Hope and a great New Year to you all

Just want to say the very best to you all for 2017. Let's hope that someone out there discovers a way for Fibro sufferers to get relief from this affliction in the coming year. We can hope, can't we?

Although I didn't know what it was at the time, I do know that I have suffered from this illness since I was a young mum in my early 20's. I'll be 65 in a few weeks. I remember days when, trying to get out of bed, my husband would have to put my feet on the floor and help me to my feet. I had three children who needed looked after...

Well, after the divorce, I had to get myself out of bed. Then, while being a single parent with Fibro, I decided to go to college, then Uni. After 9 years of study, while, at the same time, working 3 part-time jobs, I earned my honours degree and took a post graduate to specialise. The Fibro never left me. Just good and bad, as we all have experienced. I also have dyslexia which added to the difficulty. I have 3 lovely children and 4 beautiful grandchildren. It was def. a struggle. What came out of my illness was a determination to succeed, regardless of what my fate dished out. My 3 children have the work ethic and are fighters. They provide warm, secure homes for their children. They have taken on most of my principles (they are individuals so I have to allow for that ).

I'm not trying to give myself a pat on the back, what I'm trying to highlight is, we Fibro sufferers still have a lot to offer and a lot to achieve. We suffer daily with pain that non-sufferers can hardly imagine. We have a unique strength within us. With this strength and resource, we have a hell of a lot more inside us to give and get out of life. Please don't give up and feel that you are not achieving anything. There are the silent things that we can't measure. The impressions that we leave and the positive influences that we have made and much much more... Make a New Years resolution and let us all know, even the smallest resolution you have achieved on Hogmanay 2017.

I have to let you know that this group has been the greatest comfort to me. Thank you to each and everyone of you.

I wish you all the very best in 2017

[TheAuthor]

Hi Hidden

You genuinely sound like a wonderful and amazing person who should be proud of what they have achieved in their life. I also always say the hardest job in the world is holding the title of mummy! I want to sincerely wish you all the best of luck my friend and I truly hope that 2017 is yet another magnificent year for you. Please take care of yourself.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken

[uggycat]

Pat on the back for you Nana, and happy new year xx

[peck]

Good job Hidden , you should be proud! ! Happy New Year!! Peck 🐤

[1499]

The very best to you and your family in 2017. I think you deserve a pat on the back for all you have been through and for what you have achieved especially living with fibro and for how well your family have done!!! Please God 2017 will be better for us all. I only found this site a couple of months ago and it has been such a help. I lost my husband in April he was my best friend and had 2 forms of cancer though never complained, and I feel some days that life holds little for me now without him though I have 3 lovely sons and 3 grandchildren and I know I need to try for their sake, but it's hard when you are dealing with grief and the pain and stiffness living with fibro it is so debilitating at times. I know they will be missing their Dad so much also. My husband was a pleasure to look after though he worried more about me having Fibro than himself. The grief hasn't helped as the fibro is much worse and I am waiting for an appointment coming through for the pain clinic. My knees are really bad at the moment and lower back though as you know the pains occur all over the place. I wish you and yours a healthy and happy New Year you have done so well! God Bless from Bonnie Scotland Xx

[Hidden in reply to 1499]

I'm so sorry to hear of you grief. Take time to grieve. It is the most natural of feelings. Too many people put a time scale on how long grieving should last. I lost my Mother 21 years ago and I still miss her terribly. She is still alive inside me and for that, I'm so grateful. It means that I have never really lost her. Her memory lives on inside me. I still hear her advice. She had a wonderful sense of humour and when with my siblings, we all have a good old chuckle at some of the things she would say. I know I can't pick up the phone to chat to her, but she has left a legacy that we have set our lives by. Your husband sounds like a person who has left lots of lovely warm memories. Take your own time to grieve. Just remember that he will never leave you. He is in your heart. What a treasured and protected place to be.

Stay well. You are in my thoughts. Kindest regards. x

[1499 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for your kind reply ! yes you are so right, there is no time scale on grief! I wish you better health ,sending hugs x

[Multijo]

Your note is beautiful, NanaMia. I would be honored to give you a pat on the back (pain free, of course).

You are an inspiration.

[Hidden in reply to Multijo]

Thankyou Multijo. Sorry for not replying sooner. Had come down with a bad cold that knocked me back for a few days.

Being dyslexic, I'm never very sure if I am saying what I really want to say. I think what I was trying to say was what I found in a quote by Albert Schweitzer

, which says, "One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity".

For all of us who are in constant pain and who can continue to function, at whatever level, are overcoming adversity on a daily basis. That is a real strength. We fellow sufferers know and empathise with this. What I would like to do is encourage others to NOT allow this illness to determine their fate. We, and we alone, are in control of our fate. I'd encourage others to try to do something new every day, no matter how little. We know our limitations. It can be making a sauce, restoring an old candlestick, learning quotes or having a goal to learn new language and doing a little every day. I spent 9 years in higher education to gain my honours and Post Graduate degree - I told you it was a long slog.

If we do one little thing every day, that is seven new things we've done or learned in a week. 365 new things in a year. Think how knowledgeable and skilled we'd be. We would all be in line for the pub quiz of the year .

So please everyone, no matter how debilitating this monster of an illness is, don't let it prevent you from having a good life and achieving all the things that you have always wanted to.

Thinking of you, take care.

x

[Hidden]

My sentiments too. 😘🤗

[DogMamma]

I agree with you totally! You have proven with your achievements, that we CAN do what we have to DO! Might be a little harder than another without Fibro, but we are fighters! I am 70 on Tuesday and Care giver to my husband(MS). Some days we hit that "wall" together, but we trudge along. Sending Happy New Year's wishes to you and your family. We will Survive! Yes?! 😊💗 Mary

[Hidden in reply to DogMamma]

A lady of my own heart Mary. Thanks to this group, I have the honour of meeting people like yourself. Take care and keep on fighting. Kindest regards. x

[BonnieSue]

Happy New Year to you, too, and I hope you have a great year in 2017!