MindSpinner

I have not written much at all about my son’s struggles with frequent and unexplained illnesses, with depression, and with poor academic performance as a result of sporadic school attendance. Nothing made sense, but something was definitely wrong, and the scope of what was wrong seemed to grow and grow. As we went to the doctor time after time, I began to push for a look at the bigger picture.

This week we went to an appointment made some six weeks ago with a reputable rheumatologist. We walked out of the office on Wednesday with a diagnosis: fibromyalgia. I’ve known a few people with fibromyalgia, people whom the syndrome stopped in their tracks for a while, until they achieved a degree of relief and learned to manage the illness. I’ve known it to scale back the scope of lives.

Fibromyalgia won’t kill, and it’s not lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, yet there is no cure. It can be managed perhaps, its sundry symptoms ameliorated to a degree such that my son can begin to live a more normal life, finish school. He has dreams. I ache, knowing that many people with fibromyalgia are unable to hold a job, so severe are their disabilities. I’m not going to focus on that right now. I’m going to learn everything I can and focus on the goal of helping him feel better.