eader

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Yesterday I Discovered I Am a True Princess

A.J.Image via Wikipedia


Today we changed the sheets on the bed, my husband providing copious amounts of help to get the task done. As we started the task, I marveled at the levels of padding layered upon our pillow top Select Comfort mattress. First, there is a memory foam mattress topper, then a waterproof mattress pad followed by the bottom fitted sheet. Then on my side of the bed, a twin size wool mattress pad that I insert into a twin size feather bed cover. The finishing touch is my Comfort-U body pillow. Not quite the twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds prepared for the princess by the Queen in the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea," but not your average mattress configuration either.



Then I started to think about the fairy tale and actually found it online here. I seriously questioned whether the test set up by the Queen determined whether the girl was a princess or had fibromyalgia! The story reminded me of the trip we took to San Francisco back in 2005, my first trip post fibromyalgia. We flew, which was a nightmare on my body, and I was miserable trying to sleep on the hotel mattress without all my extra padding and cushioning. I had three horrible nights of sleep, similar to the princess in the fairy tale. Which is why, when we make our infrequent trips we now travel by car so I can always take my wool mattress pad and my Comfort-U pillow with me. It looks like I am moving in to stay when we get to the hotel, but it is the only way I can get a decent night's sleep away from home.



If putting a pea under the mattress didn't guarantee a small green stain, I honestly would try it to see if I got the same results! I make you a bet that pea was positioned right under one of her tender points, which is why she had such an awful nights sleep despite all the padding. The princess says, "I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning." While I am not actually covered in bruises, I admit this is a pretty good explanation of what my body feels like each day I live with fibromyalgia.



It's fun to think of myself as a "true" princess ... even funnier to read the fairy tale explanation for the princess' bad night: "Nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin." Might want to check your facts there prince. It's a malfunctioning nervous system, not delicate skin, that causes fibromyalgia.


27/365: fractured reality/grace under painImage by Samantha Kira via Flickr

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]


Creative Commons License

Like this post? Then please...


Submit it to your favorite social sites.




Share it with PrintFriendly alternatives.

Print Friendly and PDF
Related Posts with Thumbnails

Reply to this post