Something kind of exciting has happened and I wanted to tell you about: I've applied for a new job!

Ok, I hear you say, that's not very exciting BUT for me, I promise you, this is BIG news!

I have an illness called Fibromyalgia, diagnosed when I was a teenager. I never want to be one of those whiney people who's forever going on about their health but in order to get to know me and my life I better explain a bit about it...

Fibromyalgia causes severe pain and stiffness in the joints, similar to arthritis, and general fatigue both of which leave you pretty incapacitated. Fibro affects every person slightly differently : I seem to have a particularly severe form that has been difficult to treat and left me feeling really unwell for long periods of time. Most significantly for me, Fibromyalgia placed severe restrictions on my mobility and I ended up having to use a wheelchair most of the time and needing quite a lot of care. Obviously this has meant I haven't been able to work for a number of years although I've tried really hard to fill my time with other meaningful activities like studying for a degree at home and doing some voluntary work when I've been able to. You shouldn't feel too sorry for me - I still have a very happy, postive, interesting life: one benefit to having so much time on my hands is that I've been able to devote lots of time to creative persuits! The hardest thing I've found about Fibromyalgia, to be honest, has been dealing with the overwhelming frustration I've felt at not being able to do the things I've wanted. I'm a very detirmined, stubbon perfectionist with high ambitions who sets very high standards for myself - I'm not good at dealing with 'no' or 'not yet'! Luckily this sheer force of will, although causing me a lot of frustration, has always kept me driven, optomistic and motivated and helped to carry me through but I've really had to learn patience too, and to accept my limitations.

However, it's by no means all doom and gloom: over the last twelve months I have seen significant improvements in my health. I'm finally on a course of medications that better control my symptoms and really intensive phsyiotherapy, mainly lots of yoga and swimming, have improved my mobility to near 100%. Most importantly, I've finally learnt how to manage my illness day to day: learning my limitations but at the same time learning how to persevere and push through. I still get lots of pain and fatigue, but somehow they just don't prove so much of a barrier as they used to.

Anyway....I've been feeling that I've finally reached a point in my rehabilitation when I can start thinking about returning to work, just a few hours a week to begin with. So this week I took a really big step and applied for a job! I know that it probably doesn't sound like such a big deal, but my confidence has taken quite a hammering over the last few years. It's really quite daunting filling in an application form when you've been out of work for so long, and hard writing about my disability in a way that is honest but doesn't sell myself short - I really don't want someone to take one look at my health record and write me off.

The position I've applied for is Librarian Assistant at the library of a local High School. The post is so perfect for me, the hours are just right and I'll be working with two of my favourite things: books and kids! The post involves helping to run the school library and learning resource centre, providing staff support and helping young people at the school with research projects and using the computers. It's term time only, three hours a day, five days a week which would still allow me to carefully manage my activity level and leave room for rest and on going physio.

Ooooh I'm so excited! The closing date was today so please keep your fingers crossed that I get an interview! I promise I'll keep you posted.......!

xx