It was like most autumns, when school starts up someone always gets sick and then everyone else ends up sick. Something normal like a cold, maybe the flu, I had it too. However, when everyone's illness went away, I still was sick. I was fatigued all the time, always with a sore throat or a headache but I had school to go to so I covered it up with some aspirin for my headache and some cough drops to sooth my throat. After about two months of feeling ill of the time, I woke up one morning with shooting pains in various places especially my lower back. My mom let me stay home from school that day, and the next, and the next. It only seemed to get worse and my school work was piling up like snow in December. I decided to take my aspirin and swallow my pain and go to school. After that one day of school I was in serious pain all over my back, neck, and shoulders. That one day that I went to school caused me to lay in bed for almost a week. Finally, my mom was fed up with it one morning and threatened to call my dad. She thought I was making it up, I was too young to be feeling like I'm 80. Suddenly, I bursted with the statement, "Mom! My kidneys!" I pointed down to my lower back. She looked back at me with a curious stare, "Hannah, your kidneys aren't there." I was in so much pain I couldn't even get my own anatomy correct.
The next day I went to the doctor, they just thought it was growing pains and sent me on my way. I still was in pain everyday and everyday I had to drag myself to school because who fails 7th grade because their back hurts? I decided to cut out soda and sugary snacks like my mom did when she got diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a few years back. I saw little, if not any improvement unlike when my mom stopped drinking soda. I missed a lot of school and everyday I came back after missing a day or two everyone would think I was skipping school. I was not the type to skip school, I liked school. Spending time with friends, learning new things, what more could I want and why would I miss it? In April of 2006, I went to the doctor to get blood work done. At that time I was absolutely terrified of needles, every time I saw a needle I would quiver a bit. After getting tested for everything from Lyme's to cancer, I was no longer terrified of needles. I was so used to going to the doctor weekly and getting a needle stuck in my arm to test me for something new.
The test results came back, to everyone's surprise: nothing. Nothing was wrong with any of my blood work. I was relieved not have cancer but doctors thought it was one, two, or all of these things: depression, me making it up, or Fibromyalgia. I'm not depressed what's so ever, everyone around me says I'm the most optimistic person they've ever met. Why would I be making this up? I don't want attention, I want to be normal. Fibromyalgia was the most clear option to what it could be but this usually happens to people who are 40, not 13. After being officially diagnosed by a doctor that I had Fibromyaliga, I went on every pain killer in the world it seemed with little to no effect. Now it was the end of 7th grade, I missed a lot of school but I somehow passed all of my classes.
It was now summer of 2006, I still had pain but it lessens because stress triggers Fibro pain so it was definitely not as bad as it was a few months ago. I decided to go back to public school that fall. I thought everything had just gone away, that everything would be fine; I've never been so wrong. Within the first few weeks the pain was back full force. I went to a new doctor, they recommended physical therapy. So I went and got little relief or much improvement. Then the physical therapist recommended water therapy. That was officially the worst idea ever for someone with Fibromyaglia. After one session my muscles were so sore and tender from being stretched out so much I had to leave school. I was was home-schooled for the remaining part of 8th grade. By my 14th birthday I was more than ready to get back to school but I had to wait through the summer. I spent the summer bonding with my best friend, completely putting the pain in the back of my mind. September was around the corner and I was so excited for high school. I live in a small town, no one gets thrown in trash cans like you see on television so I wasn't afraid of the seniors. After a few weeks, the pain reappeared but luckily there was now a medication specifically for people with Fibromyalgia, called Lyrica. I started Lyrica in October 2007, the pain subsided for a few months until I became tolerant to it. I went back to the doctor, they doubled my dose.
After a few days of the new dosage amount I lost my appetite, felt nauseous, and dizzy. I stayed home from school one day while my mom ran errands. I hadn't eaten all day and it was about 1-o'clock so I got up to eat. On my 10 feet journey to the kitchen I fainted. I don't know how long I was unconscious but it was one of the scariest experiences of my life to wake up on the floor staring at the ground. After that experience, my mom decided that I needed to be home-schooled again. I decided not to go back to regular school for 10th grade. Right now, I'm pretty stabilized when it comes to pain. There are days where I feel like I can't get up but it's a lot better than it was. I have a lot to be thankful for. Remember, I was tested for cancer.