Swiss cheese brain...

It's a complaint that a friend had earlier today.  Unfortunately, it describes me all too often.

I have Fibromyalgia.  Yeah, I don't 'look' sick and often don't sound sick.  I was told yesterday at church that I had such an 'upbeat attitude' about it.  My response was "it doesn't make me feel better to be cranky and nasty about it so I might as well grin and laugh about it'.  And, most days I can do that.  Then the fog sets in and I forget 90% of what I wanted to say or do.  I've also found there is a code between the families of fibro-sufferers and others with fibro.  The answer they give to 'where is your spouse, mother, aunt, etc' is 'they're having a rough day' or 'they're having a not so good day'.  And we understand exactly what that means.

So, when you have someone tell you they have fibro, don't expect them to look sick.  If they tell you they're having a bad day, ask if you can help somehow (if you mean it).  If they tell you they're having a good day, celebrate it with a smile.  Those celebratory smiles can go a long way and are remembered on the bad days.