Growing Bolder Community

The Days & Nights, Slants & Twists, & Wobbly Meanderings of a Young Woman With Rare & Incurable Neurological Disorders. Top Blog 2010 Award Winner.

Every week, since late June 2011, I've been writing my blog -- Marilyn's Byline. It is a brief look into my cancer journey. The real story is being written into a book titled: High Maintenance.. Surviving Cancer at All Costs. I proudly invite the GB community to visit my blog at:http://MarilynsByline.blogspot.com

The idea that treating just one symptom at a time is how medicine has worked. In recent years doctors have been taking a more holistic approach in caring for their patients. This has allowed research to be done looking at how such a thing as pain, both acute and chronic are associated with sleep. Thsi issue is important on many levels. With our community getting older this issue of pain...

Fibromyalgia patients have to learn to deal with chronic pain. The problem is that pain and insomnia cause a vicious cycle of increased pain and decreased sleep. Insomnia has been shown in many studies to decrease a patient’s pain threshold. Treating insomnia can be quite difficult. Medications are usually the first line of treatment. They work well in the beginning but patients build up a...

I have been disabeled since 1996 with Chronic Pain Syndrome due to Arachnoiditis, which was caused by several back surgerys that caused scar tissue to form around my spinal cord nerves. This causes a lot of leg pain that never stops. I have a neuro stimulator implanted and take medication for the pain. I also have learned to accept my illness and work with it and not against it. I have a large...