Translator
IN MEMORY
What I’m Listening 2
Tag Archives: Fibromyalgia
Take THAT CFIDS!
I had this interesting thing happen to me on Saturday. A friend from church who is a friend of mine on Facebook (FB) – I think my whole church is on Facebook! LOL!- left a comment on my wall after I mentioned that I was going out to celebrate with a good friend of mine who was turning 60. Anyway, my FB friend said she was glad I was going out because I never mention getting out on my 4Walls. …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, dancing, Fibromyalgia, fun, headache, personal
19 Comments
In the silence of the night
The rumbling, rhythmic snoring of little Dekker seeks to remind me that I am not alone as I sit here in the early hours of the day. The darkness of night has blanketed the world around me and brought a welcomed stillness into my otherwise disjointed world. I find myself drawn to these hours even though I am, naturally, a morning person. It is in the stillness of the night where I now I find…
A Determined Spirit: Dominique’s story of living with CFIDS
Today is CFS/ME Awareness Day! Woo Hoo! I agreed to help raise awareness by writing a post for my blog today about the impact of Chronic Fatigue & Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS/CFS) on my life, thanks to Rachael of Blogging for ME/CFS Awareness. I am really excited to share that I was recently asked to do an interview with…
a Miracle and a lesson or two
Okay. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes this journey with CFIDS and FMS is just too eventful! I think any of us could write a book just from all the crazy things that happen to us on any given day! At least I could. As you know, I ended up at the VA hospital this weekend for severe tooth pain and was met with a not so nice Doctor. Well, Monday was the day for me to be able to …
A sure way to forget FMS pain
I realize a post on Sunday is out of the norm for me, but I felt like writing so… I discovered a way to overcome my Fibromyalgia pain! Really! And it works 100%. Develop a severe abscess in one of your teeth. That pain will make you forget any other pain in a nano second! Phew! Today I got to spend my day at the hospital…
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, pain, personal, pug, tooth ache
16 Comments
Deferred Expectations
Some how I have learned to accept that loss is an integral part of having CFIDS/FMS. Most days I can let go of past dreams … past hopes. I understand that I have to re-assess my priorities, my boundaries, and my expectations. But what do I do with the continual sabotage of daily expectations? How do I cope with the repeated assault by these symptoms on the simplest of my desires? Do I let go of them as well? Why …
De-stressing with photography
This week has been a really odd week. I have not had one day where I accomplished my goals. In addition, I have been having pain because I need to go see the chiropractor but I can’t afford to do so this month. With the wedding being just three (3) months away, money is tight. I also had to up my budget to switch Dekker to a raw diet and put him on his own herbal products. My word did …
My journey from drugs to herbs – Part Four
If you haven’t had the chance to read Part One, Part Two, or Part Three of, My journey from drugs to herbs, you can do so here, and here and here. Now down to the last system – the immune system. In 2008, I asked my chiropractor/natural doctor what I could take to ensure that I didn’t spend the winter with pneumonia, bronchitis, or the flu. He suggested I add a multi-mushroom extract and Vitamin C and D. I was …
My journey from drugs to herbs – Part Three
If you didn’t have a chance to read Part One or Part Two of, My journey from drugs to herbs, you can go here and here. Something you may not know about me is I have asthma. Most of the time, I don’t have too much trouble with it, but when I inhale something I am allergic to like cigarette smoke, burning oil, certain burning woods, and whatnot, I can have a severe attack. In 2008, I had such a …
My journey from drugs to herbs – Part Two
If you didn’t catch Part One of My journey from drugs to herbs, you might want to read the post in order to understand how I got to this point. You can go here if you would like to read it first. I have given a lot of thought as to how I should cover all the herbs I take and I decided to break them up by symptoms. I will be covering five (5) categories that I take herbs …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, earthturns, Fibromyalgia, iherb, pain, sleep
11 Comments
My journey from drugs to herbs – Part One
I was raised to believe in doctors and their wisdom. Never did I dream of a time in my life where I would start questioning the ability of doctors or pharmaceutical drugs to cure me. The road to a semblance of normalcy was one fraught with much pain and obstacles. Despite that, it is one I would gladly endure again, because it drove me to a place where I had to decide what I was willing to accept and what …
Posted in Featured
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, drugs, Fibromyalgia, herbs, personal
26 Comments
5 Ways my BLACKBERRY helps me manage my CFIDS/FMS
As anyone who is struggling with a chronic illness innately understands, dealing with the difficulties posed by said illness can be quite taxing, and sometimes, downright overwhelming … especially if memory or cognitive function is affected. Thus, when I finally received my ‘free’ Blackberry several weeks ago, little did I understand how my love affair with my Storm 2 would go way beyond ‘love at first sight!’ Who would have thought that this amazing, little device could be a solution …
Posted in Featured
Tagged 4 walls and a view, Blackberry, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, personal, Storm 2
18 Comments
My butt?
I’m assuming most of my readers have never sighted a gun, so I will explain what that means. In order to shoot your target – and hit it – if your are using a scope, you have to sight it, which basically means you have to calibrate it so that the bullet will go straight. I had to learn how to do this in basic training and learned real quick what happens when…
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, fatigue, Fibromyalgia, pain
4 Comments
THAT would be a great day…
I so wanted to write a pithy post for today, but my body has other plans. The Fibromyalgia has been acting up all week. Today it has been really bad. My legs feel like the insides are frozen. They are aching so bad I can’t stand myself. Add to that my arms and my right hip…Ouch! I don’t know if I am the only one here with this struggle, but…
Hope
I had this interesting epiphany recently. This past week, the FMS has been really bad – about a 7 or 8 out of 10. It isn’t so much the straight, sharp kind of pain, but that achy, stiffness kind of pain. It has been widespread so I don’t have anywhere on my body that isn’t currently hurting. I can chalk this flare-up to the wonderful, rainy weather we are having here in Tulsa! Anyway…
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, hope
10 Comments
The tension line: Do I push or pace?
One of the most challenging aspects of living with CFIDS/ME/FMS, for me personally, is the daily walking out of this tenuous tension line I find myself constantly straddling. I call it the, “do I pace or do I push” question. Basically, throughout the day, every day, I have to ask myself, Do I push or do I pace? Everything I end up…
Getting back up and on the horse
Well, I finally got my laptop back, but what a mess! Ugh. After a week had passed I went into the computer repair store to find out what was going on only to discover that nothing had been done. Uh huh… I let it slide though, because the guy told me they had to wait for parts to come in to fix the broken hinge on my laptop. Sounded reasonable to me. I was assured it would be good to …
Oh shoot, I’m awake
I woke up this morning and within seconds I knew it was not a good morning. Usually when I awaken the first thing that I find myself saying is, Thank you, Lord, for another day. This morning didn’t quite go that way. I awoke with a major disconnect between…
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, pain, personal
8 Comments
Unpredictable
According to The Free Dictionary, unpredictable is defined as, Difficult to foretell or foresee. Something difficult or impossible to foretell or foresee. For me personally, the unpredictable nature of CFIDS is one of the most challenging obstacles I have to deal with everyday. It is…
Prayer, another Award, an Awareness Project..Oh My!
For those of you who read my blog, you may have come to know Renee of, Renee’s Reflections. Renee is going in for surgery today at 8 a.m. this morning. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today. If you have an extra moment, I’m sure it would do her heart good to come home and be greeted with a plethora of well wishes!
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, Award, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, journal, prayer
4 Comments
Fragmented Days
Today is one of those days that just drive me crazy. I hate days like today. Lately, I seem to be having a lot of what I call, fragmented days. I just can’t seem to make any of the connections I need to make. I stand there at the end of the day and wonder how it is that I accomplished nothing! If you watched me trying to plug in a power cord into one of those extension cords and …
10 breakthoughs on the BIOLOGY of CFIDS
We have had some new members recently diagnosed with CFIDS within our own online/blogging community, so I thought a post on some of the discoveries of the biology of CFS would be helpful. I thought this would also help those who aren’t ill to see that although I don’t look sick (or your loved one doesn’t look sick), recent biological discoveries are indeed proving otherwise. In addition…
Perspective: Focused on the climb
I’m probably going to stun you when I tell you I watched. Are you ready for this? Hannah Montana: The Movie! Yup. I loved it. There was such a great message in it. It was a good, wholesome, clean, family movie, not to mention there were some really funny parts! But that isn’t what spoke to me the most about this movie. I recently wrote a post about…
Happily accepting the Happiness Award
If anyone had told me I would enjoy writing about my life as much as I have in the past two months, or how I would meet these incredible people, I would have started this blog a lot sooner! I was sitting down to finish up responding to one comment I had not responded to because I had company when I realized that Sue from Learning to Live with CFS, had come by and left me a comment. I was …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, Award, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, personal
18 Comments
Improvements all around
I’m am doing better today about my decision to find Bronte a new home. Friday and Saturday were very challenging. I was constantly bombarded with horrible thoughts of her being hurt, mistreated or given to someone else. I had to grab my hold of myself and tell myself the truth a lot in those first 48 hours. Sunday and Monday were much easier and I was once again at peace. I kept remembering what Laurie (the lady who got Bronte) …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, Dekker, Fibromyalgia, health, personal, pugs
17 Comments
PERSEVANCE: the road to EMBRACING my DREAMS
As I sit here on this overcast, grey, cloudy morning, drinking a cup of decaf, organic coffee and listening to Chris Botti’s CD, To Love Again, I have been thinking about all the twists and turns I find in this journey I call life. I can never say my life is boring because I never know what the next day will bring. Sometimes…
Possible home for Bronte
I have narrowed down dozens of individuals interested in Bronte (the fawn pug) to one family. Tomorrow at 2pm I am meeting with them to make sure that it is a good match. If it is, Bronte will be going home with them and will have a new family. I covet your prayers that…
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, Bronte, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, personal, pugs
17 Comments
Surprise payback
Today I awoke to incredible pain. On a scale of 1 – 10, I am at a 9. I have spent most of the day in bed, taking very hot baths, using heating pads, taking extra Phenocane and whatnot. Despite that, I still couldn’t get the pain under control. It is days like this – the ones that sneak up on me – that are quite challenging for me. I don’t do pain well…
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, pain, payback, personal
26 Comments
Preparing for extended down times
As I watched the weather come in over the weekend, I found myself amazed at how we could have 70 degree weather one day and 56 degree weather with heavy rains the next. As I started pondering that, I realized that I alter my behavior and plans dependent on what kind of weather is rolling in. For instance…
Seven sites for CRASHLESS Shopping
One of my all time favorite movies is, The Net, with actress Sandra Bullock. I watch this movie almost every month. I love the main character, Angela Bennett, who is completely self-sufficient within her own 4Walls. The further along I travel with CFIDS/FMS, the more I find myself mimicking her shopping efficiency through the Internet. I have come to deplore shopping of any kind in traditional stores unless I am having a really good day. In fact, I have come …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, crash, Fibromyalgia, personal, shopping
5 Comments
the PUGS and a VIRUS that won’t quit!
Now to what has been happening in my life since Wednesday’s post. I received a call from a woman on Wednesday night and she and her family are ‘in love’ with the pugs. They will be coming today to meet with them and see how everyone gets along. If all goes well, the pugs may have just found themselves a wonderful new home in Collinsville, Oklahoma which is only about 20 minutes from me. In addition, she will keep me …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Tagged 4 walls and a view, apology, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, personal, pugs
18 Comments
Why 4Walls and A View?
I thought I would share with you why I named my blog 4Walls and A View. The obvious part, of course, is the 4Walls which is where a majority of my life takes place. I was very lucky when I moved back to Tulsa and downsized to a one bedroom. I was able to get an apartment in my favorite complex which comes with the incredible view that I adore. I also was able to…
Am I MASKING?
I read a post several weeks ago that had a really good message. It is one that just wouldn’t let go of me. So I have been mulling it over for several weeks now. I finally got to a point where I needed to ask myself this question, Is there anywhere in my life that I am masking?
Blog Change Update
I hope this note finds everyone having a relaxing and rewarding weekend. I have been pondering a problem I am having with how I write my articles for my blog for some time now, as well as, trying to figure out how to resolve it. Even on good days, I need to have two full days each week where I do nothing but stay in bed, rest, read a book, whatever. There is no exception to this rule for me. …
Sleepless in Tulsa
I actually thought I was going to make it through a whole month without having one episode. It would be the first time in 20 years that, that has ever happened. I would have considered that a miracle. Of course it was not to be. This odd, mysterious, quirk in CFIDS/FMS still happens several times a month. Every month. With only one day left to the month, I thought I was in the clear, but last night proved me wrong. …
Attack on Herbal Supplements!
This post is a little different than my normal posts, but I felt this was very important to get out to all my readers and friends. Hat tip to sodahead.com for posting this letter from the Sunshine Health Freedom Foundation. I thought I would post a portion of it here with a link to the full article to alert any of my readers who may indeed use herbal supplements in full or in part for CFIDS/FMS/ME. In essence, this bill …
Posted in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), World News
Tagged 4 walls and a view, chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, herbs, McCain, personal, S3002
8 Comments
Youtube
RSS
Flickr
Digg
Delicious
Technorati
Twitter
StumbleUpon
Facebook