Today I celebrated Fibromyalgia Awareness Day by attending a luncheon with members of my Fibromyalgia support group. As always, it was fun and restorative to spend the afternoon with others who understand. There is never a hesitation if someone stops speaking mid sentence because they lost their train of thought, or if you have to get up and walk around after sitting for 15 minutes. We understand and can laugh about the uglyness of Fibromyalgia, because when we are together we are not alone in our struggles.
I started a discussion by asking how I could encourage some of our members who never come out to attend a meeting. I’m not sure if we ever answered that question, but we all agreed that Fibromyalgia and chronic illness can be very isolating if you let it. I have many thoughts on the issue, but the one I want to focus on here is how fortunate we are in this day and age because of the internet. There are huge communities of people online making connections they never would have were it not for their computers. So today, on Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, I thought it would be fun to share with you how some of my fellow bloggers acknowledged the significance of the day on their blogs.
Time thief posted a great educational article on Fibromyalgia at this time – this space. Very well done!
Over at Chronic Babe the Editrix is asking her readers today “Are you well-read? Well-informed? Do you keep up on research? Read the latest journals?” And if you answer no to any of those questions she steers you in the right direction with information, suggestions and resources.
Michelle at Rhetoric Aesthetic reflects on her own anniversary with FM “in hopes of raising awareness, overcoming stereotypes, and celebrating the good that has come.”
Living It, Loving It reminds us this year’s theme is “Fibromyalgia Affects Everyone” and the goal this year is to emphasize the sweeping effects of the disease. She also has a great list of resources to check out.
The retro housewife shares how Fibromyalgia turned her into the person she is today – brave, strong and GREEN. Learn how she became an environmentalist to help eliminate the toxic chemicals that many believe cause/contribute to Fibromyalgia.
In honor of Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, Fab Fibro Friends decided to blog about her life with fibro.
Sheri at Prospering Over Fibromyalgia lit a candle for us all and asked that we pass it on.
Life as We Know It wants everyone to understand chronic fatigue syndrome is a physical, not psychological condition.
Fibro Helper Gin has a tea schedule where she plans to dispel the myth that “all Fibromyalgia patients are fat, white, American suburban housewives looking for attention.”
Sherril put together a great catalog of various events going on today and Fibromyalgia resources in general. Check it out at The ICI Experience.
Rochelle uses Fibromyalgia Awareness Day as a platform to share her personal Fibromyalgia story on her blog Learning to Trust.
The above is just a small sampling of what is out there. I would LOVE it if you have a blogger you would like to add to this list. Just leave a link to your/her/his blog in the comments section.
Excellent!
Thank you for this post, great links to ppl I haven’t met yet 🙂 I feel like a goof for sleeping all Awareness Day myself, but it’s kind of appropriate in a way, that this illness would take me out of commission on the day I’m supposed to be focusing on it most. Happy Awareness Day to you and all your readers and great big non-painful hugs 🙂
Great post! Thank you so much for participating in Bloggers Unite Fibromyalgia Awareness Day!
Okay, I’m gonna grump all over this one. “Isolating if you let it”. I didn’t let it…it dragged me away from my life and I was kicking and screaming the whole way (ask my husband!).
I did not LET myself get isolated…my “friends” did not understand why my body quit and my brain departed and they, almost to the last one, bailed on me. Thank goodness for the Internet. I am much less isolated now, but still not enough face time to suit me.
Invisible Chronic Illness is isolating in and of itself. There’s no “letting” about it. If this “Awareness Day” accomplishes anything I hope it instills a bit of compassion and possibly some empathy in people like my former friends so no one else “lets” themselves be isolated.
Grump over. It’s a bathrobe day 🙂 lousy excuse. I may regret spouting off like that…but you hit a bit of a sore spot. Sorry.
By the way…I love seeing something new every time I check out your blog! No pressure to keep grinding away of course…
Thanks so much for linking to my post. I have suffered with this disease for over 20 years and learned how to rise above the pain. I hope the information in it will be valuable to others who suffer with fibromyalgia. And I also send out my best wishes to all the others who are likewise suffering with it.
That was very eloquent FH (now how’s that for a nickname?). Thank you for “letting” me have my temper tantrum and turning it into a teaching moment.
I do see myself in what you wrote, but I also see a lot of hope for the future… I got beat down pretty hard by the collision between my past life and fibromyalgia. Most of the time I feel like I’ve gotten over it and moved on, but obviously I still have some sore spots. Ouch.
I think I am moving towards a brighter and less isolated future. Not many people get a “do over” like this…
And I guess I have some researching to do. Thanks!
Dear FH,
So glad to have found you, and thank you for linking to my post.
I think your post and the resulting comments are excellent! It gives me food for thought on how to communicate with my support group and encourage them to come out for meetings and events.