Mission 2011: Fibromyalgia Redefines Exercise

Fibromyalgia fundamentally changes your relationship with your body.

One of the greatest losses that I deal with on an ongoing basis is my inability to do whatever I want, whenever I want. I simply don't have the energy to live the active life I used to lead.

Yet one of the great paradoxes in the current state of fibromyalgia treatment is the recommendation of regular exercise as a means to manage symptoms.

I think that what many of the people making this recommendation forget is that fibromyalgia makes each and every activity during the day into exercise. Or that chronic pain and chronic fatigue makes everything in life more difficult to do, especially when it comes to physical activities. They don't acknowledge that physical activities may need to be modified so that pain and fatigue are not aggravated or made worse. Nor do they talk about the very troublesome problem of postexertional fatigue, that very tardy message from your body telling you did way too much yesterday.

Trying to figure out the how's, what's, when's and where's of making exercise fibro-friendly can be daunting. For starters, you need to start looking at exercise in a whole different way. I mean, you can't just stroll into the gym like you could before, work out for half an hour and expect to feel okay over the next 72 hours. Exercise means something completely different when you have fibromyalgia.

So for example, if your fibromyalgia symptoms include dizziness or fluctuations in your heart rate or blood pressure, doing exercise in a standing position may not be the best choice for you. If you have problems tolerating heat, working out in a warm water pool might not be a good idea either. If you are dealing with moderate to severe fatigue, just getting to and from an exercise class might be more activity than your body can handle; between the travel and the class, you might find yourself completely wiped out.

When it comes to how much exercise and for how long, I think the adage start low and go slow perfectly applies here. Since it's so easy to overdo it and derail your exercise efforts, it really makes sense to start with just a few stretches done just a few times. Or maybe just a few minutes of walking or biking three times a week. If postexertional fatigue rears its ugly head it's a sign to cut back and try again. If you can tolerate just this little bit, then play it safe and add a tiny bit more over time: one new stretch, two more reps or one or two more minutes of cardio.

I share these thoughts with you today because I know that all too often the recommendation to exercise doesn't come with fibro-friendly instructions. My hope is that if you can remember that having fibromyalgia means having to redefine what the word exercise means, you can take that recommendation and make it work for you.

This post is for informational purposes only and doesn't take place of the advice of your health care team. (Yeah, the irony of this statement in light of the discussion above is not lost on me.)

Time Travel Is Tiring Redux

Image via Wikipedia
Ugh, can it be that time of year again? I mean so soon? Didn't we just get an hour back a few months ago and now we have to give it back? Sigh.

Amidst my sleep deprivation in these last 48 hours, I vaguely remembered that I wrote a post about my time traveling woes about this time last year. I found it and discovered that I clearly forgot about my plan to try and treat the switch to daylight savings time like a special event:

Next time we move the hands on the clock forward or backward, I need to plan to take a week off to adjust. A week to just stay close to home, rest and relax, rent my favorite futuristic movies from Netflix and start my own private bi-annual sci-fi marathon.

Instead I blundered and scheduled another special event to occur concurrently with the time change. Can I blame it on fibro-fog?

So to avoid another mistake like this, I am adding the time change to all my calendars: highlighted and circled in red. Then I'm adding a note with these time change tips courtesy of USA Today:

1. Plan to go to bed and get up 30 minutes earlier for several days before the time change.
2. Get outside and soak up more sunlight in the days before and after the time change to help reset my circadian clock.
3. Limit naps to 30 minutes during this transition time.
4. Make sure to add more warm baths and soothing music to my bedtime routine the week before and the week after the time change.

This is good advice I discovered too late to try this time around. But lucky for me, there will be a whole bunch of next times for me to practice implementing this advice until I learn how to time traveling in a fibro-friendly way.

Transforming Myself Into Ms. Fibro-Friendly

Image by Loving Earth via Flickr
Hello, my name is Ms. Fibro-Friendly and I am the queen of the workaround.

What is a workaround you ask?

Why it is figuring out how to do something in a new and novel way that respects both the limits my chronic illnesses impose and my desires to get things done.

If you have visited my blog before, you know that I have written about this topic many times. Some of the posts on this topic include:

• My Favorite Fibromyalgia Coping Strategy
• Can I Make Driving More Fibro-friendly?
• My Routine: Tools that Help Me Stay in My Energy Envelope
• My Routine: Spending Time in the Garden
• What Works: Focusing on Lifestyle Physical Activities
  

The untold story here is the mental and emotional workarounds I needed to figure out to get myself to a place where I wanted to be Ms. Fibro-Friendly. Quite frankly, it's been a arduous journey to get to here:

• First, I changed my thinking about my illnesses, from seeing them as short-term problems to solve to accepting that they are long-term fixtures in my life.
• I started processing lots of emotions: anger, frustration, sadness, despair, doubt, self-pity, resignation and acceptance--not necessarily in that order.
  
• Then I learned to stop comparing my current self with my past self, thus reducing the number of not nice things I said to myself on a daily basis.
  
• After that, I bolstered my self-esteem to defend myself from comments, spoken and unspoken, by the nay-sayers, the fixers, the critics and the ones that just disappeared.
• Finally, I realized I couldn't just keep waiting until I got better to start living again, so I embarked on a mission to live my life as best as I could despite my chronic illnesses.
  

Even with all this progress, there are still beastly days that make it almost impossible to hold onto my new-found identity as Ms. Fibro-Friendly. That's when I pull the big guns out:

• When faced with something that seems impossible, I say to myself," I can do this, I just have to figure out how."
• When totally overwhelmed, I pray, "Dear God, please help."
• When caught up in a whirlwind of problems or emotions, I remind myself, "This too shall pass."
• When disappointed and frustrated by how little I was able to accomplish today, I remember that, "Tomorrow is another day."
• When I feel like cursing my fate over the size of my challenges, I repeat this quote: “God knows the age of every tree and the color of every flower. He knows just how wide your shoulders are and he'll never give you anything to carry that's bigger than you can handle."
  

Like I said, it's been a bumpy road with lots of challenges and small setbacks. But the more I practice mastering the workaround, physically, mentally and emotionally, the easier it becomes to carry my load.

And I think I'm getting so good at it that when adversity strikes, I just concentrate on growing bigger shoulders!

Mission 2011: Stand Less, Recline More

As January comes to an end, it's time for one last Mission 2011 post on the topic of making activities fibro-friendly by modifying body position.

This week I revisited the concept of a body position hierarchy and reviewed the things I need to keep in mind whenever I am standing, sitting and reclining.

The Body Position Hierarchy

It might seem strange to look at body positions and arrange them in an order from most energy consuming to least. But when you live with chronic illness you quickly realize that how you move your body can have a tremendous impact on your pain and fatigue levels.

Did you know that your heart rate is a pretty good indicator of how hard your body is working? I learned this when I wore a chest strap heart rate monitor while engaging in my every day activities. It really helped me see the impact my body position had on my heart rate. It was quite enlightening! (You can read more about the benefits of using a heart rate monitor at the CFIDS and Fibromyalgia Self Help site.)

The Workout = Standing

The act of standing actually recruits a large set of your muscles, from your legs, buttocks and stomach to your back and shoulders. Plus while you stand your muscles are continously contracting.

Fortunately, I've learned some strategies for dealing with, and avoiding, standing:

• I bring along a cane/seat combination and sit instead of stand. (This one is my hands-down favorite.)
• I use the shopping scooter the store provides. If it is not available, then I grab a shopping cart to rest one foot on the bar between the back wheels and lean against the handle while waiting in line.
  
• I place one foot slightly in front and one foot slightly behind my body and sway forward and back while standing. The movement allows my muscles to alternate between contracting and resting, which in turn helps me stay upright longer. (I was taught this technique by a physical therapist who said this movement is more energy conserving than swaying side-to-side.)
  

The Energy Conserver = Sitting

This body position save a ton of energy over standing, but still can be pain and fatigue inducing.

Why?

For starters, with your legs positioned below your thighs, your heart needs to use extra energy to get the blood in your legs back to your heart. For most healthy people, this isn't even noticeable, but if you have problems with fatigue, raising your heart rate even a little over an extended period of time can make fatigue worse.

Another consideration is that maintaining this position for extended periods can actually contribute to more stiffness and pain. This is especially true when you are stuck in the car or on a plane while traveling. Taking the time to gently stretch, wiggle or get up and move every hour or so combats this problem. Look here for some suggested seated stretches for people with fibromyalgia.

Plus if you are short in height like me, another problem you may run into is not being able to rest your feet flat on the floor. Having to support the weight of your legs with your thighs while you sit is going to burn even more energy, not to mention contribute to back pain.

This is especially problematic for me in, of all places, the doctor's office. My legs always dangle off the edge of the exam table, so I move to the chair or stool in the room while waiting for the doctor. At home, something as simple as a phone book or small stool will make a huge difference when you are seated in a chair that is too tall for you.

The Most Restful = Reclining

You have probably figured out that reclining solves the problem of your heart having to work a bit harder to keep blood flowing back from your legs. While a La-Z Boy recliner can get the job done in royal style, you can also achieve this in a simple and more budget-friendly manner by placing an ottoman, stool, coffee table or another chair in front of you while sitting. Soften up a hard surface by adding a pillow or cushion and you'll be comfortably reclining in no time.

Even while lounging in a top-of-the-line recliner, you may find you need to add a lumbar support pillow or neck support pillow to achieve a truly comfortable and ergonomic position.

Knowledge is Power

I think knowing this body position hierarchy can help anyone make more informed and fibro-friendly choices.

For example, knowing that sitting is more energy conserving than standing, you might choose riding a bicycle instead of walking for exercise to stay at a lower target exercise heart rate. You might buy a reclining couch instead of a stationary one the next time you replace the furniture in your living room. You might find more ways to do chores and tasks in a seated position. You might decide it's time to give up showering while standing up and purchase a shower bench.

A word of caution: while reclining in the front passenger's seat of a car might sound like a good idea, it's not. It has been associated with serious, paralyzing spinal injuries and even death, which you can read more about in the article Death Nap.

In Summary...

The take-away lesson here is:

• standing is more tiring than sitting
• sitting is more tiring than reclining
• to conserve energy, aim to recline more than you sit and sit more than you stand
• minimize standing as much as possible with cane seats, walkers, scooters and other aids
  
• when you are sitting or reclining, be sure to wiggle, gently stretch or move around every hour or so to keep from getting more stiff and sore
  

Related articles

• Mission 2011: The Most Dangerous Room in the House (ohmyachesandpains.info)
• Mission 2011: Bend Down, Not Over (ohmyachesandpains.info)
• Mission 2011: Getting Into My "Sweet Spot" (ohmyachesandpains.info)

Mission 2011: The Most Dangerous Room in the House

Image via WikipediaWelcome to another edition of my Mission 2011 posts.

This Month's Focus

January is the month I am taking a closer look at my body mechanics and assessing my progress in turning everyday tasks into more fibro-friendly activities. That means I modify tasks to make them more doable, less tiring and less taxing on my body. It is a concept I was first introduced to by a wonderfully helpful occupational therapist when I attended the Cedars-Sinai Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia Program back in 2006.

My Most Dangerous Room

Today I want to talk about "the most dangerous room in the house." I know that statistically for most people that room is the bathroom. However, it seems that my efforts to make this room more fibro-friendly were quite easy. Using a shower bench to sit when I bathe and sitting on the closed toilet seat when I get out of the shower to dry off were two simple changes that had a big impact on making the bathroom a friendlier place.

So for me, the room that is "the most dangerous room in the house" is actually my kitchen.

In the Kitchen = On My Feet

This week I have really gotten back in touch with how much standing is part of normal activities in the kitchen and my huge need to minimize the time I spend standing, because standing is one activity that can really wipe me out in a few short minutes.

This probably explains why, for the first several years after developing fibromyalgia and chronic pain, I cut way back on cooking. Problem is, eating out, using meal services and buying prepared meals and produce from the grocery store are very expensive alternatives to making meals at home. After a hard look at our budget, I knew I had to figure out how to get back into the kitchen to save money and make healthier food choices.

Problem-solving: Meal Prep

In the kitchen, I tried using a stool to sit next to the countertop, but found that the construction of the countertops in my kitchen didn't lend themselves to sitting very comfortably. My body and arms where just too far away from the the work surface, so I wound up stretching and reaching away from my body and causing more pain. This modification seems to work better if I pulled the cutting board out and use it as a work surface, but this didn't provide a very large work area.

In the end, I resorted to taking my work to the dining room table in the adjacent room. It works better, but now I find myself walking back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room, transporting food and prep utensils. Which makes me think I need to do some additional brainstorming to streamline this process.

Problem-solving: Cooking Methods

It also became abundantly clear that stove-top cooking wasn't going to work if I needed to be seated in the kitchen.

Fortunately, I had discovered the wonderful world of crockpot slow cooking prior to my diagnosis of fibromyalgia. With a substantial library of slow cooker cookbooks at hand, as well as hundreds of recipes available free online, it was easy to get started making budget-conscious and great-tasting meals again. Plus this method of cooking lends itself to tackling cooking in easy steps and taking breaks in-between. For example: I can prep the ingredients early in the day, assemble everything in the crockpot for cooking a few hours later, serve the meal several hours after that and be left with an easy clean up before bed.

Another preferred cooking method is the oven. Since it is just me and my husband, we invested in a small Breville countertop oven than can cook a 13" pizza, roast a chicken, bake cookies and bake, roast, toast and broil pretty much everything else in between. A countertop oven means no bending over to get things in or out, which is another troublesome activity I talked about last week.

My Dream Kitchen

So I've come to conclusion that a remodel of my circa 1949 kitchen is the ultimate solution to my problems. Including things like pull out work surfaces that accommodate sitting for prep, lower countertops and wall ovens that minimize bending would be part of my fibro-friendly redesign. Now if I only had the money...

Until then, it's clear to me I need to keep experimenting with different ways to make the kitchen more fibro-friendly. You can help by taking a moment to share some of the kitchen and cooking tips you've discovered with me too.

Related articles

• Mission 2011: Bend Down, Not Over (ohmyachesandpains.info)
• Mission 2011: Getting Into My "Sweet Spot" (ohmyachesandpains.info)
• Coping With Fibromyalgia at Home (everydayhealth.com)

Mission 2011: Bend Down, Not Over

I am so excited to get started reporting to you about my Mission 2011.

As I mentioned last week, January is the month that I am focusing on reviewing my progress on making activities fibro-friendly by modifying how I physically approach tasks.

Over the past two weeks I have been more closely observing my body mechanics to see where I need reminders and improvement. The first thing that literally jumped out at me is that I bend over from the waist way too much. Not only is this an example of bad body mechanics, it also potentially sets me up for problems with dizziness and fast heart beats related to dysautonomia and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

I've included a video at the bottom of this post to remind us all of the back-saving way to lift objects. The simple take-away message here is lift like a forklift, not like a crane. To put it another way, bend down from the knee, not over from the waist. Even if the object I am after isn't all that heavy, like a piece of paper or my keys that I dropped on the floor, I need to practice good body mechanics so I don't aggravate my pain or inadvertently pull a muscle.

But since living with fibromyalgia isn't just that simple, I also need to take this advice a little bit further...

1. I need to remember to use a reaching device like a PikSitk to pick up small to medium size objects off the floor so I don't having to bend over at all.
2. For tasks like loading or unloading the clothes wash machine and dryer or putting groceries away into the bottom half of the refrigerator, I need to consistently pull out my folding step stool and sit down for the task.
3. I need to continue to rely on my husband so I can avoid the really heavy lifting.
   
4. I need to check and make sure I position myself close to the object I am attempting to pick up, so I don't have to reach far away from my body once I get down there.
5. I need to not hesitate to hold onto a chair or other object on my way down if my balance is shaky.
   

Another thing I noticed is that I hold my breath when I bend down. So this week, I have been extra vigilant about making sure I take a deep breath, exhale while bending my knees and then resume normal breathing at the bottom of the movement. Quite surprisingly, this simple "bending meditation" really does make a difference. I feel less taxed and more comfortable when I remember to breath out when I bend down like a forklift.

I encourage you to observe and see if you bend over more than you bend down. Plus try my "bending meditation" and see if it makes a difference the next time you retrieve an item off the floor. Finding the sweet spot is all about saving little bits of energy for healing throughout the day and I'm betting that proper body mechanics is one key way to do this.

Related articles

• Lifting Properly to Avoid Neck Pain (everydayhealth.com)
• An Overview of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia (brighthub.com)
• Winter Holidays can be "Bad for the Back" (prweb.com)

Question of the Week: What Are Your Favorite Holiday Activities?

So after last week's crazy--dealing with a cold and then finding myself behind on doing everything--this week I seem to be starting in a better place.

I got my Hallmark ornament shopping/collecting done (thanks to help from eBay and my mother-in-law), went grocery shopping (in the rain), got all my gifts (thanks in part to Amazon.com) and even picked up little Theodor's doggy car sickness medication (also in the rain.)

This week, it's baking, cooking and figuring out what to do with 10 pounds of ham...

Oh yeah, and staying inside most of the time, because it's going to be raining, non-stop, for at least five days in a row.

But I digress...

So now that I am done panicking about being behind and worrying about the rain, I plan to move on to celebrating the holiday season this week. That means getting focused on the things I can and like doing this time of year. Time for fibro-friendly things like:

• baking fruit cake in my crock pot slow cooker and holiday cookies using time-saving shortcuts
  
• watching Rankin/Bass holiday specials from my childhood
• relaxing and watching the Christmas lights sparkle and dance
• drinking warm beverages, like hot cocoa and holiday spice tea
• listening to Christmas carols and songs, like my favorite album A Christmas Together by John Denver and The Muppets
• driving around the neighborhood viewing holiday decorations

You see, living with chronic illness doesn't have to take all the Ho, Ho, Ho! out of your holidays. A little bit of re-focusing and swapping simple, nourishing activities for busy, energy-draining ones and you can have yourself a merry little Christmas too.

So now I am wondering what your favorite, fibro-friendly holiday activities are. Leave a comment here or head over to the Oh My Aches and Pains! Facebook page and share your answer to this week's question.

Wordless Wednesday: Fibro-friendly Low Altitude Holiday Decorating

All Flared Up, But Feeling Fine

Image via WikipediaLet me get right to the point here. You read the title of this post and ask yourself (among other things), "How can she feel fine if she is all flared up?"

For starters, let me say that under normal circumstances, I do not experience regular, moderate to severe flares of my fibromyalgia symptoms. Why? Because I have learned to stay in my energy envelope. It took me five years to learn how to do this, but I know I have mastery of this concept now. How do I know? Because I went WAY out of my energy envelope several days last week and got severely flared up.

So while physically I don't feel so great, psychologically I feel O.K. because I have proof that the things I usually do on a daily basis to manage my fibromyalgia symptoms really work. I also feel good because I know if I can get back to this routine during and after my flare-up, I can prevent this from happening again.

So, do you want to know some of my secrets?

1. Using an assessment scale, I determine my level of functioning. So right now, I am about a 20 out of 100, so I need to scale back the amount of activity that worsens my pain and fatigue to around 1 hour per day.
2. I acknowledge that feeling good is dangerous and can lead to me overestimating my ability to engage in activities. So I remind myself of the Golden Rule of Chronic Illness:If I push, I will pay, If I pace, I can play.
3. Next I plan out my activities for the day using the 15 Minute Rule. I schedule 15 minutes of an activity, then I stop to assess. If I feel more pain or fatigue, I stop and rest for 15 minutes. If I feel OK, I continue on for another 15 minutes. Wearing a timer around my neck helps me stick to my schedule.
4. I recognize that I need to modify how I do things to make activities more fibro-friendly. Among other strategies, I sit down while doing activities and use aids like a Pik Stik reacher or the shopping scooter at the grocery store.
5. I know what times of day are best for certain activities and I plan accordingly, sticking to a daily routine. For example, my hands often are numb and painful when I get out of bed, so I avoid using my hands a lot for several hours following awakening.
   

It is the knowledge that I have broken the push-crash cycle and can manage my fibromyalgia symptoms well enough to avoid major flare-ups that helps me feel fine despite more pain and fatigue right now.

Tomorrow I'll write more about how I got into my current predicament and the lessons I learned over the past week.

Fibro-Friendly: The Sleep Scarf

For some reason, my neck seems to be the weak link in the chain of my fibromyalgia symptoms. It is most evident at night, when I go to bed. Seems I have a habit of throwing off the covers and leaving my upper body sans blanket. No blanket means my neck gets chilled, which results in more neck, shoulder, arm and hand pain in the morning.

It became clear to me that I needed a solution to keeping my neck covered and warm overnight. My solution was to invent the sleep scarf.

Making a sleep scarf is actually very easy, thanks to versatile fleece fabric. Did you know you can cut fleece and it will not fray? Which means you can cut out a fleece scarf of any size or shape and it will remain that way forever.

Note: Click on any of the pictures below to get a larger view.


Now the key to a sleep scarf is in the size. Compared to a store-bought scarf, you can see it is much wider. In addition, you make your sleep scarf longer than a regular scarf.


When you go to purchase your fleece fabric, you need to know that fabric comes in 45 and 60 inch widths. I made my scarf 84 inches long and 14 inches wide, so I purchased 2 1/3 yards of fabric to make my scarf. Since the fabric was 60 inches wide, I could actually make about 4 scarves total.

Suggestion: You might use the extra fleece to make scarves as presents for your family and friends.


All you need is fleece fabric, sharp scissors and a flat cutting surface. Hint: Pick fabric with a lined pattern to make the cutting process easier.




Once you cut out the basic shape, embellish the ends by cutting fringe. This is where using a lined cutting board really comes in handy.




Finally, the beauty of the sleep scarf is in the wearing. Simply fold the scarf in half and place it around the back of your neck, letting each end rest on your chest. Pick up the ends in your hands and insert the fringe through the loop created in the other end and pull it through. Adjust until the fit is snug but comfortable. I promise you, worn in this fashion, your sleep scarf will stay put throughout the night.


So that's all there is to making a sleep scarf ... a fibro-friendly (and fashionable) solution to avoiding neck chills overnight.

So what do you think? Are you heading out to the fabric store to get the supplies to make your own sleep scarf?

Wordless Wednesday: My Own Private Nirvana

How to Save a Life

Image via Wikipedia

I don't know what inspired me to send out these two tweets yesterday:

@SelenaMKI - I parent: a cat that plays fetch, a cat named Hiss, a diluted calico that hides, a puppy that whines & a poodle that gets jealous. #fb

and

@SelenaMKI - In my defense, I didn't aim to have five pets. But the poodle wanted a brother & the Hiss just showed up in my backyard. #howlifeworks #fb

I have to say that I couldn't manage this brood without the help of Robert. Dad helps everyday and steps up and takes over when having this many pets gets to be too much on my bad days. And yes, Robert and I call each other Mom and Dad when we discuss our furry children and their needs (like breaking up fights, food, potty breaks and bedtime.)

Thinking about my happy pets makes me want to help other pets who need furever homes too.

I follow @FriendsofPaz on Twitter and Facebook. She is a photographer who donates her time at the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter taking pictures of the pets who need homes and posting them online. I 'talked' with her on Twitter about a week ago and asked her how she got started. As she filled me in on the details, a little voice inside my head said, "You can do that. You could volunteer. Taking pictures once a week at the Animal Shelter could be fibro-friendly."

She warned me that not all the animals get adopted and some of them are in bad shape, but I already knew that because I looked around when I adopted Bastet and Brunswick from the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter. I told her I just want to help increase these pets' chances of getting adopted. I just want to try and help.

So now that I am feeling better, I've decided to head over to the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter and talk to the volunteer coordinator this weekend about doing the same thing for them. I don't know if they'll take me up on my offer, but I sure hope they do. I'll give them a copy of all the pictures I take so they can post them on the shelter website, then I'll take the pictures home to post and tweet up a storm.

As with everything else in my life, I've recruited Robert to help and support me when I go to the shelter. I am hoping he can be a back up on the weekends I am not quite up to snuff. I'm also going to see if I can get my sis Cyndie in on the action too. (Hint, hint Cyndie!)

Helping shelter pets find new homes; that's how I want to start saving lives. Assembling a team to support my do-gooding is how I'll make doing it fibro-friendly.

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Good Reads: Seven Posts to Savor

Image by kevindooley via Flickr

I admit that I have a weakness for memes, the quintessential blog writing prompt. So when I saw a tweet yesterday from the Problogger about completing this exercise, well I was all over it. So in this edition of Good Reads, I'm doing a bit of shameless self-promotion and showcasing some of my own blogs posts so you can get to know me better...

1) My first post

I started blogging at the now defunct AOL Journals and migrated my blog from there to Blogger in October 2008. I recently reprinted my first post from AOL journals dated January 2, 2006 here. But I should also highlight My Last 100 Days, the first post from my blog-a-day in the month of May challenge that I accepted back in 2009 from my good friend Cyndie. That challenge got me on the road to consistently blogging and made me into the blogger I am today. Thanks again Cyndie!

2) A post you enjoyed writing the most &
3) A post which had a great discussion

I really had a lot of fun writing the post My Dream Job and it caused quite a stir. Seems readers actually thought I was writing about a real life temp agency for people with disabilities! The beginning of the post was a pure work of fiction, but I think it highlighted the real need for employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. I want to thank the folks over at Bloggers Unite for inspiring me to write this post for Empowering People with Disabilities Day.

(Addendum: I was invited by the National Disability Institute to use the post My Dream Job create a video and submit it to their American Dream Contest in July 2010. I blogged about the invitation in My Dream Job: Record, Save and Submit and you can view my video submission on YouTube here.)

4) A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written

I'll let you in on a secret ... I am not so good about reading other people's blogs on a consistent basis. In fact, if anyone out there has a system they use to accomplish this, please let me in on your secret! That's why I volunteer to help out with hosting blog carnivals because you have to read the posts to write up a good carnival post.

This is how I found this post you are not. at the blog Moosh in Indy while helping out with the ChronicBabe blog carnival. I LOVE this post and so wish I could be inspired to write a post like this. You have to check it out and leave Moosh some comment love...

5) Your most helpful post &
6) A post that you wish more people had read

I wrote My Favorite Fibromyalgia Coping Strategy because I wanted to help others get started making their lives fibro-friendly. I even submitted this post to the Patients for a Moment blog carnival. Unfortunately, this is a post that doesn't have any comments on it, which makes me think I didn't reach those in need of this information. I know the post series How to Become a Fibromyalgia Scientist, Embracing My Life as a "Fibromyalgia Scientist" and Fibromyalgia Scientist Case Study: Grocery Shopping cover some of the same information and get more hits. I just am partial to my liberal use of the word fibro-friendly in My Favorite Fibromyalgia Coping Strategy.

7) A post with a title that you are proud of

Hands down, it has to be My Advice: Don't Get Cancer. It probably should come with the subtitle: Words of Wisdom from a Long-Term Cancer Survivor. I am proud of it because it is short, sweet and to-the-point with a kick of audacity and a big no duh! sprinkled in for good measure.

O.K., so I probably highlighted more than seven posts, but hey, they all are great representations of some of my best blogging. It goes without saying that I really enjoy the challenge of blogging and feel I get better and better with each post I publish. Which reminds me once again that there are some great benefits to working on living my best life despite chronic illness.

I challenge you to complete this meme too! Leave me a comment with the link to your Seven Posts to Savor and I promise to come by to read it and leave you some comment love. And let me know if you want to throw down the gauntlet and participate in a blog-a-day for a month challenge too.

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Funny Moments with Fibromyalgia

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Yes, there are laugh-out-loud moments in my life with fibromyalgia. Granted, many of those moments take on the flavor of a Three Stooges episode. While living with fibromyalgia isn't inherently funny, I think life really isn't worth living if you can't laugh at your situation or yourself every once in a while.

IT'S FUNNY NOW

One calamity I can look back on with a smile definitely wasn't funny when it happened. Back in 2007 I was just getting started making my life more fibro-friendly. I purchased a folding shower bench from an online retailer, not realizing that it was made from materials that would rust over time when exposed to water.

So can you guess what happened?

Yup, it broke one day while I was sitting on it taking a shower. I squealed like a piglet when it happened, calling for Robert to come into the bathroom and rescue me. Fortunately I was not hurt in the process, although the tumble did flare me up for a few days.

I learned my lesson though: buy home health care equipment from a medical supply company.

ONLY FUNNY UNTIL SOMEONE GETS HURT

Then there was the time in 2008 when I took a step down from the bonus room behind the garage to the ground, twisted my ankle and broke my foot. Robert saw the whole thing: one minute I was standing up, the next minute I was flat on the ground writhing in pain.

The really funny part was the argument that followed. My husband hates taking me to the Emergency Room and he tried to convince me I didn't need to go. After an hour of icing my foot and the pain only getting worse, I told him I had to go. He grumbled the whole way there, mumbling, "They better find something wrong with you." At one point, I thought I'd have hell to pay on the ride home when the doctor came in and said I only sprained my ankle. Turns out, the doctor was wrong! The radiologist reviewed the x-ray and found a foot fracture that the doctor had missed.

So picture me hobbling out of the ER using a walker, the lower half of my leg, ankle and foot in a non-weight bearing splint, telling my hubby, "I told you so!"

LAUGHING AT MY FOIBLES

His dislike of the ER aside, my hubby truly is a trooper when it come to all the crazy stuff that happens when I get extremely fatigued and the fibro-fog rolls in. He puts up with me asking him the same question over and over again when my short-term memory is on the fritz. He helps with my frantic searches for items I have absent-mindedly misplaced in the weirdest of places, like my keys in the refrigerator. Or I sometimes think I have lost something and then get all worked up about it when in reality the item is literally right in front of me.

When ever I lose something, Robert jokes with me by saying, "Then one day I lost the cat."*** (His joke is a reference to our house cats and how they are never truly lost, just hiding.)

FUNNY HOW SWEET IT IS

One thing in particular always brings a smile to my face and a laugh to my heart. On days when I am really tired and really struggling, I have a habit of putting my pajamas or shirt on inside out and not noticing. In response, Robert makes the most adorable sad, pouty face and says, "Oh, are you not feeling well today?" At first, I would look quizzically at him and respond, "Why do you say that?" He then would point out my wardrobe malfunction and we would both get a good chuckle out of it.

Now I know this is my cue to adjust my clothes right side out, pause and laugh at myself.


ADDENDUM:

***Oops! I didn't get that quite right! See my post I knew that.. for the real scoop and more to laugh about.

Eating What's Inside the Box

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I've taken a plunge in a new direction in my adventures in fibro-friendly cooking and eating. An opportunity presented itself at Robert's work and I got him to buy in after much cajoling. It's got us both eating what's inside the box and we may be healthier for it.

What am I talking about?

We now purchase a bi-weekly organic produce box from South Central Farmer's Cooperative Community Supported Agriculture.

I wanted to do this ever since I watched Huell Howser's California Green episode Organic Farm. Huell visited the organic farm run by the students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and learned about the community supported agriculture program there. I watched them load weekly boxes with just harvested succulent red, orange and yellow bell peppers and my mouth started watering. I learned at the end of the program that they did not deliver their boxes to Los Angeles and was disappointed.

So when Robert told me one of his green-conscious co-workers was looking for participants for a bi-weekly produce box program, I said, "Sign us up!" He balked. I let it go but asked a few weeks later, "Did your co-worker get enough people to sign up for the produce box program?" At this point, he relented, explaining, "I see how much you pay for produce at the grocery store. If you can use all the produce in the box, we can try it out."

I am enjoying the surprise of getting a box every other week and not knowing what will be inside. Last week we got:

• carrots
• beets
• radishes
• red romaine lettuce
• Bloomsdale spinach
• red onions
• cilantro
• a whole variety of greens like kale, collard greens and mustard greens

This is, after all, greens season, and I am getting real good at incorporating the greens into dishes like Selena's crockpot chicken soup, broccoli and greens mac 'n' cheese, Venetian veal chops and my crockpot breakfast egg casserole. Of course, I also made a crock full of Southern style greens too. And surprise, surprise, my vegetable phobic hubby actually ate some greens.


Now I guess if I really wanted to, I could have been going to the local farmer's market all along to get produce like this. But the thought of getting up early (most farmer's markets here operate from 9 am to 2 PM), getting there and navigating the crowds with my mobility scooter made the trip daunting. That said, nothing beats having Robert bring a box home with him from work every other week. This is definitely very fibro-friendly for me: I get my organic farmer's market produce without having to go to the farmer's market.

I'll post some more comfort food recipes in the next few weeks with my "add some greens" twist to them so you can try adding more veggies to your diet too. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, check out South Central Farmer's Cooperative Community Supported Agriculture's website for drop off locations from Pasadena to Long Beach. Support them and you too can start eating what's inside the box.