I am a seventh grade history teacher in California. I’ve been doing it for 25 years all in the same school all in the same classroom all the same subject. I think I’ve had fibromyalgia for about 48 years. I’ve dealt with this pain and misery since I was five but more on that later. I’m currently experiencing a flare set off by the death and long illness of my mother. She died the day before her birthday. She did it so that she died at the same age as my father down to the hour. It’s whole body this time exacerbated by arthritis this time it’s been since August I feel trapped in my own body. What if it’s forever?
Trying this again
- Thread starter Elamiras
- Start date
- Featured
30 plus years
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2023
- Messages
- 75
- Reason
- DX FIBRO
- Diagnosis
- 01/1994
- Country
- US
@Elamiras So sorry for the loss of your mother. The grief you're going through no doubt is stress to your body which you have to allow time for.
It's unfortunate how badly we can feel physically when we're emotionally upset, but we do. It all takes a toll on the body. And too, you were a caregiver for a long time, plus working. That's a lot!
Give yourself time to grieve, and know that it will get better, just as your flare will. It's not forever.
It's unfortunate how badly we can feel physically when we're emotionally upset, but we do. It all takes a toll on the body. And too, you were a caregiver for a long time, plus working. That's a lot!
Give yourself time to grieve, and know that it will get better, just as your flare will. It's not forever.
Radmun
Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2023
- Messages
- 28
- Reason
- DX FIBRO
- Diagnosis
- 07/2021
- Country
- US
- State
- IL
@Elamiras, I am so sorry for your loss. I completely understand what you are feeling about, What if it’s forever?, comment. I have thought that myself, but decided to just focus on one day at a time. I’ve been listening to a podcast called “Messy with Christina Applegate and Jamie Lynn Siegler”. These two women have MS and they share their stories, their ups and downs. Very often after listening to them speak about their experiences, which some are very similar to my Fibro experiences, I’m left feeling that I don’t have it so bad.
Hopefully, you have some sort of plan to help with pain such as Myofascial Release, warm epsom salt baths, etc.
Hang in there and know you are not alone.
Hopefully, you have some sort of plan to help with pain such as Myofascial Release, warm epsom salt baths, etc.
Hang in there and know you are not alone.
bbbarnard
Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2025
- Messages
- 25
To: Elamiras
I’m deeply sorry about the passing of your mother and father. It is natural for these losses to affect us greatly. Both of my parents and both of my husband’s parents have passed. I still miss them. Of course, the older we become, the more family and friends we have, the more we will miss them when they pass away.
We have a new grandchild on the way, and I so much want to call my mom and tell her. This will be the first grandchild to be born after my mother’s passing. But, I cannot dwell on that. I must look to the future and enjoy the newest addition with an open heart. I want to see my son hold his first child.
I do become depressed, often. But, I’ve discovered it’s usually when I haven’t had rest and the pain has been overwhelming.
There will never come a time when I do not miss the family and friends who have passed away.
But, there’ll never be a time when I don’t remember their love and kindness.
***Teaching is a special calling. You’ve helped hundreds of students and their families, even if you don’t know specific ways you helped. I’m a high school English and math teacher. Sometimes, I felt that I was a complete failure in regards to certain students, but over the years I have found out that they were listening after all.
My last name is difficult to pronounce, but if I meet someone who says my name correctly, then I know that I taught that student. And they do seem to show up most unexpectedly. I recently ran into a grocery store to grab some flowers for a friend, and a young man called out my name .(I looked to see if I had on a name tag
) He wanted to talk, so I listened. He said that he was about to drop out of high school, that he had written me a note, and I had written back to him. (I honestly don’t remember doing that.) But, he said my message encouraged him to stay and graduate and now he was the assistant manager at this store.
A year before that, I attended a funeral and saw a young man who, shall we say wasn’t the best of students? He smiled and said, “You’ll never guess what I do for a living.” I had no clue. He said that he’s a high school English teacher, because of me. I was astounded!
In America teachers aren’t usually given the same respect as in other countries. But, we are in one of the most difficult career fields! We have the lives of children in our hands everyday, sometimes all day. We do make a difference!
I am convinced you have touched many lives and have had a positive influence on more than you know. You may not see many of them again, but America is powered by the hands that taught the children who are now adults. And they are in careers we would never have guessed.
Part of Fibromyalgia is the concept that stress makes it worse. I agree. And one of the most stressful jobs is teaching. Where else does anyone have 30 children/teenagers staring at them all day long?
Please take care of you. Know how important you are. You will learn to live with Fibro; you will discover what works for you. Baby steps.
Keep in touch. Ask questions. Share, whether it’s good or bad. We don’t mind. We’ve either been where you are, or we are walking the same path right now.
All the Best, to an American Hero!
BHB
I’m deeply sorry about the passing of your mother and father. It is natural for these losses to affect us greatly. Both of my parents and both of my husband’s parents have passed. I still miss them. Of course, the older we become, the more family and friends we have, the more we will miss them when they pass away.
We have a new grandchild on the way, and I so much want to call my mom and tell her. This will be the first grandchild to be born after my mother’s passing. But, I cannot dwell on that. I must look to the future and enjoy the newest addition with an open heart. I want to see my son hold his first child.
I do become depressed, often. But, I’ve discovered it’s usually when I haven’t had rest and the pain has been overwhelming.
There will never come a time when I do not miss the family and friends who have passed away.
But, there’ll never be a time when I don’t remember their love and kindness.
***Teaching is a special calling. You’ve helped hundreds of students and their families, even if you don’t know specific ways you helped. I’m a high school English and math teacher. Sometimes, I felt that I was a complete failure in regards to certain students, but over the years I have found out that they were listening after all.
My last name is difficult to pronounce, but if I meet someone who says my name correctly, then I know that I taught that student. And they do seem to show up most unexpectedly. I recently ran into a grocery store to grab some flowers for a friend, and a young man called out my name .(I looked to see if I had on a name tag
) He wanted to talk, so I listened. He said that he was about to drop out of high school, that he had written me a note, and I had written back to him. (I honestly don’t remember doing that.) But, he said my message encouraged him to stay and graduate and now he was the assistant manager at this store. A year before that, I attended a funeral and saw a young man who, shall we say wasn’t the best of students? He smiled and said, “You’ll never guess what I do for a living.” I had no clue. He said that he’s a high school English teacher, because of me. I was astounded!
In America teachers aren’t usually given the same respect as in other countries. But, we are in one of the most difficult career fields! We have the lives of children in our hands everyday, sometimes all day. We do make a difference!
I am convinced you have touched many lives and have had a positive influence on more than you know. You may not see many of them again, but America is powered by the hands that taught the children who are now adults. And they are in careers we would never have guessed.
Part of Fibromyalgia is the concept that stress makes it worse. I agree. And one of the most stressful jobs is teaching. Where else does anyone have 30 children/teenagers staring at them all day long?
Please take care of you. Know how important you are. You will learn to live with Fibro; you will discover what works for you. Baby steps.
Keep in touch. Ask questions. Share, whether it’s good or bad. We don’t mind. We’ve either been where you are, or we are walking the same path right now.
All the Best, to an American Hero!
BHB
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2016
- Messages
- 3,768
- Reason
- DX FIBRO
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- US
Just want to say I agree with what @bbbarnard says above about teachers. One of the greatest faults in the system we have in the US is the lack of good education for everyone. In some other countries, high quality education is free for everyone, and the positive result of that is quite obvious. In the US, often the only way to get high quality education is to be fortunate enough to have rich parents, who may pay forty or fifty thousand dollars per year for their kid's primary school. In the US, most teachers in public schools are not even highly regarded, are not well paid, and in poor districts have to shell out of their own pockets for supplies a good deal of the time. And yet, teachers are some of the most important people in any society, because they influence young minds, and the experience that kids have in school may shape them for the rest of their lives. I have the greatest of respect for those who are dedicated in their teaching profession.
