It is my job to talk about living with someone with Fibro but, first of all, let me set the scene. Things have changed a lot for Susan and me since Fibromyalgia became part of our lives.
When I first met Susan in November 2013, she had not been diagnosed with Fibro and, for roughly two years, we led a normal life together. Susan was healthy and had such an outgoing personality. Her many interests kept her busy when we were not spending time together as a couple. These included singing in the church choir, doing panto with the church stage group, genealogy and crafting.
The First Year
In our first year together as a couple, we would do things at the weekend like going for a walk at Roundhay Park in Leeds or visiting a craft fair. Sometimes we would simply spend time together out of the house, enjoying the outdoors when the weather permitted.
I proposed to Susan on 8th April 2014 at one of our favourite spots in Roundhay Park, overlooking the small waterfall in the woods.
Our first holiday to Cornwall
In the autumn of 2014, we went on our first real holiday together. We spent ten days in one of the most beautiful parts of England, with Cornwall as our destination. It was a camping holiday at a site in Penhale.
We did many walks and visited four English Heritage sites. The first was Tintagel Castle. At the time, getting to the castle from the town was quite a journey. It was only about half a mile, but it was steep, and when you got to the bottom, that was where the fun began. There were more than 100 steps up to the courtyard.
As I say, this was before Susan had any symptoms of Fibro and we both enjoyed the walk and the climb so that we could explore the ruins of Tintagel and see the wonderful views from the top.
I think back now and realise how lucky we were to have been able to do this together before Susan’s symptoms hit her, as there would be no way she could complete that journey today.
The second and third sites were St Mawes and Pendennis Castles. Both involved a lot of walking and climbing steps but, again, it was well worth the effort. The fourth site, Restormel Castle, was a smaller affair, although it still involved plenty of walking.
While we were in Cornwall, we also took the opportunity to do some genealogy and fill in a few gaps in Susan’s family tree. We visited churches in Lansallos and Lanteglos by Fowey, and this proved very fruitful. We managed to find information on more than a dozen family members, which involved more walking and negotiating the uneven ground around hundred-year-old graves.
We had plans to continue visiting churches and graveyards to do further research on both sides of our family trees, but due to Fibro, this has been put on the back burner.
The Next Stage of Life With Fibromyalgia
When we returned from holiday, life continued much as it had before. We went for a walk most weekends, socialised with family and friends and enjoyed life together as a couple.
In my next post, I will talk about the next stage of our journey and the transition from fit to Fibro from my perspective as Susan’s husband.
Take care,
Michael