New Blog Introduction

If you know me and are reading this, then you already know I have a blog for my son Jaxson. That blog is to serve as a place for me to update friends, family and supporters on what is going on in Jaxson's life. Upcoming surgeries, appointment reviews, things like that. In January of 2017, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder. Writing is my love, my passion, and it's past time that I had a blog for myself.

This blog will serve a number of purposes. First, it will serve as a place where I can chronicle my symptoms. Yes, there are apps that provide this as well, but this is more my style. I've decided that I'm no longer going to hide how I feel on a daily basis, nor am I going to hide the pain that I feel from anyone. In today's world, everything revolves around creating awareness for various topics. The best way to create that awareness is to tell people what it's really like, from the perspective of someone who deals with it daily.

The second purpose will be a place for me to provide awareness about depression and anxiety. I suffer from both, and my symptoms are often exacerbated by the weather and stresses in my life relating to both of my boys and other things. Fibro isn't just about pain, it can affect multiple parts of the body, including the GI tract.

The third purpose is that this gives me a place to write whatever I want, however I want and whenever I want. This may result in some private writings that I do not share with the world, but gives me a place to put down in writing how I feel and what was going on when I felt it.

All of these things will aid me in various ways. The blog is an outlet, a place where I can let loose and get things off my chest. This will result (hopefully) in better management of my symptoms. It will also help me track my triggers. What are the biggest causes of my flares? Is it pain? Is it stress? Is it anxiety? A combination? These are things I can take into therapy and find ways to manage my emotions before symptoms pop up.

I also hope that this blog serves to show other people who suffer from fibromyalgia that life doesn't have to end because of pain, anxiety, depression or anything else. I hope people can read this and say, "Yeah! That's exactly how it feels!" And find some relief in knowing they are not alone. Especially parents of special needs children. While battling fibromyalgia in general can be difficult, the obstacles that have to be overcome as a special needs parent can sometimes feel insurmountable. I know several parents of Kabuki kids (like Jaxson) who battle fibro and will definitely understand a lot of what I post, and I can only imagine there are more I am unaware are out there.

While we have reached the end of this post, know that there will be another post shortly. I still have to wrap my head around what I want to write, but it's coming! Thank you for reading. Please share with anyone you know who battles fibromyalgia or another chronic pain disorder so that they may know they are not alone! I plan to end my blogs the same what I end Jaxson's, with a quote I have tattooed on my calf:

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be, it is the way it is. It's how you cope with it that makes the difference." ~Unknown