About My Fibromyalgia Website and Why it Came to Be

Hello! My name is William Wallmuller... But please, I prefer that you just call me Bill.

This Website describes my struggle with forty [40] years. For most of this time I have truly felt like I was living on the "fringe of life. I think those that share my experience can and would understand what I am attempting to describe by the term, "living on the fringe of life".

I have [for reasons discussed later on this page] published this Website titled Managing My Fibromyalgia® due to a fervent desire to help others in their struggle with fibromyalgia symptoms and other similar chronic illness.

My hope is that by sharing with the readers some history about my engaging my fibromyalgia symptoms and sharing how having fibromyalgia has changed my life and relationships, will give others some hope and allow many of those suffering know that they are not alone in this struggle.

My walk with FMS has definitely had its ups and downs. I have been actively looking for answers about my symptoms since about 1978, when I first decided to investigate the symptoms that I had been increasingly experiencing since I was a young adult. Like most people who have endured the fibromyalgia journey, I have spent an enormous amount of time, money and valuable energy seeking solutions, comfort and understanding from the medical profession, natural healing experts, the spiritually minded, family and friends, and any other sources that would listen and show promise of helping, Needless to say, I usually came up with many more questions than answers.

Certainly, the first part of my fibromyalgia journey was the toughest and the part in which I did the most soul searching. It was spent in doubt not knowing why I felt the way I did nor having a name for the my illness. I do not know how many times I was given a possible name for my condition [e.g.: polymyostis, myopathy, fibrositis, reiter's syndrome, even depression, etc.] only to have it ruled out by process of elimination. Sounds familiar, right? My family and I even tried relocating from Bellmore New York to Stafford County Virginia hoping a change would clear the deck and also help find some answers to my many unanswered questions. Yes, we even went to this extreme having no where else to turn. Virginia was good to us and we have never regretted making the move when we did.

I do not have to tell you that in my being the husband, father of two children, and primary bread winner, how difficult it was for me to come to grips with my fibromyalgia condition and carry on with my responsibilities.

Half way through my journey on the fringe, I decided to change my focus and am thankful I did! I gave up looking for names and a cure. After all, some time had passed and my condition did not seem to be fatal. My best bet was to deal with and treat my symptoms as they occurred whether they had physical, emotional or even, yes, spiritual causes.

It was probably good that I changed my focus when I did... Life, as it has a way of doing, ended up throwing more challenges in front of our path. After our children became adults, my wife was faced with the challenge with four major cancer surgeries and a quadruple heart bypass. I have become a primary caregiver and besides facing down the beast fibromyalgia had to be treated [successively] for prostate cancer. My wife Nancy and I moved to Oviedo Florida in late 2009, after her total gastrectomy and before heart heart surgery, so we could better deal with our health problems and the financial challenge of both of us being on disability by this time. I share our reasons for and more details about this chapter in our lives elsewhere in this Website.

It is the aim of this Web site to share some of the ways that I am dealing with my problems and symptoms due to fibromyalgia. I hope that sharing these experiences may help someone who is facing similar problems. You must understand, that no matter how you or I feel at the time, we are not alone in this struggle. We can and should reach out to one another in empathy and share our common experiences, successes and setbacks.

I know that we are all individuals and because of that reason some tips may be more helpful to some than others. We share many of the same symptoms but because we are individuals we also will have some symptoms and situations unique to each of us.

"He or she who is content with little possesses everything."

Web Site Concept.... Why This Web Site Was Developed

This fibromyalgia Website was conceived to fulfill my desire to help others like myself dealing with fibromyalgia. There were several occasions where I was not able to work at my regular employment due to my condition. One occurrence was in July 2001. I, with the help of my employer at that time, Merchants Tire Inc., was able to return to work at an alternate position with different and fewer stressful responsibilities than I had prior to taking sick-leave. The position was better suited to my physical condition the way it actually was at the end of February 2002. Of course, with the lessening of responsibilities came a sizable decrease in compensation. Never the less, I am grateful to Merchants Tire Inc. and especially two individuals [Graham Hawkins and Stan Strickland] for changing my job description to accommodate my condition and allow me the chance and the dignity of earning a living.

Please bookmark this Web site and check back with us from time to time for any changes and additions that are made in order to accommodate any new information and updates.

If this Web site is not one of the slickest sites you have seen, nor has the appearance of being designed by top notch Web Artists, we apologize.... But, we WILL NOT apologize for the sweat, hard work, heart and soul that have been poured into its creation by our effort on behalf of fellow fibromyalgia sufferers; by our desire to share my experience as an example and encouragement to others who are going through the life changing challenges of this disorder. Please visit us as often as you can and participate with us in this endeavor.

Or you could use the convenience of PayPal by clicking the Donation button below.

Helping Us To Help Others...

Disclaimer Notice: The Managing My Fibromyalgia® Web site does not endorse any medical/legal practitioners, medical products, or health care services. Readers should consult their own health care professionals for medical advice and treatment.

"Humor is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles."

More About My Fibromyalgia.. Information is the Key!