“We are made of sterner stuff than most people,” my son said. This was in answer to the question how come we hurt so much and still function. Well, sort of function. I have good days and not so good days, but overall, I’m slowly losing the battle to soldier on. But, I keep saying “I feel just fine, thank you.”

The other day, I bumped into this thing on Facebook.

I got to “The trash goes out more often than you do,” and I broke up. It’s true. The trash goes out at least once a week. I don’t necessarily get out that often. It depends on how things are going. Good weeks, I get out a lot more. Bad week? Barely out at all.

A lot of us have fibromyalgia. I try not to think about it because there isn’t much to do about it. No special drugs to make it go away and anyway, I have so many other issues, even if there were, I probably wouldn’t take them. Everything interacts with everything else, so the less I take, the better. This has nothing to do with how I feel, by the way. I could take a lot more stuff than I do, but I think I’d find I was even more miserable if I did.

Before I take anything, I look it up online. Ninety percent of the time, I can’t take it because I have a history of ulcers, have had a heart valve replacement, have high blood pressure, have a pacemaker … or take some other medication that makes it dangerous and this includes things like aspirin, ibuprofen, and many other over-the-counter medications.

There’s not much for me to do about the fibromyalgia except try to ignore it. Mostly, that’s what I do. If people ask me how I am doing, I always say “I’m absolutely fine,” because any explanation gets way too complicated. Too many people think fibromyalgia is a fake disease created by malingerers who want those fabulous disability payments.

This is probably true of most chronic problems. People who don’t have one or two of their own simply don’t get it. But, I believe you. I know how it feels like when you can’t find a body part that doesn’t hurt and nothing in your big bag o’ meds will help. I know the frustration of making plans, then getting to the day and realizing you aren’t up to it. How, after a while, you realize this is the way it’s going to be.

Categories: #Health, Humor, Medical, Personal

Tags: #Health, chronic medical problems, fibromyalgia, humor, medical, Personal