On the outside, I look like a normal twenty-one-year-old girl. On the inside I feel like a car crash victim. You should know I work very hard every day to look normal so you don’t ask what's wrong. I may not look sick, but you don't know how I feel. Even if I explained how I felt, you wouldn’t understand. You wouldn’t understand that everything I do is a struggle. Maybe I don’t want you to understand; I don’t want your sympathy. Jenna Birch wrote an article in May, 2016. When I read it, I felt like she was speaking to me. This article may not be the most significant thing I have read in my life, but it meant a lot to me. I related to her words, her story, her endless fight. She gave me hope that I will not fall victim to this chronic life sentence. She gave me hope to go on. I Have Fibromyalgia and This Is What It's Like To Always Be In Pain. "Pain has always been my normal, which is actually not normal at all." (Birch, 2016) Jenna Birch is twenty-four years old, she has been dealing with Fibromyalgia her entire life. The reason this article was so significant to me is because I share her pain. I know what it means to forget what "normal" feels like. Our normal is chronic pain. "I went to doctors, who sent me for tests. All came back normal. On paper, I …show more content…
Just like Birch, I spent years going to doctors trying to find out what was wrong with me. Tests after tests, scans after scans, and misdiagnosis after another. Test results would come back; I would sit on the edge of my seat, waiting for the answer to all of my questions, only to be told I was normal. How can this be considered normal? A thirteen-year-old girl is not supposed to be given a life sentence of pain with no explanation. After hearing that nothing was wrong so many times, I would hope that one day the doctor would just tell me I had cancer. At least then, I would have an answer for my
Although illness narratives are not novel or new, their prevalence in modern popular literature could be attributed to how these stories can be relatable, empowering, and thought-provoking. Susan Grubar is the writer for the blog “Living with Cancer”, in The New York Times, that communicates her experience with ovarian cancer (2012). In our LIBS 7001 class, Shirley Chuck, Navdeep Dha, Brynn Tomie, and I (2016) discussed various narrative elements of her more recent blog post, “Living with Cancer: A Farewell to Legs” (2016). Although the elements of narration and description (Gracias, 2016) were easily identified by all group members, the most interesting topics revolved around symbolism as well as the overall impression or mood of the post.
As the treat for this disease improves the people effected by it will have a better chance to live a normal life with out the fear of being seen as a out cast.
So, regardless of how her husband viewed her illness, she knew she had to look beyond her husband’s constraints and continue looking toward her goal of healing. She continues to seek self-worth. Desperately, she seeks answers. “The force of character is cumulative.”
Fibromyalgia runs in my family and growing up my little cousin would always cry and would not play with me and I never really understood why. I picked this disease because it runs in the family and I don’t know when I’ll run into it again. I learned ways that could possibly help with the symptoms which I will share with my family. The studies they conducted on the woman were a wonderful thing. It taught me a lot and now I understand a little better the things that have went on with my
Fibromyalgia is not a new disease that has just surfaced, it has been around for a long time, it just didn’t have a name and was not recognized for what it truly was. It was...
Psychopharmaceutical medications is a form of drug treatment used in order to invoke a change on the mental state of the user. This form of treatment is widely used in the world of mental health in order to alleviate patients of the symptoms of the mental illness which they are suffering from. Individuals understand psychiatric medications as a form of help that they receive from their physician in order to “normalize” their lives. Often people suffering from mental illness find it hard to concentrate, keep stable relationships, maintain their personality, maintain their energy levels, etc. Psychiatric medication treatment can reduce such symptoms causing issues in their daily practices and increase a person’s ability to pursue their interests,
It has been 9 months since my diagnosis, and I am still learning coping mechanisms and pain management. Not everything is 100% though. In a perfect world it would be, but also in a perfect world there would be no disease or sickness. I can only hope for the best and continue living life as I have been for the last 28 years. There may be many changes in my life, some are worse than others, and instead of viewing them as disadvantages I will see them as a metamorphosis. At the end of this journey, I will emerge a stronger person who can withstand fire and brimstone, so to speak. For now I will continue to smile and walk through live with my head held high, even though my body is a battlefield filled with constant aches and pains.
Fibromyalgia is an extremely disabling condition associated with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain and reduced pain thresholds (Wolfe et al., 2010)(Kelley et al., 2011). Observational studies have shown that over a 12 month period 25% of men and women surveyed over the age of 65 will consult a primary care physician for musculoskeletal pain (Jordan et al., 2010). Overall, between 46% and 80% of people over the age of 65 report experiencing pain on a daily basis and 15% of women and 10% of men over 50 report widespread musculoskeletal pain (Soldato et al., 2007; Thomas et al., 2004). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in xxxx that fibromyalgia patients generated $6000 per patient per year in healthcare costs where as another recent study of administrative claims found that fibromyalgia healthcare costs may exceed $18,000 per patient annually (Wolfe et al., 1997). In a population study of ten chronic diseases, fibromyalgia was highest ranked for healthcare not received in the previous year and in long-term disability, pain, and poor self-rated health by survey participants (Kasman and Badley, 2004).
Car Accident! The world would be more beautiful if their less or few car accidents. Now a days car accidents happens daily and sometimes they leave a big scratch in the heart if it end up by a death or a serious injury. Also, many thinks they are smart enough that they wont get into a accident because of their tricks in driving but in the end they find them self in a accident.
The development of Fibromyalgia and depression in one’s life is dependent on many factors. Firstly, depression can result from issues such as reacting to loss, struggles of life or personal issues related to self-esteem. Fibromyalgia can also result from similar issues as well. However, statistics show that this disorder is common in women than in men (Schmidt et al, 2010). This disorder has been linked to
Disappointment, disbelief and fear filled my mind as I lye on my side, sandwiched between the cold, soft dirt and the hot, slick metal of the car. The weight of the car pressed down on the lower half of my body with monster force. It did not hurt, my body was numb. All I could feel was the car hood's mass stamping my body father and farther into the ground. My lungs felt pinched shut and air would neither enter nor escape them. My mind was buzzing. What had just happened? In the distance, on that cursed road, I saw cars driving by completely unaware of what happened, how I felt. I tried to yell but my voice was unheard. All I could do was wait. Wait for someone to help me or wait to die.
She states how battling her disease made her more opening and how it made her realize that people have this and how she did not want to accept that she had it but she still had to move forward and push on despite having that set back.
The pick-up bounced jarringly down the old dirt road. The driver sat up straight in the front seat, checking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure that her cargo hadn't fallen out.
The many health specialists I was taken to were sympathetic—at first. But when test after test came back “normal” or negative, the unanimous conclusion was that I was a manipulative child making it all up for
Last year I got involved in a massive car accident. It was the most terrified part of life. It was the moment. I will never forget in my whole life. Before, I never realized how people really feel when a car accident happens.But,after this car accident I know what really it felt like. It was the moment. My mind was totally feared of driving. I was crushed by the hot metal and cold dirt of car. I was not feeling my arm,my body was numbed.It was felt like my lower body pressed down with monster force. All I could feel was the noise of car accident ringing in my ear.I was barely able to move my body. I was kept thinking. What my parents going to think about this? Where is my friend John? I looked through the window and saw the cars passing by