Imagine how hard it would be to suffer with daily pain that can effect your entire body, unrelenting fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, along with depression and anxiety? Now try to imagine feeling this bad only to have friends, family, and even doctors tell you, “You don’t look sick!” or “It’s probably all in your head”. Sadly, this is what it’s like to be a person who suffers with Fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is a misunderstood, complicated, painful, chronic medical condition that affects millions of Americans, and May is devoted to bringing more awareness to it. It’s not known why, but women are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia much more often than men. Many women are not only suffering and living with Fibromyalgia but they are also blogging about it. You can learn more about this disease by reading some of the funny, frustrated, and sometimes heartbreaking posts written by these incredibly strong women. I hope you’ll take some time to check them out and show them some love.
I’m honored to have been asked to be part of the “Choose You” Blog, and I’ll be posting there every Tuesday. My first “Choose You” commitment is to say “no” to sugar.
Find out what BlogHer was a guest on Oprah, who played cards with Brad Pitt, and who had their first kiss with Scott Baio. HINT: One of them was me.
In the spirit of their newly launched Fun and Games section, BlogHer has cooked up a Scavenger Hunt using some of your jaw-dropping profile facts. Playing is fun and easy, and we’re giving away cash prizes, natch.
Here’s how it works:
Read (and marvel!) at each fun fact about a BlogHer.
Tell us which amazing BlogHer the fact belongs to. We make it easy by giving you just two links to BlogHer profiles. Follow each link, read both surprising facts and then answer (links will open in a new window, so you won’t lose your place on the entry form).
If you score 100 percent correct answers, you’ll be entered in a random drawing to win one of ten $100 Visa gift cards. Late to the game? No worries, we’re leaving this open until Tuesday, April 20th, at 5 p.m. Pacific. Read the official rules here.
My New Year’s resolution is about doing everything I can do to have more birthdays. At the moment the one thing that could keep me from doing that, is my blood pressure. I’ve had blood pressure and heart rate problems since my twenties, but now in my forties, I know I’m at a much greater risk for having a heart attack or stroke. So this year I plan on taking specific steps to hopefully lower my blood pressure. Like Morra Arrons-Mele, I would like to make these changes holistically. I’m still planning to take my medications, but even on medication my blood pressure is still not controlled.
Here are the steps I plan to take in 2010…
1. Continue to eat healthy, but kick it up a notch.
2. Reduce stress by using meditation and Reiki on a regular basis.
3. Get the Wii Fit and begin doing light exercising and yoga.
I’ll keep track of my progress by documenting my blood pressure and the days I’ve used any of the above steps.
Well, that’s my “more birthdays list.” I hope you’ll join me at the American Cancer Society’s Official Birthday Blog, by sharing a list of your own.
Here are some tips for making and promoting your Bday List and supporting the American Cancer Society’s More Birthdays campaign…
1. Create a list of things (could be one thing or many) you plan to do to stay healthy in 2010 and/or to help create more birthdays. This is your “my more birthdays list.”
2. Share your list on Facebook and/or Twitter (using the #mybdaylist hashtag). These could be anything from losing 5 pounds or eating more vegetables to training for a 10K or half-marathon.
3. Tweet and/or post messages on Facebook about the progress you’re making on your more birthdays list throughout the year. This will help you get support, tips, and encouragement from others who are trying to accomplish their more birthdays lists.
My daughter Nicole, who is a big Miley Cyrus fan, heard about a project Miley was supporting called Get UR Good On. As soon as she heard about it, she wanted to get involved. The idea was to do something good in your community, video it, and then upload it onto the Get UR Good On website to encourage others to do the same.
Nicole loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner, so she decided she wanted to cook a holiday dinner for women and children in need, so that’s what we did.
We contacted the Daytona women’s shelter and they were very excited about Nicole’s idea for a holiday dinner and toy give-away for the children. Then the work began.
Publix donated $50.00 and helped us get good deals on the food. Even so, that didn’t nearly cover the cost of the food, but a few friends and family pitched in to help with the rest. Then Nicole decided to use her own money (that she received for getting straight A’s in school) to buy the children toys. She bought — dolls, puppets, stuffed bears, coloring books, crayons, toy trucks and cars, pom-poms, magic tricks, books, play-dough, and more.
Today the blogging community is praying for Anissa Mayhew, a loving mother of three, who blogs at Free Anissa and Hope 4 Peyton. Anissa suffered a stroke yesterday afternoon, and we are all hoping and praying that she will make a full recovery.
This is my response to seeing so many bloggers and commenters turning the “choice” to vaccinate for H1N1, into a free for all hate fest against moms who are “choosing” not to vaccinate.
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question many moms are facing when it comes to Swine Flu and the H1N1 vaccine (including me). As far as I’m concerned, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the H1N1 vaccine. There is plenty of information available for parents to educate themselves on both the H1N1 virus as well as the vaccine, and I believe every mother has the right to make the decision she believes is best for her children. But not everyone thinks so, there are many moms on the internet freely venting their disdain for anyone who doesn’t vaccinate their child for H1N1.
Let’s talk about fear. Are You Afraid of Breast Cancer? If so, you’re not alone. Cancer is a scary thing…And all the pink in the world can’t change that. Sure, pink ribbons may be pretty, but breast cancer is ugly and scary. Here are some facts about breast cancer…
An estimated 182,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2000.
Approximately 42,200 deaths will occur in women from breast cancer in 2000.
One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.
Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.
Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.
Many women are blogging about their breast cancer fears. From little fears to big fears. They have fears of mammograms, fears of treatments, fears or recurrences, fears of dying…and on and on. What are your breast cancer fears?
I’m honored to be a member of the American Cancer Society’s Blogger Advisory Council, a small group of volunteers that advises the Society on its social media strategy. Part of our mission is to help spread the word that we have power in the fight against cancer. And our first step is to build awareness and encourage women to get involved. Because…Visibility equals power! So we have started a blog “chain” to spread the word among women bloggers. We call it Bloggers for More Birthdays.
You can help…Join Bloggers for More Birthdays by dedicating a blog post to someone you love who’s been affected by cancer. It’s a simple way to celebrate those you love. Just write a post (like I’ve done here), host our badge, and know that whatever you write, you are helping to raise awareness and inspiring others to join American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer.
My contribution to this effort is about an angel named Becky…
Becky was my best friend. A wonderful mother. And a great mom-mom. Even though she’s been gone for over seven years, a day rarely goes by that I don’t think of her and wish she were here. Time has helped to replace some of my grief with many lovely memories, but it hasn’t healed my anger towards the disease that took her from us. Cancer.
I hate cancer, and I hate that my friend didn’t get a chance to be a survivor. Why her? She deserved to be a survivor, she deserved to have more birthdays. She fought this disease with every ounce of strength she had, but in the end cancer took away every ounce of strength she had.
Although I’m angry, I’m also grateful for the time I did have Becky in my life. She was there for me during some very tough times. I know I’m who I am today, partly because of her influence in my life. I only wish I was able to thank her for that.
No matter how much time goes by, I will never forget the angel she was…and still is.
If you’ve posted, let The American Cancer Society know so they can feature it! Just put a link to your post in the comments section here, or email your post to bloggersubmit@officialbirthdayblog.com. You’ll be showing your support for More Birthdays and bring visibility to your blog.
It is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. But why do we need to have more awareness of gynecologic cancers? Well, there are many reasons, here are three.
1. We need to be reminded of the early warning signs of these types of cancers. Not just for ourselves, but for all the women in our lives.
You could someday be the one who tells a friend she needs to see a doctor for a particular symptom she is having. You could be the one who contributes to saving her life because she caught her cancer early.
2. We need to understand that even as we go about our days untouched by cancer, there are many other women who are not as fortunate…And we need to have compassion and empathy for those women.
3. Knowledge is power…And we do not have to be powerless in the face of gynecologic cancers.
I hope that this post will address each of these aspects of awareness.
My name is Catherine Morgan...I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. I'm also a contributing editor for BlogHer Health & Wellness.. And, I have recently become a Certified Wellness Coach.
Welcome to my blog...I write a little bit of everything with an emphasis on healthy living, inspiration, nutrition, and health news. I hope you'll find topics that interest you here, and I would love to know what you think in comments. Thanks for stopping by.
