Supporting Ourselves by Sharing Our Stories with Others
COMMUNITY is a word that holds an integral place in our organization. It is the bloodline to our existence! It is what brings us Fibromates together and helps us help ourselves. And, by connecting, sharing, supporting, and nuturing each other, we are, in fact, supporting our personal health and wellbeing while supporting others on a similiar journey!
To build up community, we have embarked on two great community initiatives:
The Fibromyalgia Support Network invites articles and personal stories from anyone living with Fibromyalgia and its comorbidities, caregivers, and medical/healthcare professionals which support patient education, raising awareness and advocacy for Fibromyalgia and its impact on daily living.
We hope your submission will give HOPE, INSPIRATION, and MOTIVATION to those reading your stories through your authentic and honest voice of what it means to live with Fibromyalgia. More importantly, we hope your submission will give our readers COURAGE to keep living their best life, and especially to those who have been recently diagnosed with this often invisible and debilitating illness.
Our Blog – The Fibromates Journal
All submissions will become the property of the Fibromyalgia Support Network [FSN] and should not be duplicated elsewhere without the written permission of our organization.
Pseudo names are accepted; however, you will need to provide our Blog Editor, Irene Roth, with your full name, email address, mailing address, and contact number, for our administration files. If provided, we will include a brief biography of the contributing author as well as her profile picture with the submission.
The Blog Editor reserves the right to review and suggest edits or minor modifications to your story but will converse directly with you on these changes, subject to your approval.
Enquiries and story submissions should be sent to Irene Roth at fsn.thefibromatesjournal@gmail.com.
Our Newsletter – The Fibromates Community Connection
Introduced in September 2024, this community newsletter will serve as a connector among FSN members and carers. As Co-Editors, we envision this newsletter as a useful, important tool of communication to provide members, carers and friends/allies of the FSN community with information about programs, activities and special events. As well, whether you are a member or not, we want to get to know the many faces in the wider global fibromyalgia community!
Our intent for this community newsletter is, first and foremost, to be a fun, creative, positive way to connect YOU to Fibromates, so you know for sure—YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Additionally, this tool will complement our MONTH-AT-A-GLANCE CALENDAR with more details on what’s new and what’s changing. Asection of the newsletter will bring news on happenings in Fibromyalgia Support Network.
The primary goal of this newsletter is to keep you informed and updated on all things happening within this organization, and in the wider national and international fibromyalgia community! We plan to bring you useful information and tips, and share with you testimonies, personal stories, and feature articles on others living with fibromyalgia. For instance, some of our staple sections in the newsletter include:
- Irene’s Sacred Corner
- Do You Have This Tool In Your Fibro Toolbox?
- “My Fibro Life in Pictures” – an interactive section with readers who are encouraged to submit photographs with explanations and contact information, based on the month’s theme
- Pain Distraction Activity – a printed mental activity or game, e.g., Word Search, Hidden Objects, Sudoku, Crossword Puzzle, which you can print out and play on your own.
- “Getting To Know Fibromate,…. shining the spotlight on a fibromate who has fibromyalgia and their personal journey, has learned life lessons because of their chronic invisible illness, and/or is giving back to their fibromyalgia community.
The newletter’s purpose is to be a source of inspiration, motivation and hope to all those who read it. We also hope that by sharing success stories, tips and strategies, you too can gain a more meaningful, purposeful life thriving with fibromyalgia. The articles are written by people living with fibromyalgia. Occassionally, we might invite an ally of the fibromyalgia community to write an article or two.
This initiative, however, will only work if this is a “two-way street”, i.e., we need you to do your part by:
- reading this monthly newsletter,
- providing feedback and comments on content, ideas, and suggestions for improvement, and
- participating in games, contests or regular activities within the newsletter, including submitting personal stories and photographs on life with Fibromyalgia.
Please email us anytime at admin@fibrosupportnetwork.com for more information, questions or submissions. We also invite indviduals interested in penning a story to email us with their suggestion and article. We would love to hear from you!
Jacqueline Fraser & Irene Roth ~ Co-Editors