Be Blessed ... Like Me!!

RSDers around the world get frustrated easily.  We have this "rare" condition/disorder/illness for which there is no cure.  For most of us it's usually "invisible."  We are rarely believed by our family and friends and a huge chunk of the medical community still hasn't even heard of it.  We are called addicts, pill seekers, hypochondriacs, liars, and drama queens/kings.  We do everything in our power to make our voices heard, and still we are met with resistance.

To the namecallers, doubters, disbelievers, ignorers, and know-it-all-assholes I say this ... Fuck You!! (sorry Mom ... kinda but not really.)  We, RSD sufferers, have an Awareness Month, an International Awareness Day, an Awareness Ribbon color, and the doctor bills to prove that our disorder exists!!  And to my family and friends that believed me from the start, stuck with me thru thick and thin, and never lost faith in me even when I'd lost faith in myself, I say this ... I Love You!!  To the moon and back, for ever and ever, and from the bottom of my heart!!  My Mom, my Dad, the Bombshell (my sister), and Houdini (my brother) have never ever doubted my pain.  I truly am one of the lucky ones!!

Today is Nervember 5, RSD Awareness Day!!  All I can say is ... WOW!!  I made 2 posts on Facebook last night asking my friends and family to wear orange today to help me, and a couple million other RSDers, raise awareness.  Wanna know how many of my FB/Normie friends had not heard of RSD until they met me??  Approximately 98% of them!!  Wanna know how many are UNaware now?? NONE!!  Wanna know how many of them have posted pics of themselves wearing orange today??  97 and counting!!  I feel blessed!!  There is no other word that accurately describes how I feel.  Emtionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically ... I feel blessed.

Yep, you read that right!!  Physically I feel blessed too!!  Every RSDer has asked the universe, "Why me?"  Well ... I know "why me"!!  I was given RSD so that I could help bring it into the spotlight of human consciousness.  Just like the world knows about cancer, the world will know about RSD.  Now ... Wanna know how I know that I have done just that??  A couple days ago, a friend of mine from high school, who is now an ICU and Cardiac nurse in New Mexico, posted this on my FB wall ... "Jen, I just wanted to tell you that you are helping me be a better nurse and helping others as well. We recently had a young woman in the ICU with lupus and the staff did not understand the pain involved. I have taken this opportunity to teach them about the pain involved with Lupus and RSD. I have even started to teach them about spoons.  You are such a strong woman and are a blessing to those around you. Love you."  My suffering is paving the way for others!!  The medical community is listening to me!!  This sqeaky wheel is gettin' herself some grease, dammit!!  I ... am ... making ... a ... difference!!!  I have been blessed with the monster, RSD!!

Keep wearing orange!!  Keep educating yourselves and others about the existance and horrors of RSD!!  Keep hangin' tough!!  My faith has been restored time and time again!!  RSDers, don't give up!!  Between the moments of varied excruciating maladies, feel blessed!!  You are still here to tell your tale.  You have someone who will listen and believe (me).  Your story might just give someone else the hope and faith that they need to get thru their bad days!!  YOU can change the world!!

FURSD!!!