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Monday, February 17, 2014

Blogger Opportunity (Free and Paid)



Free Sign up! 
 With 
Announcement 

 
Prize:

One
KitchenAid KSM75SL 4.5 Qt. Classic Plus Stand Mixer, Color silver







Info:
-1 FREE Links with announcements (Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest)
Get your announcement here (or pay $5.00)
-Giveaway date:   May 9 - May 23, 2014
-Co-host $20.00
10 Links (no google links)
2 Co-host pages 
-Extra links $2.00 (no google links) up to 4 links

Send payment to melisurveys1978@gmail.com
If you have any question, please email me at nysavingspecials@gmail.com

Friday, February 14, 2014

Amazon $100 Gift Card Giveaway



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Who wouldn't like a FREE $100 to spend on Amazon?! Good luck to you because ...One lucky winner will win 
a

Amazon Gift Card $100

Dates:
Feb 14  12:01am to Feb. 28 11:59pm
All entries are optional,
Continental US resident only

We appreciate the support of our sponsor, co-hosts and bloggers promoting, please show your support by following them on their social media pages.


a Rafflecopter giveaway 
Disclaimer: The Fibro Frog is not responsible for the awarding of the prize.  If you have any questions about this giveaway, please email the host at nysavingspecials@gmail.com

Monday, February 10, 2014

Look What Came Today!

I've had one of the most awful pain days today, but a bright spot was when my son came home from the post office with the mail.  Look what came today!


Yep, my new Keurig that I got for free from the game site!  One of the K-Cups that was in the sampler box that came with it is Celestial Seasons Sleepy Time Tea.  I've heard of it before, but I've never tried it.  Tonight, I'm going to!  

This being a horrible ...and I mean horrible, pain day, I've spent a lot of time on the game site.  It gives me something to do when I'm house-bound ...which is most of the time anymore.  My pain and fatigue levels just keep getting worse.  It also helps to take my mind off of the pain, rather than sitting dwelling on it.

There are three different prizes on auction right now that I'd like to win this time around, for gifts for my oldest daughter, youngest daughter, and oldest son.  If I win them, they'll be birthday presents this year for them.  Then, to start collecting rewards to use as Christmas presents!  Even though I like the auctions, remember that you can also use your points for "buy it now" items and not have to mess with auctions.  

Where my husband left me almost two years ago and I'm unable to work, this site with the awesome rewards they have, is helping me out tremendously!  I felt like such a low-life failure this past Christmas with the measly gifts I had for my family.  This year, I'll be able to give them presents that I'm actually proud of!

If you'd like to sign up for free and get great merchandise too, just follow this link: http://www.play2shop.com?ref=U01AQ8I000000V0

I received some flack on The Fibro Frog's facebook page from one person about posting a link to the game site on a fibro page.  Like I told her, anything I can do to help someone with chronic pain, I will do.  Over and over again.  A lot of us with a chronic health condition are on a very tight budget.  If I can help someone get some nice items without costing them, then I'll do it.  If I can help someone with a chronic health condition have a little mindless fun and help them take their mind off the pain, then I'll do it.  

I hate to lose a person over something so trivial, but I have to look at the big picture, that I may be helping someone else.  I'll always support, educate, and advocate for those with a chronic pain condition.  This is just another way to try and help give a little support.  I don't have much to look forward to these days, and waiting on this Keurig to get here gave me something to look forward to and be excited about for a change.  I hope that someone reading this will be able to feel the same kind of excitement!

Love & Butterfly Hugs To All,

Amy

Monday, February 3, 2014

Play Games and Earn Free GC's and Merchandise

People with Fibro, CFS, and autoimmune diseases are often bed and/or house-bound due to pain and fatigue.  I know beyond a doubt how boring and daunting this can be, so I turn to the internet for my entertainment.  I found a game site a few months ago, that's free to join and free to play the games.  -Because let's face it, $$$$ is usually an issue for those of us with chronic health problems.  Most of us can't work anymore, we have co-pays for doctor and specialist visits, prescriptions, etc.that eat away at our budgets.  I liked the site so well, I applied to become an ambassador for them,a nd was accepted!

You play games to earn points.  They also have game tournaments that you use points to enter, to win a prize or to win more points back.  They have auctions for new merchandise, that you use your points to bid with.  They also have a rewards page, where if you see something you'd like to have, you use your points to "order" the item.

I've done real well since joining the site.  I've earned 2-$25 Amazon GC's, one $25 pre-paid Visa card, a mini-sampler box of See's Candies, an infinity necklace, and my latest prize?  On Feb. 1st I won an auction for a Keurig B40 Elite!!!!  It's been shipped so it should be here sometime this week!  The Keurig is for me, but I'm going to keep building up rewards all year long, so that Christmas won't cost me anything at all out of pocket this year!

You too can earn rewards by joining the free game site! Just click HERE to sign up!  Earn free rewards + gives us hours of free entertainment = a win for us all!




Saturday, February 1, 2014

Win A Keurig Vue V700 !





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I sure love my coffee, and I know from mentioning it on The Fibro Frog that many of you also love it! Therefore, I thought this would be a fun giveaway for me to participate in! I hope one of my fatigued froggies wins this. Good luck to all! One lucky winner will win 
a

Keurig Vue V700 Brewing System Value $149 and a bonus pack

Bonus variety box includes:
  • 1 Barista Prima Italian Roast Coffee
  • 1 Café Escapes Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa
  • 1 Celestial Seasonings® Sleepytime Herbal Tea
  • 1 Celestial Seasonings® Southern Sweet Iced Tea
  • 1 Gloria Jean’s® Hazelnut Coffee
  • Green Mountain Coffee® Breakfast Blend Travel Mug Coffee
  • 1 Green Mountain Coffee® Nantucket Blend Coffee
  • 1 The Original Donut Shop® Extra Bold Coffee
  • 1 Timothy’s® Columbian Decaf Coffee
  • 1 Tully’s® French Roast Coffee
    *Selections may vary based on supply


Dates:
Feb. 1   12:01am to Feb. 21 11:59pm
All entries are optional,
Continental US resident only

<a id="rc-609e651085" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/609e651085/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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The RC isn't showing up for some reason, but if you click the link above it will take you to the RC and you can enter there. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: The Fibro Frog is not responsible for the awarding of the prize.  If you have any questions about this giveaway, please email the host at nysavingspecials@gmail.com

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

An Open Letter To God



Dear God,

Why does my body have to be so broken?  What did I do to deserve this?  I've tried to be a good person all of my life.  Heck, as a freshman in high school I was even given the nick-name of Little Miss Sunshine, because I'd walk around with a smile on my face all of the time and be friendly to everyone.  I was a cheerleader, but it didn't matter what circle someone ran in, I was ready to give them a smile and say "hi" to them.

Throughout the years, I've met several young adults through my kids that weren't lucky enough to come from good homes.  I've done all I could for them.  I've even taken a few of them into my home putting a roof over their head, feeding them, and tried to be a positive role model for them.  I cared about them as if they were my own children. To this day, they still call me "mom" when they see me. 

I've always loved old people and animals.  Still today, if  I'm in a store and pass someone elderly, I can't help but to smile at them.  I've been known to stop my cart in the middle of an isle, and carry on a conversation with an elderly woman if she responds to my smile with a question or statement.  When I was doing my nursing clinicals and was doing my geriatric round at nursing homes, I had an elderly lady with apraxia that knew I'd be there on Thursdays.  She would be waiting at the front door when I got there.  Greeting me with a kind, sad smile.  She was my shadow throughout the day, and I'd talk to her between residents.  As the day would ware on, she'd start to get agitated and tear up.  When my shift was over, she'd follow me to the door holding my hand, crying, and shaking her head no.  Giving her a hug and promising her I'd be back, my heart would be breaking.  I never once saw a visitor come to see this woman.  I'll never forget that poor, beautiful lady. 

I could go on and on about the gentleness of my heart dear Lord, but you already know all of this.  You know what kind of person I am, so why; why am I stuck in a broken, useless body?  Why am I stuck in this life of hell?  Shouldn't that be the punishment for a bad person? 

I have so much that I would like to do with my life.  I have hopes, and dreams.  Desires.  Wants and needs.  I've never asked for much out of life, dear God.  I've never been materialistic. I wasn't the type of wife that would whine if I didn't get a gift on a holiday.  I never asked for flowers or complained that I didn't get a vacation. 

I do want the basics in life though.  I'd like to be able to work, for both the money and the social interaction.  My broken body has taken that option away from me though, and the mental constraints of living this way has become completely unbearable for me today.  I just don't know what to do any more. 

Loading the dishwasher earlier, has me sitting here fighting back tears.  For once, I allowed a few to fall today.  A person becomes mentally tired of being in so much pain.   Of trying to stay mentally strong day after day.  I'm sitting hunched over, to try and help with the pain.  It doesn't relieve much, but I just can't sit totally upright. 

The arrearages from child support are finally all paid off.  Now, I don't have any income what-so-ever.  It's gone.  I can't get food stamps, because once I lost my employer health insurance through my husband when he left me, I had to leave my rheumatologist.  She didn't take the insurance I then had.  As it turns out, no rheumatologist anywhere near me took it.  If they did, they weren't accepting  new patients.  To be eligible for food stamps without working, you must either be on disability, or your doctor must write a note stating your condition, that you are unable to work, and how long your condition is expected to last.  My family doctor won't write one.  She said she doesn't know enough about fibro to know if I truly can't work or not.  So, when my old note from my rheumatologist at the The Cleveland Clinic expired, I was just done. 

I've applied for disability.  A year and 7 months ago to be exact.  I was turned down on the first application, and the appeal.  I'm still waiting for my court date to go before the judge for my final appeal.  Today, I've lost hope.  Hope for everything.  Hope is the word I live by and you all see so often in blog posts from me, but I'm just done for right now.  I don't know how I'm going to buy essentials such as laundry soap and toilet paper, let alone food or to pay bills.

Oh, if only could just go out and get a job.  I truly want to work.  I've lost close to 51 pounds and my clothes are too big.  The other night, every time I'd turn over in bed, my pj pants would twist and come part way down.  When I walk, my pants sag.  My shirts are all big, so it kind of disguises the weight that I've worked so hard to lose.  Being single and having grown kids with their own lives, I crave social interaction with other adults.  My online friends and support is wonderful and I'm so blessed to have every one of them in my  life; but I need to talk to real, in person adults too.  I need to be able to get out of my house and have a purpose each day, dear Lord.  If I can't even do the basic household chores myself though, how in the world could I ever work a "real" job? 

Fibromyalgia, severe arthritis, DDD, COPD, depression, diabetes, IBS (the list goes on & on) has robbed me of a real life.  A good life.  A normal life with any quality to it.  This is no way to live, dear Lord.  Why, why has my body failed me?  Why do I have to be so broken?

Friday, January 3, 2014

A New Year; New Hope

 
Well, 2014 is here.  I hear people say all the time "It's just another day" or "It's just another year, nothing to be excited over".  Well, it is something to be excited over, in my opinion.  Every new year, brings new hope that this will be the year that a cure is found.  At the very least, it brings hope that a new treatment that works for everyone is found. 
 
Each year, fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions gain more awareness.  I've said it from day one, but I'll say it again ...awareness ='s education ='s more donations for research, and research ='s a possible cure or new treatment plan.  Even a new treatment plan ='s hope for getting our lives back, and that's all that any of us really want, right? 
 
I've sat here the past two days, in a pain flare.  Mind-boggling-make-you-grouchy-curse-under-your-breath-makes-you-want-to-gouge-your-eyes-out-pain.  Not just a little sore & achy type of pain. I know that on this blogs facebook page that many are in this type of pain flare right now.  I think that all of this snow and the frigid temps are partly to blame for all of the flares right now.  This is no way to have to live.  -I'm using the word "live" loosely here, too.  Because really, how is being in pain every single day of your life, being so tired and fatigued that you can't even keep up with daily chores, living?  It isn't.  We're sustaining.  Sustaining our existence, and that's about it.
 
Almost two years ago, I was completely overwhelmed at the thought of diving into the blogging world, and the act of advocacy.  Thoughts crossed my mind such as "Who would be interested in what I have to say?  Who could I really help?  I don't have a medical degree nor do I have a degree in journalism.  I don't know anything about social media, and I barely know how to use my computer".  You know what though?  I was so sick of the pain and the fatigue, and the insomnia and brain fog.  I was depressed, and overwhelmed. 
 
Google had become my best friend.  I googled, and googled, and googled reading every blog I could find.  Most of them, wrote about fibromyalgia but then would add something along the lines of " ...but we won't let fibro define us" or "we're bigger than fibro" or some other peppy-I'm laughing-at-this-illness-and-won't-let-it-get-me-down-make-me-barf-type-of-crap.  Now, I'm all for positive thinking.  To know me in real life, you wouldn't believe the positive spin I put on my life.  You wouldn't even believe half of the crap I've been through, and I still maintain a positive attitude most of the time.  Heck, I was a high school cheerleader, after all.  But!  I just could not relate to what these other blogs were saying.  I'd come away from reading them, feeling even more sad and alone than before I read them.  How could they be so positive and upbeat all. the. time?  How?  People complain that there isn't enough research funding to unlock all of the mysteries that fibro holds.  Mysteries that could lead to a cure.  Well, if people think that fibro isn't a big deal; that fibro doesn't define a person's life, how can we expect people to donate for further research?  No, fibro is a big deal.  Fibro does define a person's life. 
 
Finally, I thought about one of my dad's favorite sayings growing up.  A quote from  David Glasgow Farragut that I actually used in a Voices Of Democracy speech contest when I was in high school.  "Damn the torpedoes.  Full steam ahead!".  If I felt alone, and sad, and depressed then someone else had to feel that way too, right?  A vigor ran through me.  I vowed to myself that even if one person read my blog, and I helped them to realize that someone else felt the same way they did, that it would all be worth it. 
 
Once I started the blog, and I realized that there actually were people out there that felt as crappy with fibro as I did, I started to get angry.  Angry that there were people out there making fibro look like it isn't a big deal.  Making it seem like "Oh, it sucks, but we'll be ok ...we're fighters!".  We most definitely are fighters; but we have to be or else we just wouldn't survive!  I was angry that the majority of the public; even a lot of doctors and people in the medical field, were so uneducated about how damn tough it is for us on a day to day basis.  Angry that people just don't "get it" when it comes to what fibro is really like for those of us that suffer.  That, is when I vowed not only to myself, but also publicly, that I will advocate for education and a cure until the day I die. 
 
At that point, the idea of my seminar was born.  I started gathering information and facts, and putting the seminar together.  My life-long goal, is to travel to every major city in the U.S. presenting this seminar.  Giving tips and lending support to those who suffer with this illness.  Educating those who do not suffer with it, as to the eye-opening realities of our day-to-day life.  Submitting proof that it's a real condition, with real life-altering consequences.  If people only read or hear about the positive stories that are shared, then why should they donate to research?  Life isn't so bad ...these people are managing their lives just fine.  No.  Just ...no.  The vast majority of us are not.  My mission is to show that research is needed.  A cure is desperately needed.  Hell, I'm a 43 year old woman, and I can't even support myself.  How sad is that?!  It sure isn't because I don't want to.  I hate ..no, despise the fact that I can't work a "real" job.  I hate that I can't just breeze through my housework and cook lavish meals.  I can't just jump in the car and go places and do things that my friends are doing.  My life doesn't work that way.  Because of fibro.  I'm not alone out there either.  It's time we find a cure or a solid treatment plan that will work for everyone.  We deserve to live a fulfilling life. 
 
I don't know when my dream of presenting seminars will come to life.  The old cliché of "nothing in life is free" is unfortunately true.  I need funding to be able to secure locations in which to hold the seminars, along with travel expenses and marketing.  After all, what good is a seminar if no one knows it's being held? 
 
Nineteen months ago I started a GoFundMe account, to try and generate the funds needed to get the seminars started.  In that nineteen months, the page has received $85 in donations.  Several of them from the same person, bless her heart.  She's a fellow blogger that also has fibro.  I've seen pages on that website, set up because the person is asking for money to pay their house payment.  Or because they want a new or bigger vehicle.  These pages actually receive thousands in donations.  What this proves to me, is exactly how bad this seminar is needed!  It proves to me that the vast majority of people just don't "get it" when it comes to fibro.  They have no idea how badly education is needed, and how desperate we all are for a cure.  All this does, is drive my passion for getting this off ground even deeper within my heart.  It may be another 19 months before I have the money needed to start the seminars.  It may be 38 months.  Regardless of how long it takes, this is something I will never give up on.  I care too much about my quality of life and my future.  I care too much about your quality of life and future!
 
As we start off 2014, I want to make sure that each and every one of you know how much you mean to me.  I truly care about every one of you, and value your readership more then you know.  I want you to know that I "get it", and I'm here for you.  I also want you to know, that I'll always educate and advocate for our future; our cure.  If you know of an individual, business, group, or organization that might be interested in donating to the seminar fund, please pass along this link to them.  http://www.gofundme.com/pc0hc  Let's go forth in 2014 hopeful that this will be our year.
 
Love and Gentle Butterfly Hugs,
-Amy