Several of you have written to me asking me to share more about myself, so here is my personal story.  Following the narrative, I'll answer a few of your most frequently asked questions.

Health History

Twenty years ago, I was a busy and ambitious lady.  I worked an average of 60 hours a week as Assistant Director of a statewide nonprofit serving developmentally disabled individuals.  On top of that, I went to school part-time, taught aerobics, and did choreography and costuming for our local theater group – all while raising three teenagers by myself.  There was so much I wanted to accomplish in life. 

Then, at the age of 40, I came down with mononucleosis and never completely recovered.  I was always exhausted and had periodic, unexplainable pain.  Although one doctor speculated that I might have something called chronic fatigue syndrome, most insisted my problem was a combination of stress and “getting older.”  One by one, I began eliminating or adjusting anything in my life that might be causing stress, but I didn't get any better. 

A couple of years later I was in a serious automobile accident.  The injuries I received from the accident eventually healed, but I felt even worse than I had before.  My pain increased and became more widespread.  The fatigue was overwhelming.  I felt like I had a constant case of the flu.  Even my clothes hurt when they touched my body.  After receiving a couple more “stress” and “getting older” diagnoses, I quit even telling doctors how I really felt.  I was afraid if one more said, “You're just getting older,” I might smack him! 

I resigned myself to suffering in silence, watching the quality of my life deteriorate as the pain and fatigue continued to get worse.  Sometimes I blamed myself.  Secretly I wondered if other people my age felt as badly as I did but just did a better job of hiding it.  Was there was some flaw in my character that prevented me from pushing through the pain and fatigue to lead a normal life? 

Finally, after seven years of not knowing what was wrong with me, I met a nurse in a women's Bible study group.  She recognized my symptoms and told me she thought I might have fibromyalgia.  I had never even heard of it.  Since she had FM herself, she was able to give me some information about it and help me find a doctor who knew how to diagnose it.  At last, after all those years, I had a name for my suffering!  Although I learned that FM is a debilitating disease with no known cure, it was nevertheless a relief to know what I was dealing with – and to know it wasn't my fault. 

Career History

When I was finally diagnosed almost 13 years ago, there was very little information about fibromyalgia available.  The Internet had just begun to gain popularity, so that's where I turned to try and learn all I could about this mysterious illness.  It was through an online support group that I met another FM patient named Lynne Matallana.  We began corresponding and quickly discovered that we had a lot in common – not the least of which was our passion for raising awareness about fibromyalgia.  At that time, very few people had ever heard of it.  We reasoned that until more people knew what fibromyalgia was, doctors would not learn how to diagnose it, very little money would be allocated for research and patients would continue to suffer.