My Supports

The concept of support is challenging to me. I have always been very self-sufficient, rarely asking for help from others. In a way, I guess I've always viewed the need for support as a weakness. However, since being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I've definitely needed more support than I used to. My husband and daughter offer support by helping with chores. We have 16 pets (3 cats, 3 dogs, 5 sugar gliders, and 5 fish) and I always take the lead in their care. I make sure everyone has food and water, give them their medications, clean the litter box, the sugar glider cage, and the fish tank. During a recent fibro flare, when I was extremely fatigued and in pain, I came home to find all of the pets already taken care of. To my husband and daughter it might seem like no big deal, but to me, just eliminating those few extra chores was such a relief to me.

Another new support that I'm enjoying is our Amazon Echo Dot. Using Alexa to keep track of my grocery list has been such a blessing. I experience "fibro fog" sometimes, which means I have difficulty remembering things. I may notice that we're out of paper towels and I'll remind myself to jot it down, but then I'll completely forget about it. With Alexa, I just say, "Alexa, add paper towels to my grocery list," and then it's done. It goes straight to my phone and I don't have to worry about forgetting anything.

My job is also very supportive in that it's a low stress environment. There is a lot of downtime, which affords me time to catch up on school work and my duties as a volunteer cheerleading coach. We also get 20 hours of leave a month, so if I need to take time off, I don't have to worry about losing money from my paycheck.

If any of these supports were gone, I imagine that I'd still get everything done, but my life would be a lot harder. Having these supports in my life definitely helps eliminate some of the pain and fatigue I deal with on a daily basis, so I'm very grateful.

I often fear that my fibro pain will get so bad someday that I will have trouble walking. The challenge I do not have, but that I can imagine having one day, is being confined to a wheelchair. I would definitely have to rearrange my house to accommodate the chair. My husband and daughter would probably have to help me with more chores around the house. Getting to work would also be a struggle. My job pays for a shuttle to pick us all up and we commute to the office, but there is no wheelchair access to this shuttle. I would need to find new transportation to work. Thankfully, my office is accessible due to a wheelchair ramp and elevator system, however, the elevators frequently stop working, so I would be stuck in the lobby until they were fixed. Without various supports in place, I would definitely struggle with normal, everyday tasks.