeping? At bedtime, my body is fatigued, different parts of my body start to fall asleep, but my mind will not shut down. Each morning I find myself trying to open my eyes and rise, but my body does not want to cooperate. I can feel myself trying to raise my head and open eyes the feeling is horrible.

This morning my mind woke up and I could hear Jerry while he was shaving. He had the water running constantly! It was driving me crazy but I could not open my eyes or lift my head. So what happened? I went back to sleep, actually had a dream, and later found myself trying to wake up again! I heard him come into the bedroom. I knew what he was doing; he was moving the laundry basket out of the bathroom. I wanted to open my eyes and speak. If only he would shake me and wake me, up. Unfortunately, he had decided to let me sleep in. Once he left the room, I ended up going back to sleep. He came back in to take a breathing treatment and I was finally able to let out words..."Please give me my medications". Once the medication took affect, I was able to rise and shine! He had trouble understanding what I was saying, but knew what to do. I am so grateful he is starting to understand gibberish.

I must sound weird to all of you. Anyway, please let me know about your sleeping patterns and experience. I hope it is not anything like mine, if so, may God Bless us forever and ever!

My body is yelling at me so I have to stop writing. I probably am not making any sense whatsoever. I am too tired to edit this post, I hope it makes sense tomorrow.

I hope and pray you can achieve deep sleep. My prayers and thoughts are with all of you. May God give all of us the strength we need to achieve our dreams, literally, our dreams!

Fibro Viv

Keeping Busy

Hello Everyone!

I am sorry I have not posted lately. I have been to my nephew's wedding, and spending lots of time with my grandchildren. The twin girls! They live a little outside of Austin, in Kyle, Texas. My son had some out of town business for a week and my daughter-in-law had a wonderful opportunity mentoring teacher's, so my Hubby and I were more than happy to help out. Those two little girls are so loving and energetic.

Anyway, just checking in with everyone and wanted to say hello!

Hello Everyone

I wanted to stop by and say hello to my Internet friends. I have been busy with life in general. I am feeling much stronger and keeping my spirits up. I hope everyone is feeling great physically and emotionally.

One of my nephew's was married this past Saturday to a beautiful young lady named Grace. I attended the wedding and it was beautiful. All of my family attended and my Mother looked absolutely beautiful. Everyone looked beautiful! When people are happy and smiling they look beautiful. I was unable to attend the reception because I was worn out and these days I am unable to be around crowds. My hearing is amplified and I cannot handle too much activity.

My eyes have been giving me a bit of trouble especially when I am fatigued. I want to go get an eye exam, but I am afraid I will end up with the wrong strength. It is frustrating when your eyes start getting weaker. It could be worse, I could be blind! I am grateful for my sight even though I am having some difficulty reading at times.

Otherwise, I am busy trying to keep Jerry out of the hospital, visiting my family, and spending as much time as I can with my twin Grand-daughters. I feel so blessed. It is truly amazing how children can make your pain and troubles slip away, if only for a few hours.

I hope and pray everyone is feeling better and enjoying life to the fullest.

God Bless,

Fibro Viv

My Daily Journal

Hello Everyone,

I felt the need to create a daily journal to assist me on my journey. I would like to attach it to this post, just don't know how. If I copy and paste, I loose my design elements. I will have to think about this. Sorry for the delay.

Meanwhile, I am working on updating my journal and schedule. I hope to share it soon.

I pray and hope you do not have pain and fatigue today.

Share your thoughts with me

Hello Everyone,

There are so many good people in this world willing to share their experience and knowledge. I want to thank all of my fellow Internet friends for taking time out of their precious day, reading, and commenting on my posts.

I am feeling stronger and have been thinking about how blessed I am to have family and friends that bring such joy to my life. There have been so many different activities in my life demanding my attention along with everyday challenges piling up. Those chores and tasks can wait. I enjoy spending time with my family doing simple things, like playing board games or watching a television series or movie. Visiting with my Mom and spending time listening to her life experiences brings joy and sorrow to my life, the joy of learning from her experience and the sorrow of hearing about what a tough life she had as an orphan. I am forever delighted with her strength, love, compassion, hope, and faith. Her sense of humor is dry and sometimes unexpected, especially during challenging times in her life. Do you have someone special in your life?

When I lost my ability to work for a living I felt short changed. By the grace of God and with the assistance of my family, I have come to appreciate my blessings and accept myself. These difficult emotions pass with time and patience. They do creep up every now and then.

Has anyone ever had problems with acceptance when change occurs? How have you dealt with it? I would love to hear about your experiences, please share.

I hope and pray everyone has a blessed day filled with hope and faith.

I am alive and breathing!

Hello Everyone,

I recently heard from a kind blogger friend of mine, the Bluesman and agree with his suggestion. I am posting a short note to let everyone know I am alive and breathing!

I have experienced many emotions and challenges since December 22, 2009. I was able to spend time with my family at Christmas and continue to feel blessed. Jerry and I were able to spend a week and a half with our grandchildren, enriching our lives with young energetic twin girls. I still cannot believe God has blessed us with these beautiful grandchildren.

As usual I have not followed my own advice and paced myself. Between spending quality time with my grandchildren, driving Jerry to his doctor appointments, daily chores, and driving to my Mom's house to visit. One of the hardest lesson for me to learn is pacing. When I feel great and energetic I tend to over do. I am going to post little notes to remind me not to over do.

I have been trying to get back on track and it has been a bit difficult because of the rain and cold weather.

How do I feel? I am slowly gaining back my strength and managing my pain. I am able to check out different sites for a short period of time and want to start posting again. I feel blessed to have such wonderful blogger friends willing to take time out of their day to say hello and ask about my health. I love people and have proof that people do care. These people are absolute proof that our society is filled with loving, caring, beautiful souls.

I hope my post is making sense because my fibro fog has been right in line with my fatigue! However, I am finding my way thru the fog:)

I hope and pray everyone is feeling stronger and experiences no pain or fatigue.

God Bless,

Fibro Viv

Trying to Hang In There!

Hello Everybody,

I have not posted for awhile because I have had a tough time dealing with my current pain and fatigue levels. I have also been busy driving Jerry to all of his doctor appointments.

On November 4, 2009 I decided to go ahead and get a flu shot. What a mistake! I started fighting flu like symptoms on November 5th, up until the 12th!

I have recently been thinking about how difficult it is to keep a positive attitude when you are stressing about family illnesses, your own physical limitations and money. All of these added medical bills and medications are taking a toll on our budget. I am trying to remind myself that allowing all this exposure to stress just makes me more vulnerable to the negative consequences of stress. Stress also directly affects a part of the nervous system that controls the glands, heart, digestive system and skin.

The main thing to remember is that FMS and CFS are NOT stress disorders. We have generalized pain, fatigue, stiffness and morning fatigue, along with other symptoms. Pain is not the only symptom which is prominent in patients with this disorder.

Yes, most of us get worse after any form of physical or psychological stress. The worsening of symptoms typically occurs 24 to 48 hours after any sudden form of exertion. It is so important that doctors and the medical community realize that the clinical features they see are not always the most important thing.

It really disturbs me that many doctors and journals (literature), reports have equated FMS/CFS (ME/CFS) with labels of depression-like or somatization disorder. Those terms are used too commonly with too little after thought.

Sure, patients may fight periods of depression or feel down in the dumps, but that is not to say that FMS or CFS is just another form of depression. If you suffer from depression, you should not be made to feel badly about it by either your family or the medical community. The main thing is to seek help and don't let anyone blame you for feeling blue.

1). Identify your particular physical and psychological stressor's and eliminate or minimize them.

2). Don't misuse your body on a tolerable day. Pace, Pace, Pace.

3). Prevent muscle deconditioning by doing regular activities such as walking or stretching. You will have to find out which forms of exercise don't provoke your symptoms or make you feel worse.

I hope and pray that the medical community and all family members (those not affected by this disorder), try to understand what we are all going through. Stress does contribute to our fatigue and we must continue to fight back and keep our chin up with positive thoughts, prayers, music, and staying in touch with people that have a positive attitude.

I hope and pray everyone is having a fatigue and pain free day.

Just A Short Note

Hello Everybody,

I just wanted to drop a short note because I am truly fatigued. I am truly struggling with this phase of my fatigue and pain. I need to focus on taking care of myself however, I have too many loved ones that need me and require my time and energy. I was able to sign up on twitter today:)

Please pray that I will be able to sleep in tomorrow and feel better when I wake up. I need to get back on my supplements soon. Perhaps a miracle will come my way.

Keeping the faith:) I just wanted to say hello.

I hope and pray everyone is experiencing joy in their lives and that everyone has had a pain and fatigue free day.

Focus on Accomplishments

Hello Everyone,

What a week it has been. Jerry lost his wallet and we have no idea where. He did not notice it until about three days after we had been out with a friend to dinner. No telling where it is. Oh well, I am ordering new a Medicare card, his license (he can no longer drive) or id. Thank goodness I never let him carry much money because this has happened more than 2-3 times. Poor baby, he feels badly, but what can we do? I will not stress over this because I don't have enough energy to do it. Stress is not good for our family environment.

Jerry almost ended up in the hospital on Monday fortunately, we went to see the doctor and he figured out a different means of administering the only IV medication that helps Jerry's breathing issues. Usually they only administer this medication in the hospital, there is a place called Austin Infusion Center where they use the IV's. The only problem was I had to take him to two places on Monday, he had to have the medication on Tuesday (twice) and he had two other appointments this week. We found out he had to have nasal surgery this week. So, I have to plan out budgeting money for surgery. You have to pay upfront, no payments arrangements.

I have not had much sleep this week and have had to drive around more than usual. I was so fatigued on Tuesday, I stayed in the car while Jerry went in for his dose of medication.

Lets get down to what I wanted to post about. Due to our chronic illness and disabilities we are unable to accomplish certain tasks or complete the number of chores we want to. We must focus on what we have been able to accomplish. While I have not been able to take care of certain chores, I have completed some, so I feel good about it. I have been able to drag myself out of bed, take Jerry to his appointments and somehow managed to visit my Mom during the process. That is great and I thank my Lord for giving me the strength to walk, drive and support my family.

I am ashamed of myself for not recognizing I can walk unlike some of my other Blogger friends. Shame on me. I pray to God for forgiveness.

Do yourself a favor and focus on the positive aspects of your life and recognize how blessed you are. Don't fall into that trap of not noticing others with much more pain.

Thinking of everyone and I hope and pray everyone has had a pain and fatigue free week.

Reflecting on My Goals

Hello Everyone,

My goal has been to share my experience, tools and how I deal with my ME/CFS. I am trying to remain positive everyday and take control of my health. God has chosen us to take on this challenge and it is up to us to make peace with it and then transcend all our emotions and feelings with a full understanding of what his plan is. I believe he wanted me to share my own experience, share tools, and information. I have met so many people dealing with this health challenge, many are alone.

While I enjoyed my career and found it to be a great learning experience, I wasn’t doing what I originally wanted to do. So, maybe this is God’s way of granting me the opportunity to help others. Here are some questions to ask yourself and I would like others to give me feedback.

1). Has this illness changed my personality? Have my priorities in life changed?

2). I know I had to make lifestyle changes? Would they have happened for another reason? Perhaps due to age, wisdom or life experiences?

3). Am I accepting my path in life?

4). The choice is mine, am I embracing this illness and learning to think about all the other great miracles in my life? I do have many things to be grateful for, so am I focusing on those things? If not? Why not?

It helps me to ask myself these questions, it reminds me not to feel sorry for myself and focus on what I have accomplished in the past and present. Remind myself of the blessings in my life. I don't know if I would have ever been interested in blogging or reading other sites, perhaps this illness had lead me to this wonderful path of making new friends from all over the world.

I hope and pray people that suffer from chronic illnesses are able to cope with everyday challenges. I have been given the opportunity to learn about how others handle their challenge in life and the many gifts people have to offer.

I want all of you to know I am grateful for having this wonderful opportunity of meeting you and reading your personal posts, or viewing your photo's, art, and so much more.

I ask God to forgive me when I am weak and to give me the strength to continue to focus on the positive aspects of my life.

I hope and pray everyone has a pain and fatigue free day.