Mo's Dream Cream Review

**Disclaimer:  I've been given this product as part of a product review through Chronic Illness Bloggers network.  Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.**

I'm in so much pain every day, that I'm always excited to hear about and/or try something new that may help to alleviate my pain even if just a bit!  When I was extended the invitation to try Mo's Dream Cream and No Mo Pain Stick, I was completely stoked!  

I anxiously waited on the mail to come, and was so happy when I recieved the little padded envelope!  I didn't even wait until I got home to open it, I tore right into it as soon as I got back into my Jeep.  The first thing I noticed as I was opening it, was the smell.  I'm very sensitive to scents, and I won't lie, I was a little offput by the odor.  I wasn't going to let that stop me though.  I rushed home and put it on my aching legs.  Once on for a few minutes, you don't notice the smell much.  It just takes a little getting used to!

The creator of Mo's Dream Cream is a lady named Keri.  Keri suffered with pain, and didn't like the current options to relieve her pain.  So, she gathered up some all natural ingredients and created this wonderful lotion!

Putting the lotion on my legs, I noticed that it's a little runny so be careful when pouring it out.  I've found that it doesn't take very much at all.  The old saying "a little goes a long way" holds true with this.  The letter from Keri that accompanied the lotion and the No Mo Pain Stick, said that it can start working in as little as 5 minutes after applying.  I looked at the time on my computer, and was going to keep track and see how quickly it worked for me.  I have to admit that I was having a fibro fog day though, and all of a sudden I looked back at the clock and saw it'd been 10 minutes.  My legs didn't hurt anymore  ....now "when" in that 10 minute time frame they stopped hurting I couldn't tell ya lol!  I actually had to laugh out loud at myself, because when I looked at the time I thought "Hey!  My legs don't hurt anymore!  When did that happen?" lol.  

This cream (lotion as I like to call it) works for anywhere from 6-10 hours, depending on what type of pain it's being used for.  I can say that my relief lasted for about 8.5 hours.  It's main ingredient is Capsaicin Paste, and I can say it really does work!  Keri markets it for several different types of pain, such as:  Fibromyalgia, Neuropathy, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Planter Fisciitis, and Restless Leg Syndrome.  Adding a couple more of my own health issues of CRPS, DDD, and bulging discs, I can say it's helped me with the pain of everything I have!  

I love the No Mo Pain Stick, because it's easy to throw in your purse and take with you on the go.  I also found that the scent of the stick isn't quite as strong as the lotion.  Personally, I don't think the stick works *quite* as good as the lotion, but it does still work and works well enough that I definitely carry it with me everywhere I go!

If you're looking for a homemade, all natural product to relieve your pain I definitely recommed these two products!  You can check them out and order, from the link I posted in the first paragraph!  -I don't think you'll be sorry!  

Daily Little Accomplishments

This is a sponsored post for Self Care Catalysts.  I have been compensated through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network.  All opinions remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

Do you ever have those days where every little thing you try to do seems almost impossible?  Those days when it's hard just to even crawl out of bed?  I know that with Fibromyalgia, I sure do!  Sometimes, it seems as if it's an effort even to eat.

When a person is in a fibro flare, even the smallest ordinary daily task can feel as if it's almost impossible to accomplish.  What many don't realize though, is that all of those little, ordinary tasks that we do, are in fact accomplishments that deserve to be celebrated.  

For some reason, it seems to be human nature to be hard on ourselves.  Those of us suffering from Fibromyalgia and other like illnesses, tend to be even harder on ourselves than healthy people are.  We feel guilty about those things that we don't accomplish in a day, when in all honesty, we should be celebrating those tasks that we do accomplish.

Most people these days, have a dishwasher.  I'm not lucky enough to have that privilege.  I can tell you that standing to do dishes, is one of the hardest tasks for me to do.  It causes an enormous amount of pain in my back, shoulders, and arms.  The only way I can accomplish doing them, is to do them in sections.  I'm usually able to manage washing the silverware and cups, then I have to sit and rest for 15-20 minutes.  I then head back to the kitchen, and wash as much as I can before the pain becomes too much, then I sit and rest again for another 15-20 minutes.  I repeat this process, until all of the dishes are done.  I used to beat myself up that it'd take me a couple of hours to complete a task, that would take a normal person 10 or 15 minutes total to do.  I've learned though, that instead of beating myself up over the amount of time it takes me to do the dishes, to instead congratulate myself and celebrate the fact that at least I did get the dishes done!  

I joke around with my friends and family all of the time, asking them if I should do my hair and make up for the day, or if I should just go around looking homeless.  Let me tell ya, folks ...most a lot of days, I go around looking homeless lol.  Between the muscular pain of fibro on top of osteoarthritis throughout my body, doing my hair is one heck of a chore!  The struggle is real. The arthritis is so bad in the joints where my arms hook onto my shoulders, that I really have a limited range of motion.  On the rare days that I actually muster up the energy to straighten or curl my hair, I definitely look at that as an accomplishment.  I feel proud of myself when I look into the mirror.  At first, I'd just be all grumpy and say to myself "Why are you proud that you did your hair?" I mean, most people do their hair every single day whether they're leaving their house or not.  Well, I had to stop and realize that I'm not like most people.  I have several debilitating illnesses.  The fact that I did my hair, truly is something that I should be proud of.  I shouldn't cheat myself out of the joy of my accomplishment.  Instead, I should be celebrating it because it truly is an accomplishment!

The next time that you're completely exhausted, and/or in pain, and you manage to even get out of the bed that day, recognize the amount of effort it took.  If you actually get out of your pj's and into real clothes, celebrate your accomplishment!  The little things that you do, truly are accomplishments and deserve a medal.  Absolutely nothing that you do, is too little to be proud of and celebrate.  If you're having a bad day and being too hard on yourself, go to Self Care Catalysts and read their website or design your own self-care program!  Embrace who you are, make the most of it, and celebrate every accomplishment you do no matter how small it may seem to someone else! Know that I am proud of you, and I'm handing you a blue ribbon because in my book, you're a first place winner!

The Joy Of Cooking

Before fibromyalgia and all of my spinal and arthritis conditions, I loved to cook!  I never loved the clean-up afterwards, but cooking brought me such joy.  So much joy, that I even used to own a little "eatery".  I call it an "eatery" because it was inside of a mall, not a real restaurant.

As all of my conditions have worsened over the years, it's become so hard for me to really cook.  The pain is excruciating.  Some days, it brings me to tears to stand long enough to even fry an egg.  Therefore, I don't do a lot of real cooking anymore.  This truly makes me sad.  As I'm sure most of you know, fibro steals so much of our happiness.  Even the small things that people take for granted, such as cooking, are taken away.

I am SO proud, because I cooked a meal tonight.  A good meal.  I zested lemons, and chopped potatoes, and prepared 2 whole chickens.  I made lemon-pepper chicken, chunked potatoes, baby carrots, and fresh grean beans.  I had real, alive, eating, breathing people over for supper!  My daughter and her boyfriend, my son and his fiance, and a 12 year old boy who's parents are good friends of the family was hanging out with me today.  

In the middle of making this delicious meal, I was in so much pain I was fighting back tears.  Part way through the preperations I wildly wonderded what in the heck I'd been thinking, to undertake this task!  When the timer went off, I had to have my son take it out of the oven, and there's no way I could've ever carried the platter to the table so my daughter graciously did that task for me.

I hate to say it, but I was in so much pain that I wasn't even hungry.  Still, I forced myself to eat a little and indulge in the victory over fibro tonight.  I may still be sitting here hurting so badly that a handful of vicodin sounds like an amazing dessert  ....but I did it!  I beat fibro today!  I did something that I used to love to do, and I enjoyed it with my family!

**Disclaimer -the "vicodin" reference was thrown in to try to be funny, as I don't take any narcotics for my fibro at all.  I've refused them since diagnosis because I know that fibro is something I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life and I don't want to become addicted to narcs.  I also realize that once I take one kind for so long, they'll stop working and there's only so many drugs out there.  I don't want to be in my 60's or 70's and in double the pain I'm in now, with nothing left to take because my body has built up a tolerance to all of the pain killers out there.  Some days (like tonight for instance haha) I wonder if the time has come to start taking something for pain, but alas I just pop a diclofenac 2x a day, grin, and bear it.  :)

Really Society? I'm Outraged

I just saw a story in my facebook feed from one of my local tv stations.  The article was about a man from Ohio that started a campaign on a crowd funding site as a joke, to raise $10 .....yes, 10 measly dollars, to buy the ingredients to make potato salad.  He ended up raising over $55,000!!  Are you kidding me?!  Over $55,000, because he wanted to make a batch of potato salad.

28 months ago, I started a campaign on a crowd funding site (GoFundMe) to try and raise $5,000 to print up materials, pay for advertising, pay for location rental, and for travel expenses, to get my seminar on living with chronic pain up and running.  Guess how much I've raised in two years and four months time?  $90.  No, not $90,000.  Not even $900.  Just ....$90.00.

According to article when funds started rolling in, he promised he'd have a big party.  So, now he's going to hold PotatoStock 2014 in downtown Columbus, OH.  But, how much of that $55,00 is even being used towards it because the article goes on to say that the Idaho Potato Commission and corporate sponsors have donated supplies for him and volunteers to whip up 300 pounds of potato salad for the event.  The event is going to feature bands, food trucks, and beer vendors.  Usually for something like this the bands donate their time, and the food trucks and beer vendors pay for a spot to set up.  To give a little credit, the article says the man used some of the money raised to aid charities that fight hunger and homelessness.  Some of the money?  How much of the money?

Whether $1 or $10,000 was used to aid some charities isn't the point I'm stumbling on though.  It's the messed up way that people, the people donating to the crowd funding campaign in the first place, think.  Essentially, this guy was asking for $10 to buy some potatoes, mayo, and onions.  Once donations started coming in he promised a party.  People went wild and donated over $55,000 so a party could be held.  I ask for $5,000 to try and help people live a better quality of life, to educate those that don't know what it's really like to live with a chronic pain illness so that hopefully we'll get enough exposure out there to aid in further research to find a cure ...or hell, I'd even take a treatment plan that actually works, and works for everybody that has Fibromyalgia, and society can donate $90 in almost 2.5 years.  What's more important to society?  Having a party, or helping to improve the quality of a persons life?  Obviously, the party wins.

Call me jealous, or spiteful, or whatever you may but I'm seriously outraged and extremely upset over this.  I've been overly emotional the past few days due to lack of sleep, pain, and stress but I honestly am holding back tears right now.  To add insult to injury, for the past two years I've messaged all of my local news stations literally begging them to mention even one sentence on the air  ...OR even just on their facebook or Twitter page, that it's National Fibromyalgia Awareness day.  Seriously, I would've been happy had they just written "Today is National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day" on one of their social media sites, but not only didn't that happen, but they didn't even respond to my message to say "sorry, no can do".  As soon as someone is going to hold a party with bands and beer though, it's a complete article!

There have been times that I'd like to make a batch of potato salad too, but haven't had the money.  There have been times that I'd like to have a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, and a gallon of milk but couldn't even buy one of those items let alone all of them.  Do you know why?  Because Fibromyalgia and all of the co-morbidities that I have along with it, keep me from being able to work a real job.  I don't have a husband and his income to help out because a few months after I was diagnosed as having all of these life long chronic illnesses, he bailed.  I can't meet anyone new, because my health keeps me from being able to get out of the house on a regular basis.  Do I set up a page and ask for donations when I'm hungry or I'm struggling to pay my bills?  No.  I do without.  I've been raised not to ask for "handouts", and I really struggled with setting up the page for donations to start up the seminars.  In the end, I did so though because it would be helping to improve the quality of life of those afflicted with a chronic pain and fatigue illness, and it would help me to support myself.  It's something that I would only have to do for a couple hours a day, once or twice a month.  That I could handle.  I can not handle a *real* job though, not even part-time.  It's just unrealistic for my health issues.

Maybe society as a whole isn't messed up with their thinking.  Maybe I'm the one who's messed up.  I've been accused of having too big of a heart before.  Of caring too much about people.  I don't know.  All I know, is that I'm really, really sad today. Sometimes, I feel as if I'm fighting a losing battle with trying to advocate for all of us that suffer and have a normal life ripped from us.  In all honesty, I probably am. Regardless though, I'll never give up.

Am I As Invisible As I Feel?

I know that many who will read this post, know me well.  Those of you who are new to this blog, may start reading this, and ask yourself "What is this lady doing? If she's an advocate for chronic pain and research, then why isn't she being all super happy and over the wall professional?".  I'll answer that for you right now, so you don't have to pause and ask yourself this question a paragraph or two into things.  Yes, I'm a chronic pain advocate. Yes, I will do anything and everything within my power to advocate for further research to find a cure for chronic pain conditions such as Fibromyalgia, Lupus, RA, CFS/ME, CRPS, Osteoarthritis, ...and the list could go on forever and ever unfortunately.  What I am not, is a doctor.  Or a scientist.  Or any type of medical professional.  I've never had a college writing class other then English composition I & II.  I've never had a public speaking course.  In fact, I don't have any fancy initials of any type behind my name at all, except for those I've jokingly donned as CPS (Chronic Pain Sufferer).  

In this blog, I "talk" about real problems.  Real feelings, that sufferers of chronic pain conditions feel.  If everyone out there that suffers from Fibro, or Lupus, or what-have-you, is all happy and positive in all of their posts, then they aren't being honest.  If they aren't going to be real about the facts, feelings, and challenges we face, then why write or try to advocate at all?  Because in my own personal experience, as a person, not as an advocate, people are not going to be able to really grasp the true concept of this illness if you don't tell them what the true concept of this illness is.  If they don't suffer it, they don't know it.  It's that simple.  If someone reading this can't connect with me, and really understand what I'm going through, then how can I expect them to help?  If this illness (any of these illnesses) aren't bad enough that you're still all happy and strong every day, then why should they bother wanting to contribute funds to further research?  After all, our life must not be so bad if we can remain so strong.  That said, you won't get any "sugar coating" of my life or of this illness on this blog.  What I put, is how I feel.  What this illness has done to me.  How it's made me feel.  

So how am I feeling?  I'm feeling really sad.  Not just Fibro, but almost all chronic pain conditions run the co-morbidity of depression.  If you hurt every single day of your life, and you've had to give up things and people you love because of your health, you'd probably be depressed too.  No joke.  I'm not embarrassed, nor am I ashamed, to admit that I suffer, horribly, with depression. I can't begin to tell you the amount of tears I've shed off and on all night tonight.  Right this very minute even.  I've gotten so good at crying, that I do so silently now.  The tears slide down my face, and no one would be any wiser if they weren't looking at me.  Sometimes, like tonight, I often wonder if I'm invisible.  If my tears are invisible.  

I feel as if I'm stuck all alone, confined to my dining room because God knows the pain I'd be in if I tried to sit comfortably in my living room.  This computer, it's my gateway to the outside world.  The real world, where people go places, and do things, and have friends, and date, and enjoy life.  Where I can look, and read, and see that people still go places.  They still have friends.  They still have fun.  If I didn't pop online and make a status on facebook, or post on this blog, then I'm not sure that anyone would even know that I exist anymore.  This illness, it's taken so much from me.  I sure didn't let it.  I didn't want to give up a happy, fun, carefree life.  I didn't voluntarily hand it over.  Heck, two years ago I would've laughed if someone had told me this would be my life now.  This.  I don't even know what else to call it.  

This crap with my body, ...the fibro, ...the still unnamed autoimmune disease that's putting calcium deposits in my lungs, and on my bones.  It's created the most lonely, miserable, low self-esteem life that I could ever dream of.  I'd love to blame it for stealing my marriage.  I have blamed it for stealing my marriage before.  Right here on this blog even.  I don't think so any more though.  He'd left me before, when I wasn't this sick. If he truly had loved me, this wouldn't matter.  No, in the past year he's been gone, I've come to realize that this was just his excuse.  His idea to blame, so that he didn't have to shoulder the burden of guilt himself.  His excuse that my health was just too "stressful" for him was just an easy out.

One time when he left me, we divorced.  We were divorced for a year, then decided to give it another try and remarried.  In retrospect?  A horrible idea.  Still though, things were hard for me.  I had four children.  I went to community college for nursing during the early morning hours.  I went from there, to a 2nd shift factory job Monday-Friday.  On Friday night when I'd get off at the factory I'd go straight to work as a waitress and bartender until close.  I'd go to work at the same bar much earlier on Saturdays and worked until close.  On Sundays, I worked at a different bar that served a lot of food and worked a 12pm-5pm shift.  It was hard.  But I could do it.  I did do it.  I had plenty of money to support myself and my kids.  I was out among the living.  I had friends.  Friends from college.  Friends from work.  Friends from high school.  The kids and I went places and did things.  I was asked out on dates. I was pretty. I had a great attitude and was fun to be with. If I was alone, it was by choice.  

Oh how the years change and complicate things.  This time when he left, I hadn't worked in years.  It hurt my body too bad.  I didn't know what was wrong with me, but it hurt to work and my husband told me "Well, don't work then.  I make enough for us to get by".  I didn't work.  I sat home, taking care of the house and the kids.  I engrossed myself into their school activities, and their friends.  I had supper ready for my husband damn near every night by the time he walked in the door from work.  I filled my life and my heart with being a wife and a mother.  By the time he left this time, there's no way I could work.  No way.  It puts me literally in tears to stand long enough to fry an egg.  I don't have any "outside" friends, because my husband and my kids were my life.  I concentrated for years on nothing except for them.  I truly believed my husband was my best friend.  I'm not pretty any more.  My dad's side of the family is blessed with the fat gene curse.  Before I was sick, I kept my weight off.  I had to work my ass off to stay nice and curvy with a flat tummy and legs of steel, but I did it.  Now, I can't exercise like that. Some days I honestly have to have my youngest child, the only one who still lives at home, come into my room and help pull me to a sitting position in the morning because my lower back hurts too badly that I can't sit up on my own. When you're in that kind of pain, exercise is not an option. I'm fat.  I'm more then fat, I'm obese.  If anyone tries to say that doesn't carry a stigma with society, they're out and out lying!  

How am I ever supposed to meet new people?  How can I make friends?  I can't go get a job, and meet people in the work place.  Heck, I wouldn't even begin to even know a shift I could work because sometimes with my insomnia I'm not able to go to sleep until 8am.  Sometimes it's noon the next day.  Other times, last night for example, I actually was able to fall asleep around 12:30am, but then I was awake again by 5:30am.  By 1pm today I couldn't stand it and fell asleep for 2.5 hours.  What job would be able to accommodate me?  Even though I believe in God, and I pray, I can't even commit to going to church because I never know if I'd be awake or not. Even for evening sessions.  Or if the pain will be too bad to go. How am I supposed to meet people to make new friends?  As for dating?  Huh.  Yeah.  I couldn't buy a date to McDonald's.  They'd take my money and throw me out of the car before we got there.  Seriously though, what man, what good man would want a 42 year old woman who's fat, sick, and can't work to support herself?  Not much of a catch.  This illness, ...or these illnesses, have stripped from me every single shred of self confidence and self worth I've ever had.  

Still, I don't lose hope.  This hope, drives the fire in me.  It pushes me to tell my story.  It forces me to swallow my pride and not care what some may think of me for admitting my weaknesses and feelings. For admitting my physical and emotional pain.  This hope is what's motivating me to organize a walk/run in September to bring about awareness of chronic pain conditions and to raise funds for further research.  I have the hope of a cure to be found in my lifetime. I have the hope of a treatment plan that will actually work, to be found yet in my lifetime.  I don't have a clue how to organize this thing, but you can bet your ass that come September this thing will be happening, because I will never give up.  Never.  If I give up, then I'm letting go of hope.  I can't just sit back and depend on others to create enough awareness and research for a cure to be found.  I have to do my part in this.  A cure may not be found in my lifetime, but it sure as hell won't be from my lack of trying to do all I can.  

See, no matter how sick, or how sad or broken I may seem at times, I still have hopes and dreams.  I'm fighting tooth and nail right now, to try and ensure that my hopes and dreams come true someday.  I hope to live without debilitating pain every single day of my life.  I hope to be able to work again someday.  I hope to be able to exercise and get down to a healthy weight.  I hope that someday I can show the world that I'm still that same fun, funny, fly by the seat of her pants girl that wants to go on vacations.  Go out to eat and to movies and dancing on dates.  That I still have a huge heart where I like to put those in my life ahead of myself.  That my true joy stems from making others happy.  I have hope ...for a full, fun, life with a loving relationship in it at some point.  That is why I sit here behind my computer, and I post about how important it is to educate others, anyone who will listen, as to what it's really like living with a chronic pain condition.  That is why I open myself up on this blog.  It's my hope for a cure. For now, I'll sit here invisible to the world, hiding behind a computer screen.  I'll cry my silent tears, and I'll hope and dream for the day that I can run outside and jump up and down!  For the day I can take my life back from Fibro and autoimmune illness. The day that living a life with chronic pain is behind me and I can look to the future.

  

Fibromyalgia Is A PITA - Literally

"You have a charlie horse where??!"  

"I have a charlie horse in my butt cheek.  When I told you that fibromyalgia is a pain in the butt, I meant it literally!"

Yes ladies & gentlemen, this was a true conversation in my household today. 

 Just that short quote should be warning enough that this post will contain some whining.

Now tonight, or this morning since it's 2:20am, my entire body is screaming in pain.  The top of my shoulders, where they hook onto my neck, seriously feel as if I have metal claws that keep digging in and gripping them, then releasing.  I feel like I have a little invisible Gargoyle sitting on my shoulders.  Of course, I  haven't been helping myself any with the shoulder/neck pain because I keep catching myself having my shoulders all scrunched up and tight.  I don't even realize that I do it. I have to make myself let them down,to where they're supposed to be.

Seeing what a talented, experienced master crafter craft challenged person I am, I got the bright idea to make. yes make all by myself, all of these cute, adorable makes me want to rip my hair out and throw things craft ideas that I found on that time sucking, budget blowing site Pinterest for my daughter in law's baby shower this coming Sunday. First, I finished a tutu for my 19 month old granddaughter last night.  Every. Single. Tutorial. I watched on YouTube or read on a blog said that making this tutu would take right around an hour from start to finish.  They all fibbed! -They obviously haven't been around anyone that's as awesome craft challenged as I am. I started making this gosh darn adorable tutu for a little 19 month old on Friday (I believe anyway.  Thursday or Friday .....&!*&& fibro fog!!)  Just shy of 3 hours, ....yes you read that right three fun and enjoyable stressed, painful hours, I had the first layer of tulle on the blessed thing!  -Now, just in case you don't know, I was putting three layers of tulle on this blessed thing! 

 I didn't stick with just doing a simple tutu attached to a piece of elastic. Or attached to a pretty ribbon.  No, that wouldn't be me.  I always do things the hard way!  I attached the tulle to a stretchy, crocheted headband.  I thought they looked so cute that way.  -Easier for more layers, different lengths, etc.  Boy was I a genious an idiot!  The left side of my neck, my left shoulder, and the right side of my middle back kept spasming. It must have been something to do with the way I was sitting and holding my tutu while making it. I guess I shouldn't complain too awful much, because the second project that I started tonight has everything hurting me.  My shoulders and upper arms are honest to God, almost making me cry with the pain.  That constant non-stop, deep muscular, burning sensation with the occassional, almost rhythmic, sharp stabbing pain thrown in every few minutes. Here's a few pictures of the blessed thing on my granddaughter.  She was incredibly cranky and wouldn't stand for us trying to make the bow in the back pretty, or to fluff her tutu once it was on her. I do have to admit that I hollered Thank You Jesus!! I think it turned out really cute, and I was so proud of myself for doing it when I'm not a crafty person and had never done anything like this before.

The craft I've started next?  Holy moly, if only I was a psychic had a clue, I probably would have never bought the stuff to make it.   Alas like an idiot I spent the money on the supplies so I'll be finishing it! The funny sad thing about it, is this was the craft I was looking most forward to creating. I'm making a wreath, and to make it, you have to cut all of your material into 2x2 inch squares.  My mom lend me this huge plastic mat/board type thing that has inches going across it on all four sides.  She told me to lay my material on it then line this other, much smaller, plastic thingy-ma-jig on top with it matching up to the inches on the big board.  She handed me this thing that looks almost exactly like a pizza cutter and told me to just move over every two inches and then run the pizza cutter looking thing down the slots in the top board. Then, to turn the top board and go across every two inches and run the cutter through the slots again and I'd have all of my 2x2" inch squares cut out easy peasy and quick.

My mom really is a master crafter!  She paints (both oil and acrylic), she crochets, she knits, she sows, she embroiders, ...and she can do  any other craft if she wants to do it.  -She used to have the largest ceramic shop in all of NW Ohio.  She even gave classes to people twice a week. Me?  I didn't get one single drop any of her artistic abilities what-so-ever.  If a straight line was drawn for me, I wouldn't even be able to cut the straight line out!  I can't draw a straight line, to save my life.  -Anyway, the pizza cutter looking thing-a-ma-bob does NOT cut all the way through each and every square.  I ran and re-ran it up and down those dumb slots and still, almost every one of the squares was still connected at some random spot to the square above, beside, or below another connecting square.  

From having to stand up (because the dang board is too big for me to be able to reach the top if sitting), lean over the table and board, then running that dumb cutting tool, my upper arms, shoulders, and neck hurt worse then they ever have.  -Especially the upper arms.  Excruciating, make me gimmace, pain.  I finally gave up on cutting out the squares for tonight.  I'll resume again sometime tomorrow.  Then, I'll have a diaper cake to put together, and a newborn tutu to make for Sophia, then I'll be done until the actual shower on Sunday!

I'm not going to lie, the pain of my stupid defective body fibro honestly has stolen a lot of my joy from me on doing these crafts.  A typical one hour craft took me a couple of days to do.  The pain in my arms tonight is almost unbearable.  I feel like the pain could drive me crazy, and I've been cussing out fibro in my head for hours & hours now.  

Of course fibro affects different people in different way, and to varying degrees of pain and symptoms.  With me, my symptoms most definitely have been progressive over the years.  We traced my fibro pain all the way back to my teens.  To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it started around the time I was in 4th or 5th grade.  I had to have bi-weekly cortisone shots in both knees due to all the pain I had in them.  I'd lay on the living room floor, curled up and rolling back and forth while crying from the pain I'd have in my knees and legs. I have to keep hoping & praying that some time soon, a cure is found. One has to be found, so I can take my life back.  Because as it is, I don't really have any type of quality.  Some ADL's (activities of daily living) I absolutely can't due anymore do to loss of range of motion, swelling, and pain.

Well ladies & gents, it's now 4:10am.  With my arms hurting as badly as they are, it took me almost 2 hours to write this post!  When the pain got too bad from the typing, I'd take a break.  Feel free to come on over to The Fibro Frog's facebook page if you haven't done so yet.  I'm much more active there, interacting and connection with others dealing with pain issues.  Sending butterfly hugs and soft whispers to all of you.

Thermal-Aid Pain Relief Giveaway

You can read my full review *Here*

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Now for the giveaway: Ok Fibro Frogs, this is a great giveaway for any of us where we suffer daily from chronic pain. Who will be the lucky one to win a Thermal-Aid medium sectional and JoJo the monkey? This is open to US & Can and ends 1/29/13 @ 11:59 pm est. To enter, simply do the tasks on the Rafflecopter widget below and you're set to have a chance to win! Remember you can't win if you don't enter. It only takes one entry to win! I wish everyone the best of luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
  Please note that SaraLee's Deals Steals & Giveaways are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill their prize. Nor is The Fibro Frog.

Do You Wish Your Family & Friends Would "Get It"?

Do you ever feel like your family and friends just don't "get it" when it comes to you and your health?  Is it hard for them to comprehend the type of chronic pain you deal with on a daily basis?  Then gather everyone around, and sign up for The Fibro Frog's very first webinar!  $25 per registration, and you can have all of your family friends there, gathered around the computer with you!  Please share this event throughout your social media sites!

Support Those With Chronic Pain Illnesses

Don't forget that I have a fundraising event going on through November 24th.  The sell of the key chains will help fund my seminar Living With Chronic Pain - A Patients View.  Let's help out our fellow chronic pain sufferers by ordering a key chain and sharing the event through your social media sites.  The seminar isn't just for people with fibromyalgia, it's for anyone who suffers from any sort of chronic pain illness.  It gives the sufferer tips and advice, along with ideas on how to make their family and friends, and community, understand what it's truly like to live their lives in pain every day.  It dispels myths, gives statistics, lists resources, and addresses family and community that doesn't understand what we go through.  This seminar is really geared towards not only the sufferer, but also to people who do not suffer.  It's an overall well-rounded seminar that's beneficial for anyone, whoever they may be.  Also, a person doesn't have to be a chronic pain sufferer to order a key chain.  By ordering one, you're showing support for those of us who do, and helping to bring about awareness by using your key chain.  You'll find the fundraiser on facebook as a public event.  Please check it out, and share it!  To access the fundraiser, click HERE.  Thanks for your support, there's approximately 116 MILLION people who suffer from some sort of chronic pain illness in the U.S. that thank you!