An Open Letter Regarding Lady Gaga

I made a bad decision the other day: I decided to read the comments in an about Lady Gaga's decision to cancel the rest of her tour due to severe pain.  And let's have an honest moment where we all recognize that reading comments is often a bad idea, right?  The negative comments seems to be in three parts:

1. Fibromyalgia isn't real
2. Fibromyalgia is real, but she's a wimp/diva 
3. Fibromyalgia is being used as an excuse to do something else. 

As for #s 1 and 3, I just don't have time for these people.  What enraged me was the woman who stated that she has fibromyalgia, but still makes it to work each day and if she could do that then Lady Gaga could finish her tour.  That it was a combination of fame and money that allows Lady Gaga to play the diva and leave thousands of people in the lurch for hotels booked and flights arranged in order to see her show.  That she was being a wimp.

My Body is a Wonderland

When I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, my gastroenterologist told me that I may never get better and recommended that I take a medication to help my stomach function.  The first recommendation was an antibiotic with every meal.  I didn’t want to do this, so she then recommended taking Reglan, a medication that hospitalized my maternal grandmother for weeks.  She and I have had parallel reactions to several medications, so I was wary of trying it.  Her last try was a non FDA approved medication that would have to be made a compound pharmacy, and not covered by insurance.  Now, I know the FDA is far from perfect, and that there are a lot of medications that are not approved here but are in Europe, but my fear was what if this drug worked?  I’d then be stuck paying completely out of pocket for who knows how long...and so I declined again.   I told her I read that it could be controlled by diet, and I’d like to try that first.  After this appointment I called the nurse, not sure if I was supposed to make a follow-up appointment.  Apparently, since I refused medications, the doctor didn’t need to see me again.