Chronic Diva

I already know this is going to be a long post. I wanted to get a few things out of the way.

Introductions

The first thing is giving you a glimpse into who I am. I am not anyone fancy. I am not some self-proclaimed Guru and I do not have any certifications in anything I am going to discuss or try to achieve through this blog, but I do have some knowledge, as I have been studying and learning about holistic medicine, herbs and different meditative philosophies, along with yoga and the idea of mindfulness for about 10 years. I am telling you this so you are fully disclosed that I am not an expert, nor claim to be and you can proceed in making an informed decision about what you want to get from this. This blog is as much for me as it is you. It’s our journey.

Let me start: I am a wife and a mother. I have four gorgeous girls who are my stars and moon [ages 23-16]. I own two Pit-bull’s, Bowie and Grissom ,who find a way to make me laugh every day and whose breed I am passionate about educating people. I am a writer. I have been published in a few magazines, both poetry and fiction and I write for an online magazine regularly on holistic care, herbal pantry, mindfulness and prepping. Pretty broad range right? I have a lot of interests. Some of those interests are: alternative medicine, gardening, yoga, reading, writing and cooking. [Not a complete list.] Now, since you got this far, you understand that I have some health issues. I will go into an explanation here in a moment, but the ones that I want to tackle here are Fibromyalgia, IBS-D and Chronic Pain. [Though fibromyalgia is a disease that causes wide-spread pain, I also have structural issues that cause pain.]

My Path. Your Path

As I said, this is our path. We are embarking on a journey together and where it leads I do not know. I ask that you have patience with me. I will be learning as much as you and from time to time I will need to process the information, just as you will. There will be parts of the experiment that fail- don’t be discouraged! A new path often requires a sense of fearlessness and patience. I am making a promise here, to do the same thing and if things get rough I will forge a path ahead and dig up new things to try. Some of you might want to know why I am here. Why this kind of blog? Is there an ulterior motive? The honest answer, and it’s a long one: So I have had chronic pain for about three years now. It started innocuous enough and ended up taking three years to confirm a diagnosis of SIJD [sacroiliac joint dysfunction], and during that time I developed fibromyalgia, possibly because the constant pain in my sacroiliac joint triggered more, widespread pain and also come to find that the hardware from my lumbar fusion might need to be removed and possibly replaced. I know pain. I know the aggravation, the exhaustion and the frustration and I want to help people who are in the same boat. I also deal with IBS-D but because of the chronic pain they cannot treat me in the conventional manner. Many of the medications they use inhibit the opioids I take from reaching the blood stream and so I am limited in how I can be treated and also, I find that doctors only want to throw medicine in my face and those come with their own problems and side effects. I really do try to practice a more natural approach to my healthcare, but I am not the sort to ignore science either. I think they should have a more symbiotic relationship. My only motive here is to offer people hope and something new they can try. As we progress toward my Health Challenge and losing weight, the idea is to give women and men who can’t exercise regularly a way they can lose weight, that is healthy, and in a way that focuses on better choices and small, gradual steps toward lifestyle changes rather than all at once. It’s also a mission, on my part, to banish the negativity of numbers and instead, focus on health and knowing that every small change is a step in a healthier direction. Not every woman is a size 2, nor should they feel pressured to be, because it can lead to unhealthy yo-yo dieting and drastic methods to achieve certain sizes. I hope that answers some things you might be wondering and also gives you a little glimpse into me. You will definitely learn more about me as we go on.

Our Path

The first step on our path is Fibromyalgia. I am going to give you fibromyalgia-deconstructed. We’re going to start with theories as to why certain people may be grappling with this, we’re going to cover common, popular medical treatments, as well as alternative treatments which often can be used in combination with medical treatments. As part of this deconstruction, we will discuss common misconceptions of fibromyalgia, ways in which you can boost your morale during those flares when it is most difficult, and how you can interact with people who do not understand the condition. I am super excited to get started and I hope you are too.