Hi, my name is Lynn Miller. I am 41, female, 5'2 and eyes of blue. I am
married and have a daughter and son. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in
1989 by my rheumatologist. I went in to see him because I thought I had
arthritis and he knew what I had right away. He still had to do all the
blood work to rule out other things. I was very lucky to have a doctor that
knew about Fibromyalgia known as Fibrositis at that time. I live in Fond du
Lac, Wisconsin. I was also diagnosed through the years by several pain
specialists with FMS/CFS/MPS. I also have the goodies that come along with
these Syndromes. I also have Osteoarthritis in my neck, shoulders, elbows,
fingers, back, and knees. I had my left knee replaced in 1993, and the right
one needs to be replaced soon. In January 12, 1996, I had back surgery
-Laminectomy/Fusion/Bone Graft from my right back hip/Screws inserted
at L4/L5 and L5/S1 for a herniated disk that was compressing on my spinal
cord. July 19, 1996 I had an Anterior cervical disecectomy/Fusion/Bone
Graft taken from my front right hip/Plate and screws inserted at C5/C6 and
C6/C7 for compression on the spinal cord. The spinal cord was so narrow at
those locations that a fall or accident would have left me paralyzed if I
would have let it go. I also have Degenerative Disk Disease in my neck.
July 31, 1997 I had Arthroscopic surgery on my right shoulder for a partial
tear and fraying of the rotator cuff. The same is wrong with my left
shoulder but seeing I don't use that shoulder as much I can hold off for the
surgery on that one. Severe arthritis in both shoulders. On May 5, 1998 I
had back surgery again. I cracked the fusion from the surgery in 1996 on a
cave trip with my son's class. I had to climb a 50 ft hole and slipped and
fell. This time they went through my stomach to insert some plastic
supports in-between the vertebrae for more support, took some bone graft
from my front left hip and went through the back to refuse the cracked
fusion. It is a 95% effective procedure. I also suffer from major Depression
and Seasonal Depression. It is a tough life and there are a lot of days I
just want to give up especially when the Full and New Moon appear. I have
found a lot of support on the Internet and I also have good doctors who I
respect and trust. I look at people who have worse problems then me and
that is what gets me through the tough times. Well that is my story of my
health.
Lynn Miller
lmmiller@excel.net
