Smile, it's painless!

This post was originally for "family" only, because I wasn't ready to deal with this publicly at the time. Now I want to let all my friends here on Mindsay know why I haven't been blogging very much lately. The answer is simply that I've been in too much pain and now I know why. I'm asking all of you for special prayer for myself and for Gene as we both learn to cope with this illness.

Here's the original post:

Most of you know that I've had Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis for a long time. Well, the pain has become almost unbearable at times and I finally had some x-rays done that confirmed a diagnosis we suspected. I have a rare form of osteoarthritis called Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) also called Forestier's Disease. This disease actually turns ligaments and tendons around the spine (and other joints) into bone causing the joints to fuse. I have two fused vertebrae and three more are almost fused.

There's no cure for DISH and it could lead to paralysis.The only treatment is pain mangement and/or surgery if I start to experience loss of feeling or movement in any part of my body (surgery may or may not help).

Please pray for my endurance and patience, also for Gene as he tries to cope with this, too. I told him I'll probably end up as his "trophy wife"...I'll freeze up and he can just stand me in a corner somewhere!

God knows what he's doing and I trust him completely. He knows just what each of us can handle, which often turns out to be more than we think we can. I haven't decided when I'm going to let the rest of my friends know about this. I think I need some time to get used to it first. Thank you for your prayers.

Connie