I Have Fibromyalgia but IT Does Not Have Me!!

I am not alone, I am  strong and I will not let Fibromyalgia run my life!!!

When I started this blog I was not in the best place in my life. I was out of work on disability because of my friend/enemy Fibromyalgia. That was January. I thought it would be a good way to track my progress during my program for rehabilitation. Well I have not posted as much as I would have liked and I have not given may details on my program. Well the program is over and I have returned to a paying job. The program was great. It is offered through Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hill California. First of all you have to be referred by a Doctor to participate. I had to change doctors and be stable with my symptoms before I could apply for the program. That took a little time as I had gotten so low and my symptoms were so bad I needed multiple medication adjustments and a few additions. I started in mid February and completed on April 7th. I had to go to Beverly Hills twice a week. Once a week for group meetings taking 3 hours plus a lunch hour and once a week to meet with the specialist individually for 30 minutes each. The program consisted of 3 disciplines:

1)Physical Therapy : Getting you moving by teaching you how to exercise to avoid the pains that come with fibro and the reassurance that YES it is better to move then to lay on the couch all day anticipating the additional pain you will experience when you have to drag your aching body up before the family returns from work and school so you can keep up the charade that you actually do something during the day.(i.e., cook dinner, do a load of laundry, feed the dogs) Tip: Your body is your best piece of exercise equipment. We all have one so use it to your advantage.


2) Occupational Therapy: Showing you that yes you still can function like you did before Fibromyalgia you just need to do a lot of Planning pacing and asking for help. Who knew that you could modify the way you do laundry, cook dinner, clean house. Keeping a calendar and a schedule is a big part of "Coping" with this chronic disease. Keep track of what you have done and what you need to accomplish.(Prioritize)

3) Neuropsychology: Yes a physiologist and the best part of the program I believe. I myself really needed to talk about my feeling of shame, guilt, worthlessness and disappointment. These are all thing that I was living with and keeping to myself.

4) I know I said 3 but really four but the 4th is Unofficial : The other people in the program. Fibromyalgia is a very lonely disease. It affects less then 3% of the population and general it is women. Women like me. A person with type A personality, Over achiever, the go getter, the "I can not sit and do anything" type of person, the I don't complain/I lie and say "Oh I'm fine" , I can't stop my life because of pain....ect. I have had no one to talk to who could understand what I have been going though for the past 7 plus years. In my group at Cedar Sinai Fibromyalgia Rehabilitation Program I meet a couple of women ,Martha and Mirna I love ya, whom I could share stories with. This helped me come to terms with and accepting how my life will be. Knowing I am not alone...i.e. a freak of nature who has this condition that some people don't believe in and/or know anything about. It has been almost 2 week since my last appointment and I have alot of stuff to still implement into my daily life but I will get there.
I am no longer on disability as I have started on my new career path and am enjoying having structure back in my life. I work 3 1/2 hours a day, go to school at the community college down the street and I don't obsess about the things that are not important. I am taking the hard things as they come( like the allergies induced asthma and the migraine headache) and not sweating the small stuff.

I am now remembering to take credit for the things that I accomplish, write the things down not completed as there is always tomorrow, and to thank my loved one for standing by me. Charlie is the best for being the most understanding and supportive husband any girl could ask for. Without his support, mental and financial, I would have never been able to make the changes possible to be on the road to positive management of my chronic illness Fibromyalgia.

The Fondant Cake- Trial Run "Happy Birthday Dawn"

I took the cake decorating class so I could move up and take the Fondant Cake Decorating Class. Little did I know the instructor was on vacation in April,  so no class. The baby shower I want to make the special cake for is May 8th so that was not going to work. I figured I could figure out the art using fondant so I tackled it and won.  I think I did a great job.

It so happened that my sister-in-law that I adore was having a Birthday on the 11th. I did a test run and created this cake for her. It was not as hard as I thought it would be but it was more work expected. I was so happy Dawn, my sister in law. loved , loved loved the cake and I'm so happy it made her feel so special to have a custom cake made just for her.