I listened to the song for the first time with tears in my eyes. It is a beautiful anthem of love – enduring love between spouses who live daily with the trials and uncertainty of chronic illness. Chronic illness is not just hard on the patient, it is hard on everyone who loves them and has to watch them suffer. This song made me want to shelter and protect my husband from all the heartache my illness has caused him. Just as Rob sings in Her Diamonds, if I feel bad my husband does too.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how blessed I am to have a husband who loves me, protects me, supports me, honors me, and still thinks I am fabulous even on the days when washing my hair would be as difficult as climbing Mt. Everest. But when he is hurting, do I always remember to do the same for him? Probably not.

Her Diamonds touched my heart and gave me perspective. I just had to share it with you all. This post is in honor of my husband and all that he gives of himself. He deserves so much more than this dedication. He is my rockstar!

Lyrics to Her Diamonds

Oh what the hell she says
I just can’t win for losing
And she lays back down
Man there’s so many times
I don’t know what I’m doin’
Like I don’t know now

By the light of the moon
She rubs her eyes
Says it’s funny how the night
Can make you blind
I can just imagine
And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do
But if she feels bad then I do too
So I let her be

And she says oooh
I can’t take no more
Her tears like diamonds on the floor
And her diamonds bring me down
Cuz I can’t help her now
She’s down in it
She tried her best and now she can’t win it’s
Hard to see them on the ground
Her diamonds falling down

She sits down and stares into the distance
And it takes all night
And I know I could break her concentration
But it don’t feel right

By the light of the moon
She rubs her eyes
Sits down on the bed and starts to cry
And there’s something less about her
And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do
So I sit down and I cry too
And don’t let her see

And she says oooh
I can’t take no more
Her tears like diamonds on the floor
And her diamonds bring me down
Cuz I can’t help her now
She’s down in it
She tried her best and now she can’t win it’s
Hard to see them on the ground
Her diamonds falling down

She shuts out the night
Tries to close her eyes
If she can find daylight
She’ll be all right
She’ll be all right
Just not tonight

And she says oooh
I can’t take no more
Her tears like diamonds on the floor
And her diamonds bring me down
Cuz I can’t help her now
She’s down in it
She tried her best and now she can’t win it’s
Hard to see them on the ground
Her diamonds falling down

Thank you Michelle at Life in the Autoimmune Lane for sharing this song first on your blog and introducing me to the anthem of my marriage!

In their most recently newsletter, the main article was a feature on Fibromyalgia: Treating Fibromyalgia Naturally — So You Can Shine Again.  I found this to be the most realistic, in touch and accurate assessment of Fibromyalgia I have ever read. Several times throughout my reading of it I wanted to clap for Dr. Marcelle Pick, or stand up and bow. Here are just a few of the things she wrote that made me want to cheer her:

I see many women in my practice who feel discouraged and disheartened by the advice they’ve received about fibromyalgia. The sleeplessness, extreme fatigue, and widespread chronic pain that accompany fibromyalgia can be unbearable for some women, but the medical community has long been stumped by this confusing and controversial condition. It was ignored by conventional medicine for years, and in some circles fibromyalgia is still questioned as a “real” diagnosis. But fibromyalgia is real, and I know there are thousands of women out there who deserve compassionate and effective care. We don’t have all the answers yet, but pain specialists and functional practitioners are working to get to the root of fibromyalgia and similar pain syndromes, to give you the answers you want and deserve.

I think women with fibromyalgia deserve more than a prescription for their pain and suffering.

I see this as a condition that strikes at the very core of a woman’s being.

But you can feel good again, if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, do some digging, and learn some new ways of being.

At this point in the article Dr. Skin goes into a very thorough discussion of Fibromyalgia and its underlying issues. She uses the word SHINE as an acronym for what she believes to be the main issues of FM – Sleep, Hormone Imbalance, Immune Health, Nutrition and Emotions. (Some of you may recognize this as a protocol of Dr. Teitelbaum, author of From Fatigued to Fantastic. I am very familiar with his name, but have yet to read his book. After reading this article I certainly plan to.) Dr. Skin also addresses Stress, Detox, Exercise and Mind-body Work. She shares a lot of valuable information in her article and is clearly invested in helping women with Fibromyalgia shine again.

Dr. Skin ends her article with encouragement and hope:

Find hope in your own light

We all glow in our own unique ways, and when we are feeling good, the world can feel our warmth and positive energy. I know fibromyalgia can dim this light, making us too tired, too discouraged, and too achy to find hope in anything, let alone feeling better. Especially if you’ve been told by your practitioner, or by several practitioners that there is nothing they can do — or worse, that your symptoms aren’t real — it can seem like you just have to live with this. But please know that you don’t have to live in pain, and you don’t have to be on a prescription medication for the rest of your life, either.

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome caused and influenced by many, many factors, and if you start to work on even one or two of these factors, you will find that light within starting to shine again. With this new hope, you can regain the energy to work on more aspects of your life that may be affecting your health — and in time, you’ll be enjoying each brand new day.

 

I encourage you to take the time to read the article for yourself. It is refreshing to read a perspective from a doctor who actually understands the many levels of Fibromyalgia, and hopefully you will decide on one or two factors of FM that you will want to work on. Articles like this go a long way in encouraging us to take steps towards better health and wellbeing. Thank you Dr. Skin.

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