March 10, 2010 - My Journey

After reviewing my notes from the past, I know I am feeling better and in a better place. I remember the days I could not get out of bed, the fatigue, and pain I felt every moment of my life. While my pain and fatigue has decreased, I am experiencing some of those unpleasant symptoms again.

I do not stick to a schedule unless I have scheduled appointments or plans. I think it would be best to set a waking and bedtime schedule to follow on a daily basis. When you have no work or school schedule, you tend to be more relaxed and maybe even lazy. I am speaking from personal experience, perhaps nobody else falls under this category. I plan to start tomorrow, letting my hubby know when to give me my wake-up medication. I am just not sure I want to commit to it. I have to get motivated.

Today, Jerry gave me my medication (Concerta ER 54 MG) and pain medication at 8:30 AM, so I could wake up, bathe, get dressed, and take him to his doctor’s appointment at 11:30 AM. While I was in bed, I completed stretching exercises by slowly moving my arms, legs, hands, fingers, and toes. This gave me time to gain enough strength to get out of bed and bathe. It seems after a long hot bath my body tends to feel a bit more energized. Prior to the appointment, I took time for meditation and prayer. It cleared my mind from any negativity.

My planned activities were stretching, prayer time, driving Jerry to his appointment, updating my blog, washing a load of clothes, and cooking dinner. I was successful and completed my planned activities. I feel fatigued and unable to relax when I lie down to rest. I will have to figure out a way to relax.

I ate small meals throughout the day, watched television, and snacked on popcorn (my favorite). I can make a meal out of popcorn. Try to remember that during meals you should reduce the amount of fluid you drink (prevents the dilution of stomach acids). Drink water throughout the day (I did) and eat small meals, snacking on something before and after lunch to help stabilize stomach acids. I am eating very small meals because I do not have an appetite. I need to build up my strength.

I practiced stress relief by breathing deeply from my abdomen, not my chest. I also took time out to stretch throughout the day. I still feel fatigued. I am still struggling with headaches, stiffness of the neck, nausea, and dizziness. That might be the reason I cannot relax, the pain in my neck is uncomfortable. I may end up having to call my doctor prior to March.

I am experiencing pain on the bottom of my feet, neck, and ribcage. My concentration is off because my neck feels so uncomfortable. Hence, the reason I can't figure out how to post my daily journal creation! I have tried exercises, a heating pad, and massage. My head feels fuzzy, my nose feels stuffy, my ears are ringing, and I cannot relax. This process of recording my activities, pain and fatigue may help me identify problems. It is a struggle, but I want to keep it up. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile, I hope and pray you did not experience pain and fatigue.

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.

Our Journey to Wellness

Hello Everyone,


I invite anyone burdened by this illness to join me in working towards restoring his or her health. Allowing God in our life to heal us, touch our soul with compassion for others, and touch our hearts with his courage and infinite love for all. We can reach our goals by remaining positive in our mind with the wisdom and spirit God shares with us on a daily basis. Listening, requesting, and giving guidance to those in need during this journey leading us to acknowledging the life style changes we have to make in our lives and maintaining that level of awareness for everlasting results.

The most loving Heart of Jesus who brings us the strength will guide us in making the right decisions, plan our wellness program, and follow it on a daily basis. With the proper support, nutrition, and gentle exercise program, we can create a path to wellness.

You can choose to join me on my journey by creating your own wellness program. I recommend maintaining a journal. Write down your symptoms, thoughts and find a way to measure your pain. After a few weeks, once you re-examine your symptoms, thoughts and pain level, you will find you have made great progress. Please remember to focus on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of your life.

I will share my journey with you by posting my wellness program, journal, and progress. Read my next post:

I hope and pray you have experienced a day without pain and fatigue.

Comment Moderation/ Update on Health

Hello Everyone,

There has been some inappropriate information or comments left on my site and I would like to apologize for those individuals who felt the need to leave those comments. All future comments are subject to moderation.

Jerry convinced me to schedule an appointment with my PCP. Turns out, I have a sinus infection explaining my recent symptoms and fatigue. My experience with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue lead me to attribute symptoms to my disorder. Previously, my ears were clear and there were no indications of sinus problems, simply fibromyalgia symptoms, hence, my reasoning for not visiting my doctor. There lies proof one can never ignore symptoms. The doctor prescribed antibiotics for my sinus infection that should alleviate some of my symptoms. The script called for two pills on the first day and one pill daily for four days. I took my last pill today and continue to have symptoms. Maybe things will improve in the next day or so. I have a follow-up visit scheduled in a month.

Fibromyalgia includes tender neck or armpit lymph nodes, sore throat, headaches of a new type, pattern, or severity, shortness of breath, sensitivity to temperature changes, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, numbness or tingling sensations, sleep disturbances, recurrent low-grade fever, sensitivity to light and much more. It seems next to impossible to find a method of determining whether to ignore the symptoms or schedule appointments with your doctor. It has been awhile since I have felt well; I want to avoid becoming a hypochondriac. These days I feel like I am regressing back to the onset of my illness, not good.

I have a plan. I am going to try to get some much-needed sleep tonight; tomorrow I will drink plenty of liquids, complete my stretching exercises, watch a movie, and force myself to rest more often during the day. I will feel better tomorrow. I refuse to let this health challenge get me down. I will remain focused on taking control of my health.

I hope and pray you have experienced a day without pain and fatigue.

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

Hello and Warm Wishes to Everyone

Hello Everybody!

Sorry to have been out of touch! I have been dealing with my fatigue and pain plus Jerry has not been doing well. We have been busy with doctor appointments, trips to the pharmacy and keeping track of all activities. I also finally spent time figuring out what Part D Medicare Plan would work best for us. That job can be time consuming and confusing.

During this season one of the things I would like to share includes a way to free yourself of inner pain. Emotional pain, the pain many of us deal with sometimes without even realizing it. The act and word I would like to share is the act of "Forgiveness."

Forgiveness shows love, strength, and kindness. It means you have honestly come to terms with both the person and what was done to you. It does not necessarily mean you trust that person as you did before, to do so would be naive. Trust must be rebuilt and in time the individual may earn your trust. Forgiveness has nothing to do with trust. Forgiveness is not pretending something never happened. To forgive is to use your heart and your head.

Some people think that forgiveness is for the weak, cowardly, the stupid, and the spineless. Forgiveness requires guts, determination, perseverance, courage, and love. Forgiveness is a spiritual event and sets you free. Keep in mind that the process makes you the victor, not the victim because you are the one choosing to forgive.

So, if you have any friends or relatives you have not kept in touch with because they have hurt you and you have not allowed yourself the freedom to forgive. Take the time to consider what you gain in the end.

I leave you with this Psalm 34:14, "Seek peace and pursue it." If you are not at peace, then don't proceed. Ask God to help you know what to do and what to say. He will answer your prayer.

I hope and pray everyone has a peaceful, healthy day today. Soft Hugs