Marlee, I am so sorry you have been feeling so bad for so long. I have a very old and dear friend, who has lived far away for awhile, we write back & forth. But in all these yrs, she never told me she had FMS till after I mentioned I was dx w/ it. I was telling her how miserable I felt w/ it and she said I should also get ck'ed for celiac. She has both and she has to be very careful w/ her diet. Her son had a lot of problems w/ adhd and foods and such growing up. They went to so many drs to get help. Finally, they put the family on a gluten free diet, it was expensive, so the son stayed on it all the time and the other three members rotated on the diet. It made a big difference in the boy's health, not so much in the other three - duh!!
Now her children are all grown, older than mine. She and her husband keep to this diet and are seeing a big difference in their lives. She plays on 2 volleyball leagues - I hurt just thinking about it, and I love VB.
I think there are so many of these stupid illnesses just seem to hit us when our bodies are down.
Sherrine is right, there are sections in the stores for gluten free foods. I have had students w/ this and their parents always had to provide their lunches from home, no school lunches or treats. I know this is a pain, but hopefully, this diet will help you to feel so much better.
I have had several stomach surgeries and each time I was given a pillow from the hospital to hold against my stomach for when I had to cough or sneeze. I also use it when I get hit w/ costo. You could use a bed pillow or a throw pillow, whichever is closest. I have the problem w/ adhesions, like Sherrine mentioned, it's not pretty.
Personally, I think FMS worms its way into every aspect of our lives. Then again, I've had FMS all my life and I have IBS, too. They both got worse after surgeries, especially the last one. That one literally brought me to my knees. My family has problems w/ autoimmune illnesses, way too many to dismiss that they are not interrelated.
When you took your getaway awhile back for your son's retirement, you seemed to come back invigorated. Maybe you and Ken really need to get away, this has been a very rough yr for the two of you. I do hope you can manage to get away. It might be just the medicine for both of you. You know your house and the 'girls' will be cared for properly. As soon as you come back from Sherrine's and return the RV to your neighbor, you should think about packing and hi tailing it out of town. Whatever happens at Sherrine's, stays at Sherrine's. Heaven knows, collectively we won't remember anything, so we won't tell the cops where you are going.
Joking aside, I do hope you are feeling better soon, I don't like when you don't feel well. You are too dear a lady to be feeling so bad. You are in my prayers, my friend.
God bless. Alice.