“I come to the bay to relax. I worked for a police department until I fell off a curb in a parking lot in 2006. I messed up my back and my neck. I was 32 and missed so many days of work that I had to quit my job and go on disability. It was hard for the doctors to diagnose that I have Fibromyalgia.  I do what I can and some days are good and some days are bad. Fibromyalgia is an overactive nerve issue that causes fatigue and makes you more sensitive to pain. There are headaches and body aches like the flu. It feels like bruises on my body. Bad days I can’t get out of bad and anything can trigger it. I try to push through it and do the best I can. I am praying for a cure. 

Life changes so fast. Before I stepped off that curb, life was good and I was happy. I gained a lot of weight because of all of the medications. I knew nothing about disability until I needed it. It doesn’t pay much and you can’t survive on your own with it. People look at me and think there is nothing wrong with me and I don’t want them to know that my life is not normal. I live with my mother and do grocery delivery on good days to earn a little money. I am lucky to have my mother. I would love to live on my own again, but I don’t think that is going to happen. Disability isn’t good for a dating life. Most guys aren’t interested when they hear that word. I am enjoying life while I can on the good days because the bad days are going to hit.”