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Friday, October 16, 2009

Why Call It "Oh My Aches and Pains!"?

When I started this blog back in January of 2006, coming up with a catchy and fitting name was one of my first challenges. At that point, I had been living with fibromyalgia for over a year. I hadn't yet participated in the Cedar Sinai Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia Program or the CFIDS & Fibromyalgia Self Help online program. I just started my journey with chronic pain and chronic fatigue and I focused on finding a fix for my fibromyalgia so I could return to my life.



I titled my first blog post Happy New Year?!?!? and in it I wrote:

Yes, I am hanging in there despite all my medical problems.



I have been seen by way too many doctors and I am starting to feel like that elephant in the parable about the blind men.



Since I have an illness (fibromyalgia) that the medical establishment doesn't understand very well, I have been left to try to put the pieces together and make some decision about how I should proceed with treatment.



Believe me, I wish I was feeling better. I'd trade any one of my past miserable days at work (at any of my past miserable jobs!) for one of my current pain and fatigue days.



Everything that I have been reading says that fibromyalgia gets better with time ... how much time it will take, I don't know.



So why did I choose the name "Oh My Aches and Pains!"

Back then I felt like I was 40 going on 80; I felt like a little old lady! What do little old ladies complain about? "Oh my aches and pains!" But I think that complain probably isn't the right word. I chose Oh My Aches and Pains! with two additional factors in mind:

First, I think aches and pains are part of the fabric in the normal aging process and so do the folks at the Time Goes By: what it's really like to get older ---check out the post Aches and Pains of Age. I also believe that the aches and pains of older age tell the story of a life well lived and much enjoyed. It's like that saying:

Maxine comicImage by wynlok via Flickr


Life should NOT be a
journey to the grave

with the intention of arriving safely
in an attractive and
well preserved body,

But rather to skid in sideways,
chocolate in one hand,
wine in the other,
body thoroughly used up,
totally worn out and screaming
"WOO HOO what a ride!"



Secondly, even though grandma's around the world may mention their aches and pains from time to time, aches and pains don't really stop them from what they do best: showering their love and attention on their grandchildren. I have warm and loving childhood memories of all the older people who were part of my life: my Grandma Ann and Grandpa Herbert , my Great Aunt Myrtle and Great Uncle John, my Godparents Aunt Milly and Uncle Quentin, our neighbor Mr. Taylor and my grandparents' friends. Now I didn't climbing Mount Everest or running in a marathon with them, but I also don't remember their aches, pains or other health problems preventing them from giving me the greatest gifts: their love, their time and their attention.

She's Got a Bad HipImage by Adrianne Lacy via Flickr

So I may feel like a little old lady and I may grumble about my aches and pains, but as my life with chronic illness evolves, I am coming to terms with aches and pains being part of my life. At the very least, if I am still feeling my pain it means I am still alive. And while my aches and pains make even mundane tasks more difficult to do, I am determined not to let them stop me from feeling, sharing, and participating in the things I really want to do in my life ... in a modified, fibro-friendly fashion of course.

With doses of humor and common sense, along with anecdotes and lessons I've learned in my life, I share ways to cope with chronic illness at Oh My Aches and Pains!
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