FibroDuck Brings Fibromyalgia Awareness Through the Decades!

Hi all! As you may or may not know, I suffer from Fibromyalgia, a debilitating chronic pain disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. There is no cure and no definitive treatment plan as this disorder affects each individual differently. While researching this disorder to better understand it myself, I stumbled upon this great website...Fibroduck.com!

"The aim of Fibroduck.com is to raise awareness for Fibromyalgia, whilst making you smile!"

Since joining this FUN, creative way to raise awareness for Fibromyalgia, I have met so many people who "don't look sick" who are suffering with it right along side me. (BTW, I can't stand that phrase!! When I tell someone I'm disabled and they throw back..."well, you don't LOOK sick". Really?? GRR!) Anyway, I am still surprised when someone asks me why I'm taking pictures of this polka dotted Rubber Duckie and they say, 'oh ya, I have that' or 'my (whoever) has that'. I can't believe there are so many of us who suffer and yet so many to quickly reject our illness!!! I don't get it! Why isn't there more known about this? How many more people have to suffer before it's considered "ok" to talk about it?!

OK, I'm off my soapbox (for now, wink) and on to the FUN part of Fibroduck! Fibroduck is also a support group on facebook and every day Jaime (and her support team) ran a contest last weekend to win some yummy handmade jewelry! In order to enter the contest we had to submit a picture of our FibroDuck in a decade of our choice from the 1900's!! How fun is that??! I immediately thought 1950 Sock Hop and even went to a "50's Diner" for lunch the next day in the hopes of getting some great shots. That didn't work as I had expected it to, SO on to the party store we went, my niece Kristin, FibroDuckie and myself! Well, FibroDuckie made a TON of friends at the party store...seriously...who knew they made so many duckies!!?? I even found 1920's Flapper Duckies!! SO FUN! My niece had a good time laughing at my enthusiasm and I had a FAB time posing my duckie in all sorts of decades! Seeing as how I'm EXTREMELY indecisive, I posted my fave pics on my FB page and asked my friends to vote for which one I should submit. The photo that got the most "hits" was the one I submitted and GUESS WHAT??!! I WON the FibroDuck.com Decade Contest!!!! WAHOO!! :) Here's my entry:

Groovy 1960's FibroDuckie spreading the Fibro Word to his Peaceful Friends! Don't ya just love those glasses??!!

The best part of FibroDuck.com is that it's WORLDWIDE! So check it out! You can either look through the pictures page by page or choose your area of the world and look that way! Have fun and please remember, if you see a person who "doesn't look sick" getting out of a car parked in the handicapped spot, please, please don't judge. You just never know how much pain or how "sick" someone is just by looking at them. Please remember the old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover". For those of us who suffer with Fibromyalgia and other "invisible illnesses", that saying is our LIVES! For example, tonight I had Card Club and I was in sooo much pain and sooo exhausted I really didn't think I had the energy to create anything! But, I took a quick nap (can't say it helped though!), plastered a smile on my face and off I went with my pillow (to use in the chair!) in tow! I'm a good "faker" as my Chiropractor would say. With a smile on my face, you'd never know how much pain I'm hiding; some days I can hide it so well my Mom doesn't even know how badly I hurt.

OK, with that being said...CARD CLUB! I went to Card Club tonight at The Inspiration Station and had a good time! I LOVE that store! If you're anywhere close I highly suggest taking a trip! Many independent craft stores are more expensive than the retail stores, but this store offers great products, fabulous selection and prices that are usually cheaper than the retail stores! I love Card Club because not only do you make FOUR easy but FAB cards, you get to take home the stamp (or other product) you worked with!! YAY! So cute! I will upload pics, of the stamp set we took home and the cards I made, tomorrow along with a Saturday Sketch Card & a Bitten By the Bug 2 Card! I'm looking forward to my Friday-free of doctor appointments! Check back for those pics and creations tomorrow! Off to bed before I fall asleep and start drooling on the keyboard! Night all!

~Hugs, JennRo~

P.S. Don't forget to play along with the previous post for a chance to win some BLOG CANDY!!!