From all of us at FAM (Fibromyalgia Association of Michigan). we wish you and yours the happiest of holidays! We appreciate our members, speakers, donors and volunteers! Thanks to all of you we celebrated 24 years this year. We celebrate with gratitude all of you with our version of the 12 Days of Christmas -
On the 12th Day of Christmas
My FAM Gave To Me . . .
Twelve Recovery Discoveries
Eleven Speakers Speaking
Ten Supports For Coping
Nine Buddies Listening
Eight Aids For Helping
Seven Docs For Reading
Six Activities For Healing
Five Fun Meetings
Four Healing Vibes
Three Pledges To Advocate
Two Purple Butterflies
And Some Courage To Persevere!
© 2021 Fibromyalgia Assoc. of Michigan
A few words about our song -
Twelve Recovery Discoveries - Our Support & Education Group now takes place online thanks to COVID. While we miss seeing all of our members in person, we love that this format allows us to have members from across the state and country! At our positive and educational meetings, we share the best and latest advances in fibromyalgia management which this song refers to as "Recovery Discoveries." Some discoveries include:
1) Calming the fight, flight or freeze response
2) Looking into sleep disorders
3) Working to relax the fascia
4) Improving the body's ability to produce energy
5) Addressing inflammation
6) Addressing and reducing pain
7) Addressing and balancing hormones
8) Addressing and balancing mood
9) Addressing fatigue and Fibrofog
10) How to keep moving even when you hurt
11) The role of diet
12) The impact of resilience and how to develop it
To learn more about these aspects of fibromyalgia management join us at a meeting. To learn more now, The Fibro Manual by Ginevra Liptan MD, is a great one stop resource for this information.
Eleven Speaker's Speaking - we have fabulous expert speakers dropping into our meetings. They come from a wide array of backgrounds including doctors, psychologists, researchers, nurses, massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, dentists, lawyers and more! The monthly Support & Education Group Meetings are led by me, Sharon Waldrop. I am the President & Founder of FAM, a fibromyalgia survivor, and a Lifestyle Medicine National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. I have worked in fibromyalgia advocacy and education for the past 24 years.
Ten Supports For Coping - our Support & Education Group meetings are a great place to learn about supports many people just like you use to make life more manageable. They include:
1) Jar opener
2) Rice pack for heat or cold therapy
3) Buckwheat hull pillow
4) Seat cushion
5) Blue light filtering lenses
6) Long handled shoe horn
7) Audible books
8) Craniocradle
9) Probiotics
10) CBD
Nine Buddies Listening - It is easy to feel invisible or unheard when you have fibromyalgia. This is one of the reasons we founded our Support & Education Group in 1997. You will always have people who not always listen to you, but often truly understand what you are experiencing.
Eight Aids For Helping - There is a lot of overlap here with "Ten Supports For Coping." If you have an idea we did not mention, please share it in the comments.
Seven Docs For Reading - Our goal is to share the best information available on managing fibromyalgia. We will share documents in a variety of ways for you to read at your leisure. Our Support & Education Groups provide the perfect forums to discuss with others information that is shared and ask questions. Be sure to sign up for our monthly free E-newsletter. To sign up for our newsletter and read our current newsletter, click here.
Six Activities For Healing - Everyone is different, so what helps one person may not help another. It is important to identify activities that bring you joy, relief and or healing. They might include:
1) Spending time with loved ones
2) Taking a walk
3) Engaging in your favorite hobby
4) Watching something funny
5) Getting a massage
6) Learning a new skill
Five Fun Meetings - Lets be real, fibromyalgia S#@*s! We get it, because all of our volunteers have fibromyalgia or are a loved one of someone with fibromyalgia. While the illness can leave you depressed, disheartened and so much more, we work to provide a forum that honors how you are feeling about fibromyalgia while not being a pity party. We strive to help our members go from a sufferer mindset to a survivor mindset.
Four Healing Vibes - The Fibromyalgia Association of Michigan and its members are always sending good vibes, prayers, good juju, healing energy out to our community.
Three Pledges To Advocate - We have advocated in Lansing and Washington DC
for-
1) Affordable
2) Appropriate
3) Accessible . .
care for the fibromyalgia and chronic pain community.
Two Purple Butterflies - these two things - the butterfly and the color purple have been international symbols for fibromyalgia awareness. We have hosted 22 Michigan Fibromyalgia Awareness Day events annually since 2001. We have only missed one due to COVID related issues. Click on our menu to learn more about Awareness Day.
Some Courage to Persevere - being courageous with fibromyalgia can be challenging. We hope that
our programs and services provide you with tools and resources that help provide you with the courage to persevere one day at a time.
We hope to see you in the New Year!
