Jeanne at Endo Blog sent me an email giving me a heads up on a video that is very emotionally charging. The video is published by the husband of a Fibromyalgia patient who committed suicide because she couldn’t stand the chronic pain any longer from Fibromyalgia. Suicide is not the answer to dealing with chronic illness but this just goes to show how desperate some people become because they are in such severe pain and are not believed by anyone.
Please watch the video below and listen to this grieving husband as he talks about how he wishes he would have believed his wife sooner and been there for her more. He mentions that Lisa wrote in her suicide note that one of the hardest things of living with chronic illness was that the people who were closest to her (family and friends) didn’t believe she was as sick as she was.
Please pass this video on to others.
Sandy,
Thank you for posting this!!
Hopefully enough people will write in to Oprah, as Lisa’s husband requested, to ask that fibromyalgia be featured on her show. I think an Oprah show on fibromyalgia could generate an immense amount of awareness of fibro. I also think it would help people understand it better… not just simply become more aware of it. It would be amazing if Oprah would do an entire hour on fibro!! Goodness knows it affects enough people… and so profoundly!!
I posted a second video from Lisa’s husband yesterday as an add-on to my blog post because I found the 2nd video after I had already posted the article. His second video is very powerful as well.
Jeanne
I have written to oprah also about the fibro issue and also the chronic lyme disease which I have suffered for over 20 years.
My story is similiar to Lisa, nobody believed me because I am an attractive woman and they said It was all in my head. I was told I had Manic depression.
After many doctors and many years of research I finally got my diagnose of Chronic Lyme disease which includes all the symptoms that Lisa had. It is not until I started treating the lyme disease with Alternative Methods that I started getting better. I am not well, still have a lot of daily pain, fatigue, insomnia, anger fits etc, but I am way better than I was 2 years ago.
I am sorry that Lisa suffered so much. I tried to commit suicide myself but did not succeed. The pain is real, absolute torture at times. I am in tears thinking about Lisa and knowing her suffering and the suffering of thousands and thousands of people that are ignored and treated like “Freaks”.
I will write to Oprah again and again to get this story out. May be with several requests she will finally get the word out about Fibro and lyme disease.
Patricia.
Thank you for sharing this. I understand all too well how people percieve those of us with “hidden” chronic illnesses. My heart goes out to this man, and I only hope is is able to overcome his guilt as empathy for those of us with these illnesses is a hard to come by thing. I am so fortunate that my DH understands as well as he does, but also understand what a rare thing that is.
That was very hard to listen to, and it really brings home the reality of people suffering from these kinds of condition.
Tragic.
Thank you so much for doing this. Fibromyalgia hurts so much and most days I feel as if no one understands. Please, someone get the medical fields attention. We aren’t just wanting drugs. But pain medicine can help us not hurt so much. The pain causes us to wonder why keep trying. You were so right when you said “it wasn’t depression which caused the fibro. But the pain and fatigue caused the depression. It is terrible when you fear going to the Dr. because you can’t take one more rejection. What happened to “doing no harm”? It is a 24 hour, 7 days a week painful life. On the rare chance, we feel almost normal, we will over do it because we are so excited that we actually feel able to do something. This really causes it to become worse. Also, I truly beleive that there are varying degrees of fibro. I have met people who said they have fibro, yet if doesn’t limit them very much. And then there are a lot of us whose life has been totally changed because of this fibro monster. Thank you.
I’ve had fibro and a horrible bladder disease called interstitial cystitis for 17 years. There is no cure and very little help. I am in my 40’s and feel 80. I am in severe pain and think about suicide all of the time. The established medical profession could care less about people like me. And writing to Oprah, Dr. Phil, The Doctors, Dr. Oz, Sanjay Gupta, etc., is a joke. I have written many times to try and bring awareness to these illnesses, but they all go unanswered. I am sorry your wife killed herself but at least she is no longer suffering.
I’ve had chronic severe eye pain for several years after having refractive eye surgery to correct my vision. It has destroyed most of my life and isolated me. No treatment has worked to help it. There are others like me but you don’t hear much about us. And the FDA still allows LASIK because most people do fine with it. I think suicide is in my future, but so far I keep hanging on. The act of suicide is just as horrifying as chronic pain, but it’s the only way to stop the pain. It’s hard to live without money too and I’m not sure what I’ll do if my disability doesn’t come through.
recently diagnosed. the is not a fun trip. Just spent a week in a psych unit after sharing my thoughts with my dr. good to see there are others. thanks, amy
Oh, so true…the pain and all the symptoms are bad enough to try to deal with. Then, the lack of support, and respect for how hard we are trying…just to hang on…Family, friends neighbors…judge this disease. Until you walk a mile in someones moccasins don’t judge. Compassion, empathy and basic respect…maybe even alittle help now and then!!
Dear Mary
I knows exactly how you feel. My mum finds me too much of a burden, I’m it sure as I hAve t had a diagnosis. She may thi k I’m just depressed. It is so hard carrying on with no support x
I couldn’t bare to watch the video. I have been diagnoised with fibro for the past 8 years. Even though the thought has passed my mind, I would never go through it for I am terrified of dying. I really wish that there was a worldwide awareness of this illness. Last night was probably the worst pain I had ever had. 1 1/2 hours of severe pain in my head. Not a headache but like an electric shock with amazing pain in the same place every 2 min. I too, because of the severity thought, what if I just jumped out the window or downed this whole bottle of percocet. Luckily, 2 percocet started to work after 1 1/2 hours, plus like I said, I am terrified of dying. When you think that one pain was the worst ever, something new comes along that becomes your new number 10. I just love when they asked the number question. LOL. One day I will come back to this sight and watch the movie but I just can’t right now. I know what my husband goes through with me and feel awful that he is put in this situation. I am so lucky that he loves me dearly to stick with me through this ordeal. Def. not how we planned our future when our kids left the nest. At the moment I am struggling with Social Security. It makes me sad that I have to fight for them to allow me on. Like we don’t have enough stress in our life as it is. We are struggling for I have been out of work for the past year do to this. I really wish people understood the pain and emotional rollercoaster we go through. Every day I think that some doctor is going to find a cure but deep down I see no hope. I think shows on tv would make people aware of the illness to raise money to find WHY this is happening to us. My prayers are with this man for I can not imagine what he is feeling and hope to god I never need my husband to be in his shoes.
Hi Becky – I completely understand where you are coming from. I could never go through with it either. I always hate that question of the pain scale. It is such an unrealistic way to describe our pain, in my opinion. Don’t give up with your Social Security – keep fighting. They almost always deny people and they want to make it hard to get what you have already paid in for. Email me if you need any help with that, okay?
I have fibro and the pain has destroyed my life. Im only 28 years old and i. So sick of this shit that i have tried to kill myself 4 times, last week i took 25 norcos. Which by the way dont really xo anything for my pain. I cant work, i cant get up on my own sometimes, i cant deal with having this for my whole life, if you can even call it that ny more. I completely understand what lisa iz going through
The saddest thing about suicide is the ones you leave behind
thank you everyone for your honesty and compassion. Tonight i lie here in bed seriously contemplating suicide. Every cell in my body is crying out in pain. I am 58 yrs young and have been a licensed social worker for 30 years. My greatest joy was knowing i had helped someone make peace with an abusive past, come through a debilitating depression with a joy for life or quietly knowing that my actions had saved a life. All of my family has passed away and while i have been blessed with wonderful friends, the isolation brought on by my constant all consuming pain is too much to bare. i am so sorry if u know me and this causes u any pain. Please forgive me.
a little late to know what her pain WAS like.
Thank you so much for this video. It took almost two years from the time my pain first started until I finally
received a diagnosis. The third doctor I seen told me
what was wrong with me. I had never heard of Fibromyalgia and had no idea how it would affect my
my life. At the age of thirty-five I know take seven different medications and am lucky if I get four hours
of sleep a day. Thankfully I have a supportive family, although with that said their understanding of what I
truly go through is limited. I have a sister who has RA,
and I felt that if anyone could relate to my pain it
would be her, to my surprise she did not. She did
however give me the best advise I received from anyone, and that was to find a support group. My
support person is my Angle, and she helps me through
everything. I personally feel that all Fibromyalgia patents should be part of a support group.
I feel sorrow for Lisa’s family and friends, especially, her husband. Fighting daily after short catnaps ranging from twenty minutes to an hour and a half. I don’t recall a time I’ve had a solid six to eight hours sleep. Love surgeries cause that’s the only time my pain is temporarily gone and I sleep through it. That’s the only time I truly feel I get rest, suppose I have a bit of insight why Michael Jackson came to use Propofol (may he rest in peace – sorry for his family the doctor didn’t even get what he truly deserve). I too lost a family member to murder, my brother, Daniel Calvillo, 04/24/94 and his murderer is alive and well. The D.A. granted him IMMUNITY for confessing he was the triggerman thatkilled my brother – many others were involved and yet noone is held accountable. I have a plethora of conditions.
Was in a history of car accidents including assault and battery by ex-husband and rapes. Now, I’m unable to work and want my life back. The old me was a “Type A,” personality and full of life. I would cram as much as I could do and take care of it all in one day. Now, I’m lucky if I can even get the strength to shower once a week. Life is not simple. People take others for granted. Unfortunately, it takes death to bring people together, or a new life. I would hope this video would be an “eye opener,” to media and the medical communities. There is NO JUSTICE. I too was thought of as a hypochondriac or pyschosomatic, then depressed. Took over three years to diagnose Fibromyalgia and the Chronic Fatigue. Had IBS since 80s along with Raynaud’s Phenomenon. Too many ailments and not enough emotional support or financial help to get through it. Makes life to date someone and hope a relationship comes out of it nearly impossible. Content to focus on raising my almost twenty-one y.o. girl, eighteen y.o. son, and almost sixteen y.o. son. I’m single, but not alone. I have a dog that’s my buddy ol’ pal and keeps me going. Got infected with an STD for life, genital herpes and the man that infected me said he’d marry me. How am I to marry someone I cannot trust? Rather be with my dog than someone untrustworthy. May God bless all who view the story of Lisa and I hope many people will start understanding this is a TRUE CONDITION.
I’m sorry for hs loss, but I am thankful for this video. God Bless This Man~
I completely understand this. I suffered from IC for 8 years before going into remission. The doctors and family members treated me horribly. People dont understand what these diseases do to the quality of life–you have none. I am sorry for Lisa and what her family is going through.
Fibromyalgia is lyme disease.
Fibromyalgia is a made up disease. 99.9% of those tested properly are positive for lyme and most have co-infections as well. Insurance companies are well aware of this and CDC is as well as big pharma who want to make more dough off of you as a long term patient married to drugs.