Healthy 2015!

Well 2014 came and went. My year pretty much consisted of work, kids, and soccer. A few highlights were getting to teach an editing panel at Write Here in Ephraim, two amazing Critiki Retreatis, taking my 9 year old to Germany, and Thanksgiving in San Diego with the family. The not so great part of the year started about March and finally had its blowup in September with a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia.

I've dealt with chronic pain for a few years now so that was really no big deal. Over the past few years I have been diagnosed with IBS, Restless Leg Syndrome, Chostocondritis, and just general aches and pains with no good reason for them. In March I added Chronic Fatigue to that list. It increased slowly, not to the point that I was too worried until August. By that time I also got hit with what is called brain fog. I couldn't concentrate on anything and was tired all the time. I figured I was just overworked and was super excited to go spend nine days in Germany with my little bear.

The trip started out great. We flew into Munich (by way of Iceland!) and spent a day there, saw Dinkelsbuhl and Rottenburg, then on to Lubben to visit family. We went to Berlin (of course) and shopped, and I visited a bunch of places that I plan to use in the new book I am outlining, which right now just has a working title of Germany With Love (yes, I listen to Alphaville way too much, it was almost going to be titled Summer in Berlin!). The night we got back to Lubben from a full day in Berlin I had this throbbing pain in my chest. Again, I wrote it off as a lot of walking and carrying shopping bags.

The pain persisted the last three days of my trip and the flight home about killed me (I thought it was because my bags were overstuffed with chocolate). The day after I got home I woke up and was sure I was having a heart attack. A trip to the doctors and several blood tests and EKGs later, they said it was just an extreme case of Chostocondritis (inflamed rib cage) and gave me some pain pills. Two weeks later the pain was not getting better, the brain fog came back in full swing, and I just knew I wasn't feeling right. So I got in with my actual doctor and we had a good long talk. He asked a lot of questions, looked over my medical history, and then started poking me in the strangest places. 

These turned out to be Fibromyalgia pressure points, and man did it feel like I was being tortured when he barely touched them. So I got a diagnosis, got a rude awakening that I could no longer keep going at the neck breaking pace I was accustomed to, and got on some meds to help things out. That was in September. Since then I have learned a lot. I got to talk to an old friend from high school who suffers from this and learned a ton from her. (Thanks Jeanette). I have slowly started to overcome my brain fog and fatigue. I have realized that I get every bug there is and am working to build up my immune system to combat that. 

2015 is going to be the year I take my health back. I want to write, I want to edit, I want to read, but none of those are possible if I can't even get out of bed. So those will be my rewards instead of my goals. The more I regain my health with diet, exercise, and knowledge, the more I will be able to do the things I love.

So yeah, I plan to finish Room for Two, I plan to outline and draft Germany with Love, I hope to work on expanding The King's Brother--and I want to do all of these things because that will mean I am healthy enough to do them. 

Here is to a Healthy 2015--for me and for you. I wish you the best and hope to be on here a lot more with writing updates, editing tips, and so much more!

Write On!

Sabine