Hi everyone
Some of you may already know but for those who don’t I am 43 years young, married and have one daughter.
My story starts on the 27th August 1998 when I was diagnosed with M.E (two days before my wedding) I suffered with this illness for just over 18 months thankfully I made a full recovery, went back to full time work and was able to live a normal life again.
I moved to Wales in December 2003 from Surrey with Allan, who is a good old Welshman himself (thankfully no one ever held that against me)
When we first moved to Wales I started working with Allan, then in May 2004 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After hearing so many stories of how many of you had to wait months or even years in some cases to get a diagnosis, I feel very lucky to have found a doctor who listened to me and understood that it was not the M.E returning. After all the usual blood test I was sent to see a rheumatologist in Port Talbot hospital where I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. When he first told me I was shocked and confused as I had never heard of this condition before and at that time could not even pronounce it. I was given a leaflet and told I would be referred back to my doctor for treatment.
After a year of being told there is nothing anyone can really do to help me, I was fortunate enough to meet up with 3 others who also had fibromyalgia and over coffee we decided to start a support group as there was nothing at all for any of us here in South Wales. A year on and we are growing in membership and heading in the right direction to make others aware of our condition.
Tina (sundance)
