Hi, I am probably one of your older Fybro member being 73 ( but a very young thinking one) I was diagnosed many years ago.

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butterfybird

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Feb 21, 2024
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The past three years have been really difficult, firstly I was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, 2 days later they rang to say they had made a mistake and I was ok. Then our eldest granddaughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour, has been operated on successfully. Then my husband developed AML and received a stem cell transplant last September. In the past three weeks our youngest daughter (45) has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Now I am really struggling with pain and exhaustion and just cannot seem to get past this flare up. I know I have kept everything going but now I think it has all got on top of me. Help
 
Hi @butterfybird , and welcome to the forum.
I don't know what kind of help you are looking for, but if you want people to read what you have to say and sympathize with you, to try to support you, then you are in a good place for that.

The only thing that comes to me to say to you is that, while you have clearly been going through a very rough time, nothing truly catastrophic has actually happened yet. In fact, there have been several close calls, but with an OK end result. This has been terribly stressful, but at least you don't have lung cancer. Your granddaughter's surgery was successful. Your husband is getting what will hopefully be effective treatment. And possibly, since things have been going that way, your daughter's cancer will be able to be successfully treated as well. I hope so.

All that you can do is take the very best care of yourself that you can. If you are not OK, you cannot be there for your loved ones. So don't think it is selfish of you to take time for yourself, to do the things that nurture you or make you feel peaceful. Take a walk in nature if you possibly can. Read something you love. Eat a delicious healthy meal. Listen to some beautiful music. Whatever you can do to ease your worry and feel a bit better will filter through and also benefit those around you.

Hang in there, and feel free to come here for support. We cannot be there in person, but we can be there in spirit.
 
sorry to hear of your problems - I am touching 80 with all of its problems it brings plus the carry over from younger days - I find the great grandkids are a quick cure for my problems. I am very optimistic and expect to live to 120 however my doctor is more pessimistic about it
 
butterfybird said:
The past three years have been really difficult, firstly I was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, 2 days later they rang to say they had made a mistake and I was ok. Then our eldest granddaughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour, has been operated on successfully. Then my husband developed AML and received a stem cell transplant last September. In the past three weeks our youngest daughter (45) has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Now I am really struggling with pain and exhaustion and just cannot seem to get past this flare up. I know I have kept everything going but now I think it has all got on top of me. Help
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What a terrible shock to be erroneously diagnosed with a terminal illness! Then having to undergo the medical traumas of your loved ones. I'm glad your granddaughter's surgery was successful, along with your husband's stem cell transplant; still, so nerve wracking going through the process and awaiting results. I'm very sorry about your daughter's diagnosis. Are there any treatment options available? Not surprising that pain, exhaustion and prolonged fibromyalgia flareup is overwhelming these days, but normalizing it certainly doesn't do a whole lot, I know. Are you one who bottles everything inside? Sometimes, just letting it out in a controlled way can be a release. Setting limits in terms of what care-giving/emotional support you can and can't provide is important in maintaining equilibrium.
 
Hi @butterfybird , I am new to this forum myself but not new to fibromyalgia. My mother had it almost my whole life...long before it was accepted by rheumatologist as a disease. I say that only to say the following...

You've been through a lot of stressful events back to back. Everything ended up okay, but anyone who has had this disease for a while knows, that takes its turn on your body.

Flares tend to last longer after some events than others. Listen to your body. Push a little everyday, but not so much you rebound too severely. Find that limit that let's you move forward, not backward. That is literally the defining thing for us. Unfortunately that limit can change with each flare.

Know you have support here, balance yourself with vitamins, minerals, epsom salt soaks, massage if you can and stretch what you can several times each day until you find that balance. Just don't get discouraged that this flare is taking longer. (Those are the things I have found over the years that help me. I am here to find more)

I personally am in one of my longest flares because of personal events, it will pass for both of us if we keep walking the walk so to speak.
 
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