1. Do you know of any financial assistance programs available to help people like me? I have Post-traumatic FMS, after having tripped on a phone cord, which was dangling across a doorway at my previous place of employment. I fell onto the tile floor and hit just about every point on my right hand side, including my head, which was whip-lashed sideways. Worker's Comp denied me further medical treatment, after four months. When I appealed their decision, I was Terminated from my job - as being unreliable. I'd been employed there for five years and nine months. (In actuality, I was so reliable, that my boss didn't have a reliable back-up person to fill in for me, in the event that I might have an emergency - so, who's really the unreliable employee here?) I can't get Unemployment Insurance because I'm not capable of holding down a full-time job; as well as the fact that my ex-employer is standing firm about me being unreliable, which is a bunch of b---s---. I'm one month away from being homeless, as I have no income, no savings and no credit line available. I wasn't able to pay my Creditors this month and don't foresee being able to pay any amount any time soon. When I tried to get one of them to freeze my account, they said that it was impossible. I told them that they have the option of waiting until I get a settlement or else they'll be forcing me to go bankrupt. As anyone with FMS knows, it's difficult enough to just get through the day, trying to keep my cat and myself fed, my plants watered and my house clean. (My cat comes first and if I get any of the other things done, it's a miracle. I usually find myself eating once a day, around 8 pm) Now, I have to spend my time researching FMS, CF and MPS, so I can prepare myself to attain an attorney who will believe in my cause. I will be filing a Personal Injury suit against the company who loved me for so long, then threw me out into the streets when I needed them most. I even have pictures of the dangling phone cord which was draped across a doorway that I'd used for over five years. I couldn't believe that it was still there, the day after I fell!!! If anyone knows who I can contact for some financial assistance, please let them know that they could "attach" the loan, plus interest, to my settlement. My "overhead", not ncluding paying any Creditors, is $2,000 a month - before I can eat or put gas in my tank. I had just signed a six-month lease on a condo, seven days prior to getting Terminated. In addition, I HAVE to keep the Isuzu Trooper I'm leasing. If I turned it back to the company, I wouldn't have any way to purchase another vehicle, as my credit has been ruined. Thank you, in advance, for just taking the time to read this. I live on faith that the right doors will open - and I'm spending a lot of time trying to open doors to the unknown. Here I am, writing to an unknown entity, asking for help. HI
  2. Je vous écris par l'intermédiaire de ma fille.Je vis en Suisse. Je fais partie de l'association du Valais. J'ai la fibromyalgie depuis l'âge de 15 ans. J'ai actuellement 60 ans. Je peux donner des renseignements sur les douleurs car j'ai les 18 points de douleurs de la maladie qui sont dehors. Au début, les médecins ne connaissant pas cette maladie, n'ont absolument pas chercher autre chose qu'une dépression. Je me trouvre actuellement entrain de faire de l'acupuncture qui me calme plus des massages très doux. Je m'absente sur ordre médical 3 semaines dans un centre de repos. Ou on me fait faire de la gym douce,de la relaxation et un peu de piscine à un degré de 30. Suisse
  3. I just wanted you to know that I just sent a copy of your petition to everyone i know , family, friends and internet friends, and asked each and every one of them to send you their signatures. I would sign it a thousand times over if i could. I told them that. I also told them not to take my word for it , and to do a search on the internet on fibromyalgia, as there are a lot of wonderful sites on the subject and they are very informative. I asked them to do this as an unknown valentines gift to any and all people who suffer needlessly in severe pain and other terrible diseases. In ending, I wish you good luck on the signatures, keep in touch, and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU AND YOURS!!!!!!!
  4. I am so glad someone is trying to get help for all of us who suffer from this disease. Thank you so much. If anyone needs room to put their web pages please let me know I would be glad to add them to my web site since I have unlimited room at my site.
  5. Hi, Wanted to thank (copy of my letter for you, Louise) you for signing the petition and to let you know how important it is. Please pass it on to everyone you know and ask them to sign too, and also ask them to pass it on and so on and so on. We need thousands of signatures, I am helping Louise as if she is successful with this in Washington, it in turn helps me and all our other sufferers. So, in closing , I would like to share with you my reply from Louise. Thank You again to all of you for your time, signatures and your help in passing this on. May God Bless each and every one of you and keep and protect you and your loved ones from never having , getting or knowing what this disease can do to you ,make you feel, or feel a fraction of the pain , that we, the victims of this, know and feel. My wish for all of you is to stay healthy, and never fall victim to this . Thank You.
  6. J'appuie cette petition je connais bien cette maladie je l'ai depuis plusieurs annee il me reste que 40% de ma capaciter jobserve toute les recommandation et je survie Granby
  7. Thank you for your e-mail. I was pleased to hear from you and thank you for the information. I greatly appreciate your efforts. It is time we are recognized as having a real disease, not just "mental". Keep me informed as to the effects of the efforts that are being made, please.
  8. As today is the 5 year anniversary of the date I first filed for Disability, and denials are still coming in, I feel this is a wonderful thing you are doing. Thank You Utah
  9. Yes, I want to sign the petition. As a sufferer of fibromyalgia for more than 8 years without diagnosis, I am indeed in full support of making others aware of this condition. WA
  10. Hi Everybody, I know that I usually forward cute little emails, to hopefully send a smile or two your way. Today I have a different message and plea for help. This is not some generic email about someone you don't know who is in need of help,or one hoping to get a chain started or even just something to tug on your heart strings. Though I hope it does and you will want to get involved. This is about a subject very close to my heart, two diseases that I live with everyday of my life, Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Syndrome. I suffer from these diseases and so I know first hand what this petition is all about. I am asking all the people I call my friends...who know me personally, and have SEEN the horrible changes in my life due to these illnesses, and also those who only know me via the internet to PLEASE sign this petition. We need all the support we can get, more and more people are inflicted everyday by Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Syndrome. From what I have seen through my own experience and also through many friends who have this disease, only a handful of Doctors care enough to even try to treat it. I am one of the lucky ones who has a good doctor, but as most of you know, we no longer have medical insurance and it is becoming harder and harder to be able to afford the medications I need to be able to have any quality of life at all these days. My hope is that those of us who suffer so needlessly will soon be taken seriously and we can once again enjoy our lives, our families and our friends again. I love you all and thank you in advance, Utah
  11. I have suffered for 5 years. I was at the end of my rope a couple of years ago. Then I was prescribed pain medicine. If I couldn't take prescription medication, ie. Vicodin(pain), Wellbutrin(depression), I know I would not be here today. I agree with the petition and support it 100%. Thank you. California
  12. I have fibromyalgia amoung other problems. It is broadspread, largely found in the female population, and needs real focused respectful and compassionate attention from the medical community and the funding community. CA
  13. I suffer from fibromyalgia and no one seems to care. My family is sick and tired of hearing about it, so I do not even bother complaining anymore. The pain is so intense I wonder how I will get through another day. Sometimes I do not even want to get up, but if I don't I feel paralyzed, and my joints crack so bad. I would not quit going to the doctor until I got some answers. He sent me to physical therapy and they said you know this is all in your head and said insurance would not pay for treatment , so just shape up get happy. I refocused and walked out and never returned to pt. I keep trying to tell myself it doesn't hurt I'M ok but I'M NOT. I need some relief. Someone please help.
  14. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome 2 years ago.When first diagnosed, I literally could not find anything on Fibromyalgia. Since then, I have been able to find books, articles and newsletters specifically for Fibro. I know at least 5 other's who have this disease. I seem to have more daily pain and require more pain killers. Unfortunately, by all of doctors I have seen over the past 2 years I am considered an addict. I feel that I have built a high tolerance to pain pills. I have never taken anything stronger then advil before being diagnosed. I don't understand, what makes anyone think that the pain I experience is not real. I have to beg for pain medication. Every doctor I have seen talks a good talk when it comes to knowing how to treat Fibromyalgia. They don't know!!! At least they should be more honest. (there is only so much they can do) at least make me comfortable so i can function. I'm still at the baby stages of dealing with this syndrome. I know I have a long way to go, but if you could recommend a doctor or therapist.
    ( anything ) would be helpful. I also would like to get involved in anyway I can to help in this petition. New Jersey
  15. Hi Louise; Yes, the French threw me a bit, but I figured it would get to the correct place. It did. Your petition was given to me by a member of the Fibromyalgia Support Group that I facilitate. I am a nurse-counselor with the yucky fibro. Is there a petition that I can get patients and others to sign, on paper, not computer? We have so many patients going through our office, did I mention that my husband was a Rheumatologist? Undoubtably we could get many signatures that way. Write back- Good luck-
  16. I have been suffering from this illness for roughly 11 years. Working in the health care profession as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist I have seen countless doctors not only minimalize but ridicule patients diagnosis/symptoms of Fibromyalgia. I myself have reduced my work schedule to three days a week and some on-call evening and weekend work due to my symptoms. The general public has virtually no understanding of how much impact fibromyalgia can have on one's life. NC
  17. I am an FM support group leader affiliated with the Arthritis Foundation, and train people to facilitate support groups as well as teach a 7 week FM self-help course, also train people to teach the course. This document will be available at our March and April meetings and I will be sending it to all the support group leaders I deal with. WA
  18. I too have fibromyalgia; and am going for my S.S. hearing on 2/26/99. We need more people to know about and understand it. My family has supported me through all of it. But many people are not as fortunate. Doctors need to recognize it as MEDICAL. As well as social security. It is debilitating. I have not been able to work in over two years. I am lucky to get out of bed and make it to the couch every morning. Thanks for petitioning.
  19. I sign and support this petition for Fibromyalgia Syndrome & Myofascial Pain syndrome. I support all parts of this petition, and request my government to respond positively to all of this petition. This truly is incapacitating torture. I have been ill with both, compounded with stabbing eye pain. Each doctor I saw medicated me, and then brushed me off. They bounced me around and acted frustrated and even agitated to have me there. After they medicated me, they simply said good luck and tell them how things work out. That meant they were finished with me...... next doctor..... where do I turn now?! This became emotional torture along with the physical torture. My dog's veterinarian is more concerned about my condition than the doctors I have paid to help me in the past 2 years. These conditions are taking over people's lives all across our nation. Please help us.
  20. As you know, this is not a life and death issue but a quality of life issue, which too often becomes a life or death situation. We have been robbed of our lives by not being able to live it to the fullest. I applaud all of your efforts, and in particular, would like to thank Dr. Devin Starlanyl for her courage in helping bring this invisible pain to the attention of the medical community, through persistence and dedication, and for her inspiration of hope to all those in her FMily. I personnally thank her renewing my hope and passion to help bring about change and awareness. We can be our best advocates. God Bless and good luck with all your efforts! NY
  21. The doctor thinks i have some of the symptoms of this disease and related diseases,,,if there is any info,,about this and other related things dealing with this painful disease could you please inlighten me about it as in addresses or other resourses..thank you
  22. Je souffre de fybromyalgie depuis environs trois ans j aimerais beaucoup recevoir la documentation que je viens de lire sur votre site ou plus si vous en posseder j ai longtemp cru que je souffrais de syndrome de la folie tellement personne ne pouvais trouver le mal dont je ressentais les effets de plus en plus nefaste je suis tres heureuse de savoir que je peut maintenant trouver toute l information necessaire pour me soulager et le corps et l esprit merci a vous a l avance