I didn't know anything about this condition. That was until Chantelle, my daughter's wonderful TA, told me that, on June 20th, she'll do a tandem skydive to attempt to break a Guinness World Record to raise money for FMA UK, a small charity which aims to help people living with fibromyalgia.
I'm really keen to raise further awareness of this condition so that people who may have symptoms can seek the support and information they desperately need. Also, to help raise vital funds for FMA UK and people living with fibromyalgia. (Link to charity website here).
Here is Chantelle's story ...
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/JumpChan/
I used to be a professional dancer, I loved and lived for what I did...dance!!! In 2010 (just as things had really started to take of for me in my dance career) I started to get these abnormal pains in my joints/body. I went to the doctors and they just said 'you're a dancer so it's normal for your body to be in pain'. I assumed the doctors knew what they were talking about so I just carried on. Over time it got worse, it became hard for me to do the things I used to do and it would hurt me to watch all my friends dancing and living, knowing that I couldn't join in because of the pain I would be in later. In 2012 I did my last job as a professional dancer in the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, after this I stopped dancing...I felt like I had lost more than my career though, I had lost my form of staying fit and healthy, my outlet, my escapism and a lot of my friends!!! Everything that I knew and had worked so hard for was gone and I didn't know how or why. It is hard to prove there is something wrong when there is no swelling or bruising or breaks, I thought that everyone just thought I was making up excuses. I thought that maybe I had brought it on my self by not looking after my body properly? I thought maybe it was genetic and I had the same disorder that took my mums life in 1997? I thought maybe I had be cursed or hexed or that it was just karma? I tried everything from blood tests to X-rays, acupuncture to massage, but nothing seemed to work...so I just lived with it!!!
After years of suffering I got told by a rheumatologist that I most likely have fibromyalgia-a widespread pain disorder with no know cure. So this is why I have chosen to raise money and awareness for this charity, so that we can pay for more research into what fibromyalgia is and look for cures and ways of helping people with it. Nobody should have to suffer and sacrifice the things in their life that they love and have worked so hard for just because they 'look' ok...pain is something that you feel, not see and it is very real for the person who is feeling it!!