Chronic (medicine)

Seeing Past Sickness: The Book Is Out NOW!

The community writing project, Scripting Change, is incredibly excited to announce the release of their inaugural project: Seeing Past Sickness!

Absolutely every piece of this e-book, from the coordination, to the contents, to the beautiful cover art, was volunteered, and 100% of proceeds will be donated to the MSTR Scholarship Foundation. Read on to find out why!

About the Project:

Scripting Change is a new writing initiative that aims to bring together the vast community of writers and readers in support of responsible nonprofit organizations.

The project accepts submissions from writers, relating to a theme that reflects the mission of a chosen nonprofit. The selected pieces are combined in an anthology, which is published as an e-book, in this case: Seeing Past Sickness. Proceeds from this and any future e-books’ sales will be donated to the related organization. Ideally, the project will be repeated, with each e-book supporting a unique nonprofit organization.

By focusing on the compelling words of writers, Scripting Change is able to raise not only funds but also awareness for the causes of the organizations they support. The time and talents of everyone involved are offered freely, so the project has absolutely no overhead costs, which means every dollar raised is donated to positively impact our society!

About the Nonprofit:

Chronic illness doesn’t disappear at age 18, but aid and understanding for those affected often do, despite the exorbitant and crippling costs of perpetual healthcare. In additional to the emotional and physical toll of chronic illness, those affected face significant challenges in seeking the personal and intellectual development afforded by continuing education.

The recipient organization for Seeing Past Sickness is the MSTR Scholarship Foundation, which aims to help those students affected by chronic illness, who nevertheless have the passion, drive, and determination to seek or continue their educations, by providing financial scholarships in recognition and support of their perseverance. This decision was based on the impressive mission, fiscal responsibility, and enthusiasm for the project of the MSTR Foundation.

Now It’s Your Turn!

Scripting Change depends entirely upon the support of the community as a whole. The writers, and our cover designer, have done their part; the coordinators have brought it all together; the bloggers have graciously helped us spread the word – now it’s up to the readers. We hope you will enjoy the anthology!

Seeing Past Sickness is available through:

Smashwords ~*~ Amazon: US; UK ~*~ Barnes & Noble

Learn more about this project at: ScriptingChange.blogspot.com

Find them on Facebook or Tweet using: #ScriptingChange

Helpful Sites For Fighterz 2.0

You will probably remember the last blog post we did on helpful websites for Fibro Fighterz. We showcased some really great websites like BetterDoctor, HealthTap, Simplee and more! As Fibro Fighterz and chronic illness fighters, we need all the help we can get, and there are actually some wonderful websites out there to help us manage our health, finances and so much more!

We’ve been building another list over the course of the past few months, and we wanted to share our awesome findings with you! We’ve compiled the websites into a list form, a description, followed by a link to the website! Feel free to browse around them and get comfortable! You may even find your new favorite website!

Meddik

I’ve yet to find a decent website to be able to keep track of my health and connecting with others who have been through the same thing. I mean, I do love HealthTap, but that just doesn’t cut it for me when it comes to tracking everything that goes on with my day to day health and being able to speak to others in the same situation. Enter the Meddik website. This website is almost like Facebook for tracking your health. Sounds pretty neat in theory, right?! It’s even better looking at it! When you sign up, you are given a health timeline. You fill in your information, conditions, medications, treatments and all that other fun stuff that we go through! Anything relevant to your health, even keep track of your appointments! You are even able to tap into the collective community knowledge to talk about your experiences and ask questions! But don’t take my word for it, go check it out for yourself right here!

CakeHealth

The thing about healthcare, well, it costs money. One of my least favorite things to go over, I am terrible at math, and I cannot track spending for my life. My husband often gets upset with me about that, but that is how it is with me. Luckily, there is a website now that can help us track our healthcare expenses in an easy and streamlined way. CakeHealth (I love the name!) is a website where you can track every single medical bill that you get, it will analyze them and give you an easy to read overview of it all, too! Let me tell you, I am so happy I came across this website, this is going to help me in so many ways! If you want to take a look at CakeHealth, you can do so by clicking here!

PatientsLikeMe

Honestly, if there is one thing that has helped me cope with the chronic illnesses that I am affected with, it is without a doubt the fact that I am able to network with others who are affected by similar situations. I can’t begin to tell you how many times being able to talk to someone who understands my situation has pulled me out of the dark depths that can sometimes accompany life with a chronic illness. I am always on the lookout for new communities. PatientsLikeMe has actually been around for awhile, but I just only recently discovered it! I must say, I am terribly excited to get to know the people on there! The fun thing about this community is that when you input your health information and earn three “stars,” they will send you a free PatientsLikeMe tee-shirt! I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love free stuff! So that’s an automatic plus in my book! I do love their motto, too. “Making healthcare better for everyone through sharing, support and research!” If you’d like to visit PatientsLikeMe, you can do so by clicking right here!

Medify

This is a problem I have come across so many times: when we want to find information on a condition, illness or ailment that affects us or another person, and we search for that information online, we are simply inundated with information from here, there and everywhere. I don’t know how many times that I have searched for information about a condition, and nine times out of ten, I tend to convince myself that I am dying. The internet is pretty good for convincing one of that fact. But anyway! Medify remedies this problem! Here is a snippet from the Medify website to better explain how their system works; “Unlike other health sites that require you to read search results in dense lists or articles, Medify displays your results in interactive graphics to help you better understand how things compare.” Their websites boasts about housing the information from over 1.5 million research studies written by over 2.5 million medical researchers, about over 100 million patients! I’m just throwing that out there, that is a lot of millions. Medify is comprehensive medical information when and where you need it! Check it out here!

WellSphere

Probably my favorite website on this list, WellSphere is a veritable haven of health information with a splash of personality. Aside from the fact that their website is super easy to use with their streamlined navigation system, their website offers a fun and interactive way of staying on top of your healthcare and wellness goals. Wellpoints are rewarded when you do simple tasks around their website, and when you’ve accumulated enough points, you are then able to choose a Wellprize! These range from magazine subscriptions, to electronics, to jewelry and so much more! It makes staying on top of your healthcare goals fun! Another thing that I do have to say about Wellsphere is that I love their personalized front pages when you log in. It keeps track of how far you are on your goals, it allows you to read blogs that you’ve subscribed to on their site right on the home page, your forum discussions, and so much more! Check out WellSphere right here!

Don’t Forget About Our Tee Shirt Campaign!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TEE SHIRT!

Hey guys! Our tee shirt campaign is still going on!
One of my dreams for FFz is finally coming to fruition, and I am SO excited! Each year, we would like to kick off a fundraising campaign to help other organizations devoted to helping those with chronic illnesses. This year I am proud to announce that the very first organization we will be raising money for is The Chronically Awesome Foundation!

So, how will we do this?

Our fundraiser is taking place through CustomInk, a t-shirt website. We will be selling approximately 200 tee-shirts at the price of $20.00 each. When we reach our goal of selling all 200 tees, we will have raised $2000.00 for the Chronically Awesome Foundation! The tee-shirts are limited edition, meaning once they are gone, we will not see this design again. Each year there will be a new design, as well as a new organization we will raise funds for.

Why Fundraise?
Here at Fibro Fighterz, we are dedicated and committed to helping the chronic illness community, not just Fibromyalgia. It’s been a dream of mine for some time now to raise money to help other organizations and foundations further their missions in helping the chronic illness community, and help them realize their dreams.

What Is The Chronically Awesome Foundation?

“The Chronically Awesome Foundation’s mission is to cultivate and support the Chronically Awesome Community through a number of artistic programs including but not limited to blogging, photography, painting, and crafting; as well as to provide support programs both in group and peer-to-peer settings. The Chronically Awesome Foundation strives to educate the public, and raise awareness about the needs of the Chronically Awesome, and to advocate for resources to help fight conditions they represent. The positive message of The Chronically Awesome Foundation has and continues to inspire thousands of people around the world who choose to mentally separate themselves from their illness and begin healing in a way they never thought possible.
That is why, at the end of each day, more and more people are proud to make a longer and longer list of accomplishments starting with “Today I was Chronically Awesome because I…”.

“The Chronically Awesome(sm) community is made up of individuals with Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Scleroderma, Bipolar, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Crohn’s, Chronic Fatigue/ME, Ulcerative Colitis, Raynaud’s and Sjorgens and other chronic conditions. What they all share is adherence to the credo that chronically awesome is a lifestyle choice for the chronically ill; it’s about taking the word ill our of our thinking, and being as awesome as we can be every day!”

“As a grassroots community, members of the chronically awesome community have been offering each other incredible support services for years: online support groups, peer counseling, health information, and allowing members to become join a dynamic community that shares their needs, concerns, passions and challenges.
Now, with the Foundation, these services can expanded to reach more chronically awesome individuals across the nation. In addition, the Foundation will institute new programs to meet the demands of its ever expanding community.”

From the “Chronic Chronicles,” their remarkable radio show/live chat that helps others to “survive and thrive” with chronic illness, to their incredible peer counseling, the Chronically Awesome Foundation has implemented a myriad of incredible programs to help those living with chronic illness to be Chronically Awesome instead!

Visit The Chronically Awesome Foundation’s Website Here

Visit Chronically Awesome on Facebook!

Tweet Along With Chronically Awesome!

Tee Shirt Information!
The 2013 Fibro Fighterz Tee is a Gildan Ultra Cotton T-Shirt, in a unisex Sports Grey color, in order for the design to pop! The tees come in sizes from YXS to 4XL, and offer a generous fit. The shirt is 100% pre-shrunk cotton. The price of each shirt will be $20.00 plus shipping costs.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TEE SHIRT!

The Pill Holder

So as someone who lives with a chronic illness on a daily basis, I’ve had to learn how to adapt and adjust from that “old life” of not having those illnesses. But hey, it isn’t all bad, I’ve learned that. Anyway, one of those changes is that I have to carry pills with me, everywhere I go. It’s just something that has to be done. But as of lately, the options have been pretty limited, with those clunky plastic weekly pill holders. Honestly, who is going to put one of those in their bags? They’re big, and frankly, unsightly to look at. We should at least have something that can hold our medicines instyle. Just because we’re ill, doesn’t mean we can’t be fabulous, right?!

Right. Enter this completely functional and totally stylish product: The Pill Holder. You can see a photo of this beautiful medication holder below.

The Pill Holder was created by Christine Boerner. Christine lives with a condition called Myasthenia Gravis, which causes her muscles to get tired and weak quickly, so it is necessary for her to have her medications with her at all times, much like it is for many patients living with chronic illness. The Pill Holder was born out of need for a simple and streamlined product that could go with Christine wherever she went. That was when the idea for The Pill Holder was conceived.

This awesome holder fits right on your keychain, going with you on all of your travels! I personally love this idea, and I will be purchasing one very soon, and getting rid of those old plastic pill chambers.

If you’re ready to grab a Pill Holder of your own, follow the link below!
With every purchase of The Pill Holder, 5% is donated to autoimmune disease research!

Streamlined, stylish, and simple.

You can purchase The Pill Holder at the link below. You’ll also find a button here on the FighterZine blog that will bring you to their website!

Purchase Your Pill Holder Here!

Fighterz Fundraising

Hey guys! I wanted to share something with you all that I’ve been planning for a while now. It’s almost time to launch it, but I just wanted to give you all a sneak peak! One of my dreams for FFz is finally coming to fruition, and I am SO excited! Each year, I would like to kick off a fundraising campaign to help other organizations devoted to helping those with chronic illnesses. This year I am proud to announce that the very first organization we will be raising money for is The Chronically Awesome Foundation!

So, how will we do this?

I’ve been designing a tee-shirt for about a month now, and I finally came up with a design I think everyone would like. Our fundraiser will take place through CustomInk, a t-shirt website. We will be selling approximately 150 tee-shirts at the price of $20.00 each. When we reach our goal of selling all 150 tees, we will have raised $2000.00 for the Chronically Awesome Foundation! The tee-shirts are limited edition, meaning once they are gone, we will not see this design again. Each year there will be a new design.

What Is The Chronically Awesome Foundation?

While the campaign hasn’t launched just yet, I wanted to let everyone know that it is coming up very soon! Keep an eye out, and stay awesome!

Visit The Chronically Awesome Foundation’s Website Here

Visit Chronically Awesome on Facebook!

Tweet Along With Chronically Awesome!

2013 Awareness Campaigns

Okay! So we are nearly a month in to the new year, and I thought it was high time to let you guys know about our BRAND NEW AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS for 2013! We actually have two of them that we are going to be focusing on! So here goes….

Spread The Spoonz Campaign

So, this campaign is going to be centered around the Spoon Theory. This is meant to bring a little fun and levity to living a life with chronic illness. What we are going to be doing is taking a spoon (any kind you want, big, small, plastic, metal, whatever you want!) and crafting supplies. We’d like you all to either write an inspirational message on the spoon, or decorate the spoon to look like YOU! So, if you have brown hair, take some brown yarn, tape or glue it to the spoon, add eyes, and voila! A spoonie version of yourself! After you are finished decorating your spoon, take a photo and send it to us at JLynnCorter@yahoo.com or message it to us on our FibroFighterz page on Facebook! We are going to be collecting these photos and adding them to the website and a Facebook album, as well as a pinboard on Pinterest! We’re going to spread the spoonz everywhere!

Dear Chronic Illness Campaign

This other campaign is meant to purge ourselves of our feelings towards the illnesses we deal with on a daily basis. My inspiration for this one came through my finding an old journal entry of mine dealing with Fibromyalgia, and I had written a letter to it, explaining how it made me feel. Although it may seem silly at first, it is an incredibly cleansing thing to do. We also want to collect these letters, snip out excerpts of them and create graphics with them, spreading them throughout our campaign outlets!

Alrighty–what do YOU guys think? Do you have any ideas for an awareness campaign? Tell us in the comments!

Is This What It’s Come To?: Fibromyalgia Close To Being Labeled As Mental Disorder

My mind hurts just thinking about this. Fibromyalgia, as well as a whole slew of other chronic illnesses are at risk to be categorized as “mental disorders.”

The fifth edition of the DSM, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is set to release in May 2013. It is published by the American Psychiatric Association and in it contains the diagnostic codes often used by doctors for mental illness. This time around they have included a brand new category of mental disorder: Somatic Symptom Disorder. According to the criteria outlined, a person may be diagnosed with SSD if for six or more months they have been affected by symptoms that are “distressing or disruptive to their daily life”, and if they have reacted in one of the following ways:

Disproportionate thoughts about the seriousness of their symptom(s).
A high level of anxiety about their symptoms or health.
Devoting excessive time and energy to their symptoms or health concerns.

Okay, so personally, this is really sad. I’ve been fighting long and hard for the past two years to try and get an answer as to why I’m having such severe pelvic pain. The pain more then affects my ability to live a normal life, and yes, I have gotten anxious about the pain. In reality, who doesn’t get anxious when they don’t know what’s going on in their body? That certainly doesn’t make it a mental disorder. Now I fear that instead of getting the help I need, I’m going to be tossed aside, simply classified as having a mental disorder.

To me, and hey, maybe I’m wrong (after all, I’m not a medical professional), having one of the above reactions seems natural in a situation where your body is going haywire in one way or another and you can’t figure out why. This labeling puts every chronically ill person in danger of being labeled as having a mental disorder. In the sad and sorry society that we live in today, once you’re labeled with a diagnosis like that, not a lot of people are going to take you seriously. It’s even possible that insurance companies may begin refusing necessary testing simply because of that diagnosis. We are going to be in real trouble, here.

This is going to put the people of the public in a real predicament. For instance, if a doctor you are seeing thinks that you may be paying just a little too much attention to your health, and he diagnoses you with SSD, then what happens? What if there is something that is seriously wrong? What if nobody takes you seriously anymore? What is going to happen at that point?

One of the people who have been highly opposed to the DSM’s decision to include SSD is Dr. Allen Frances, MD. Dr. Frances was head of the DSM 4 task force. According to his blog he says the following; “I hoped to be able to influence the DSM 5 work group to correct this in two ways: 1) by suggesting improvements in the wording of the SSD criteria set that would reduce mislabeling; and 2) by letting them know how much opposition they would face from concerned professionals and an outraged public if DSM 5 failed to slam on the brakes while there was still time.”

It was a matter of changing a few simple little words, and the DSM task force refused. In Dr. Frances’ words, “The DSM 5 has failed us.” While it isn’t aiming specifically at those with Fibromyalgia, CFS, etc., this new DSM 5 categorization will make those with these illnesses “particularly vulnerable to a diagnoses of SSD.”

Is There Anything I Can Do?

Sadly, at this point, the DSM refuses to correct “Somatic Symptom Disorder”. However, Dr. Frances has written a few pieces on this horrendous failure of the DSM. It has received a huge amount of feedback, so what I encourage you to do is to head over to this article and to leave a comment. On a local level, you could also get in touch with your elected officials to tell them how you feel about this new inclusion of SSD in the DSM.

To me personally, this is both incredible and awful. It’s incredible because you would think that in this day and age, where we have all this technology available to us that things like this wouldn’t be happening. Unfortunately, behind that technology, we have a bunch of incompetent medical professionals only looking after the welfare of their paycheck.

Links

Toni Bernhard’s Article: Physical Illnesses May Soon Be Labeled Mental Disorders

Dr. Allen Frances’ Article: Mislabeling Medical Illness as Mental Disorder

Dr. Frances’ Article: DSM 5 Refuses to Correct Somatic Symptom Disorder