May each reader enjoy a special day:

• If you’re a mother, may you be honored and pampered by your children.
• If you have a mother, may you enjoy special time honoring and pampering her.
• If your mother is no longer with you, may you recall special memories of your times together.
• If you know a mother without a family, may you stand in the stead of children for her and make her day meaningful.
• If you are estranged from your family, may this be the day you forgive each other and start a new loving relationship.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ~ Exodus 20:12 (ESV)

ALMIGHTY God, we give you thanks for mothers who love and care for us and entrust our mothers who are so dear to us to thy never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come; knowing that thou art doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

photo credit: aesop

I took the article to my family doctor. He said he wasn’t really sure that fibromyalgia existed, but he would refer me to a rheumatologist. The rheumatologist told me that I was lucky because my fibromyalgia was so mild. He said most of his patients were either bed-ridden or confined to a wheelchair, and since I was ambulatory and able to hold down a job, I should be thankful. Then he went on to prescribe a powerful drug that had been in the news because of its potential danger to cause heart attacks. If my fibromyalgia was so mild, why did I need such a potentially dangerous drug? I left, threw the prescription away, and never went back to the rheumatologist.

Through the years, I have managed my pain with over-the-counter medications, and on the rare occasions when that didn’t control the pain well enough to keep me functional, I would get a short-term prescription for stronger pain relievers. I seldom mentioned that I had fibromyalgia because I know so many people with the syndrome have so much more difficulty than I did. I’ve never posted about fibromyalgia awareness before—perhaps I felt like my “mild” fibromyalgia didn’t qualify me to speak about the condition.

However, in the last couple of years, my symptoms have been getting much worse. I’m on several prescription medications from my family doctor (not my doctor from 30 years ago who has long since retired) and have now accepted a referral to another rheumatologist. I’m writing this post is at the very end of the calendar day on Fibromyalgia Awareness Day because I have been in bed with heat and massage and pain pills for most of the week. I guess now I’m qualified to talk about the condition.

According to the National Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Association:

Fibromyalgia (pronounced fy-bro-my-AL-ja) is a common and complex chronic pain disorder that affects people physically, mentally and socially. Fibromyalgia is a central nervous system illness and is also referred to as a syndrome rather than a disease. Unlike a disease, which is a medical condition with a specific cause or causes and recognizable signs and symptoms, a syndrome is a collection of signs, symptoms, and medical problems that tend to occur together but are not related to a specific, identifiable cause.

Fibromyalgia, which has also been referred to as fibromyalgia syndrome, fibromyositis and fibrositis, is characterized by chronic widespread pain, multiple tender points, abnormal pain processing, sleep disturbances, fatigue and can be accompanied by psychological distress that comes with all chronic illnesses. For those with severe symptoms, fibromyalgia can be extremely debilitating and interfere with basic daily activities.

You can find more information on the association’s website.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or suspects they have it, learn all you can and take appropriate action. Medication may be needed, but lifestyle changes, such as managing sleep, diet, and exercise, can also help.

Each individual needs to find what is most effective for him or her. My next step is to lose weight—being overweight doesn’t cause fibromyalgia, but I know from experience that I tend to have less pain when I weigh less. The severe pain I have been experiencing should be a good motivator to get serious about losing weight!

Do you have or do you know someone who has fibromyalgia? If so, do you have any tips about dealing with this condition to share in comments?

Recently a writer friend asked on Facebook if anyone had ever been to a bad or unprofessional conference, and, if so, what made it bad or unprofessional. I responded with an experience I had at a national conference I attended not long after I started to write.

The content of the conference was fabulous and very professionally presented. However, it was held in a luxury hotel in New York City, and the meeting rooms were on three floors connected by escalators. Unfortunately, at the time I was on a motorized scooter and at least four other attendees were in wheelchairs or scooters. Obviously we couldn’t use the escalators, but the two upper floors of the conference levels had no other means of access.

Workshops were held on all three floors with only a few minutes between each session. I wasn’t able to attend the specific workshops I wanted because I had no way to get to the right floor, so I had to pick workshops that were held on the one floor I could reach. I still learned an incredible amount, even if it wasn’t exactly what I had planned to learn.

At the end of the final conference day, I was so exhausted I could barely sit upright on the scooter. The elevators were so crowded I couldn’t get the scooter in. Although others had to wait a while, eventually everyone else got on the elevators, leaving me alone on the second floor.

I sat there for almost an hour before I finally got the attention of a hotel employee setting up for an  event and told him I had to have help or I would collapse. He said he would send help but no one came. Finally I went back where he was working and asked for help again. He called security, and after what seemed like an eternity, a security guard finally arrived and led me through the kitchens to the service elevator and got me back to my room.

The registration form for the conference even asked about special needs, and I had plainly indicated that I required handicap access.  So it wasn’t like someone shouldn’t have been prepared for those of us who couldn’t handle the escalator/elevator situation.

No matter how wonderful the workshops are, a conference isn’t very useful to attendees who have no access to the meeting rooms.

photo credit: dasu_

Visit the website to learn about local and national prayer events.

Here is the official national prayer for today from the NDOP website:

2012 NATIONAL PRAYER
Dr. David Jeremiah – NDP Honorary Chairman

Heavenly Father,

Every good gift and perfect gift comes from You. You are a faithful God and Your mercy endures forever.

You have promised to bless the nation that trusts in You. Our currency proclaims “In God We Trust,” but in our culture we are far from You.

In the words of the prophet Daniel, “We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.”

We come before You once more, seeking Your forgiveness and mercy. You, O God, are our only hope… Hear our prayer and, for Your honor’s sake, shine Your face upon this nation.

Give our leaders the desire to seek Your wisdom and the courage to follow Your guidance… and watch over the men and women of our armed forces as they sacrifice for the cause of freedom.

We give You thanks for all You have done for us, and we earnestly pray that You will help us become, once again, a nation whose God is the Lord.

In the name of Your Son, and our Savior, we pray this prayer.

Amen.