Best Friends

by Katie

The following is my first guest post, written by someone I am proud to call my best friend:

"Hello! My name is Katie, and I have been best friends with Ciara since 7th grade. Having such an amazing and inspiring friend has impacted my life beyond belief. When she was first diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I had no idea what it was, only that the symptoms can really take a toll on the life of its patients. After finding out that she had Fibromyalgia, I wanted to learn more about it, other than what I had heard from commercials. I wanted to know how it affects the person, mentally and physically. While researching the way it works, I realized how strong my friend is. Not only did she take various AP classes and was incredibly intelligent, she was friendly, and very rarely did she like to show her vulnerable side to others, including me. One day, Ciara asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital with her, to witness a doctor's appointment. Of course I said yes, wanting to take this opportunity to learn more about my best friend and this illness. When we got there, I felt like what I knew about fibro was only a tiny bit of it, and I only knew such a small amount about all the medical processes and medicine she takes. All this new information was a lot to take in. Honestly, I wanted to cry because, I didn’t know just how painful it was for her. I learned that there is a lot more to fibromyalgia than people think. This experience made me wonder "what can I do to help Ciara?". There isn’t much an abled person can do to help with stopping their pain, or helping them fall asleep, but I figured "I will do my best to make her happy, to make her laugh, and to give her a shoulder to cry on". Although I can be a major pain because I like cuddling, and she doesn’t, I hope she knows that I will always be there to support her and give her anything she needs.

Ciara, even if we’re on different sides of the country, I know we will always be best friends, and that fibro is part of you and may always be, but I want you to know that I will be there every step of the way."