In 2009 I decided that I needed to get a bit healthier and lose some extra pounds. I started to exercise and change my eating habits. After I accomplished that goal, I set my next goal which was to run a mini-marathon. I started training for that.
In January of 2010 I was losing weight, more than I needed to lose. I got to a very unhealthy weight of 120 pounds, which is way below where I should be for my height and body type. I started to have pain all over my body. I could not sleep and I was having digestive issues and chronic headaches.
I went to my doctor and she could not find anything wrong with me. I was so discouraged as I would spend the next year going back and forth with my doctor, who kept giving me antibiotics or more blood work only to find nothing wrong. She made me feel like it was all in my head. My family even made me feel like it was all in my head. I knew something was wrong. I was not crazy.
I finally got into a doctor who actually took the time to listen to me. He spent over an hour with me asking me various questions, digging for more and more information. This is something that my other doctor had never taken the time to do. He said I believe you have what is called Fibromyalgia. I was like, finally a diagnosis! He said he would need to run some blood work just to rule other things out, but he really felt this was what I had.
So now that I had a diagnosis, I could then take the next steps, but what were my options? There is no cure for Fibromyalgia. I would have to live with chronic pain for the rest of my life or I would have to be on medications for the rest of my life. I would have to constantly change my diet, and know that I will only get worse as the years go on.
I had two choices: I could let Fibromyalgia run my life or I could run my life. If I chose to let Fibromyalgia run my life, that would be me giving into the Red Platform. I would succumb to living on pain MEDs, not living life or changing my life. I was not even 40 yet; I had my whole life ahead of me. My next choice was to run my own life, which would be living on the Green Platform.
I chose the Green Platform. I was not going to let this be a negative in my life. I was going to make a positive out of it. Would it be hard? Yes, it would. Would I have to really pay attention to all the trigger points for a flare up? Yes, I would.
For me, these were small things to have to deal with in order to live my life the way I wanted to live. I spent the next year tweaking my diet and finding exercises that work for me. I continue to change my diet each year as new things pop up that I cannot tolerate, but to me these are minor things to change in order for me to live a positive life on the Green Platform.
So many times we give into the negative and venture to the Red Platform, especially when we are given something that is unknown. With Fibromyalgia, the unknown is the hardest. You don’t know what might cause a flare up until it happens, so you live in fear of doing anything for fear a flare up will occur. You are then giving into the negative side and letting yourself venture to the Red Platform.
If you embrace the unknown and just take it one day at a time, one thing at a time, you are then controlling the unknown. You are making the rules as I call them. I make the rules for how I want to live my life. I am living positive on the Green Platform as I refuse to let a chronic illness run my life.
Sometimes it just takes stepping back and analyzing things that are important to you. Once you do that, it is much easier to decide to live on the Green Platform.
Aimee Reese is passionate about administration and understands that behind every successful, high performing executive, there is a motivated, competent, efficient assistant. Aimee has trained and managed many assistants over her career in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about sharing her experience and helping others achieve their potential. Aimee is the founder of The Green Platform Assistant where she believes "In order for you to grow you have to start with knowing who you are". Aimee herself does have Fibromyalgia. Aimee lives in Kentucky with her husband Eric and two children.
Contact Aimee: aimee@thegreenplatformassistant.com