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"Pachelbel's Canon"
in D Minor

Thank you, Liz, for the beautiful banner

Victorian Warehouse

Welcome to my Rose Garden. My name is Sandy ~
I hope your visit will make you feel inspired and encouraged by what
you will find as you walk among the roses.
I hope to have something everyone will need or would like to share with others. A little background might help you understand what inspires me to write and create the things I do.

I am fortunate to be married to Al, a very loving, caring, generous, patient, giving man. We have four wonderful and loving children who have grown and added
their mates and children to enrich our family.

I have been recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (FMS). We have discovered that I had gone undiagnosed for about 10 years.

What is FMS? It is a muskulosketetal pain and fatigue disorder. There seems to be little known as to what causes FMS. It is a common believe that the
onset may be caused by an accident or a severe fall but a
definitive cause seems to be elusive.

The easiest easy way to describe FMS is this: When you have the flu and every part of your body aches ~ your arms and legs and hands and feet and back and ribs and everything between and attached to them aches ~ you have some
idea what it is like for a person with FMS to live day to day.

There is such a variety of symptoms and such a variety of the combinations of those symptoms, it is impossible to write all of them. The most dominant symptoms are the aches and pains and depression but there is also fatigue (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (diarrhea or constipation), sleep disorders, chronic headaches, joint disfunction, chemical sensitivities, PMS, chest pain, morning stiffness, cognitive or memory impairment, numbness and tingling sensations, muscle twitching, irritable bladdar, feeling of swollen extremities, skin sensitivities, dry eyes and mouth, dizziness and impaired coordination and more that are being discovered every day. There is no cure for FMS at this time, however, research continues and we continue to hope for a cure.

Even though there is no known cure yet, the symptoms can be treated with therapy and medication to make dealing with it easier. Just as the disorder varies, so do the treatments. What may work for one patient will not work for another. It is somewhat a form of arthritis and rheumatism. My primary physician is a specialist in those fields so he is very aware of the symptoms, however, almost any doctor could recognize the signs.

If you feel you have suffered any of the symptoms, I suggest finding a doctor that understands FMS. I have had several tests run by several different doctors
for one thing or another over the years but the results always came
back the same ~ normal.
I knew it wasn't psychosematic ~ I knew the pain was real but after
so many times of hearing, "I'm sorry, the tests show nothing. There is
no reason for that," you tend to get more than a bit discouraged. We are still looking for the right combination to give me relief and will continue to do so.

The depression is a big part of it and is caused by the constant
pain or a chemical imbalance or both. I am creating this site
in order that I may help others through hard times ~ to offer inspiration and encouragement when it is needed.

There is a web site that comes highly recommened by a very good friend that also has FMS (she is one of the many volunteers that work the chat areas) where you can get information about virtually any health problem that is pain related.

It is AOL based and provides many areas of chat that are supported by qualified specialists to help you and answer your questions. Click on "Projects" on the home page to see a complete list of supported chat areas as well as web addresses for others.
Some of the chat areas listed are:
Pain Relief Center (AOL Keyword PRC)
Depression Information Forum (AOL Keyword DIF)
Alternative Medical Forum (AOL Keyword AltMed)

The web address is:

http://www.healant.com

Please feel free to print any part of this site and don't hesitate to share it with anyone that you feel could benefit from it. I intend to give credit where credit is due when I use graphics created or poems written by others, I will provide those names when known. If you see anything that credit should be given and hasn't been, please let me know. It is my desire to reach as many people as I can and make their days just a little easier to deal with, no matter what problems they face in life.
Thank you and may God Bless you.
~ Sandy Lappert ~

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