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By: Paul Hadsall, editor
May 17, 2008

The News Record, The Patriot, and The Atom Tabloid & Citizen~Gazette

Rahway Resident Raises Awareness Of Chronic Disease
RAHWAY Earlier this month, the Union County Fibromyalgia Support Connection hosted an event at the Rahway Public Library to build awareness of the chronic condition.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain, according to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. The disease is more common in women than men and also causes memory and concentration issues as well as sleep disruption.
Lillian Aragones, a Rahway resident who founded the support group last September, said that having the disease is "like being on a rollercoaster you always have your ups and downs." The severity of symptoms can vary greatly from day to day with periods of flare-ups and remission. On a good day, Aragones said that she can do just about anything that she used to, though there is always some level of pain. On bad days, she can't get up in the morning and is so disoriented she won't even realize where the day went.
The former schoolteacher first started to experience symptoms of Fibromyalgia following a 1989 car accident, but she wasn't diagnosed with the disease until several years later. Doctors initially thought that she was suffering from whiplash or a back injury. Aragones said that receiving the diagnosis was bittersweet feeling. On the one hand, it gave her a name for the condition that had permanently changed her life. On the other, there is no cure for Fibromyalgia.
Aragones said that there a variety of treatments for the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, including Pregabalin (Lyrica), an anti-seizure medication that is the first drug approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration to treat the disease. However, she has been following an alternative medicine program which has provided her with more relief than the drugs did.
The keys to dealing with Fibromyalgia, according to Aragones, are acceptance and taking control. It's important to accept that there are things that you just can't do anymore, Aragones said. She had to give up working as a school teacher because she experienced too many bad days and could no longer do the job. However, she refused to let the disease take over her life that's part of the reason that Aragones formed the Union County Fibromyalgia Support Connection.
The support group, which meets once a month in Linden, has 15 registered members from Union, Middlesex and Somerset counties. Although they can't always attend meetings due to distance and flare-ups, an average of four to five group members attend each meeting. Aragones offers phone and internet support to those members who can't attend the meetings. She is not a doctor, but she can provide information about her own experience with Fibromyalgia and referrals to medical personnel for people who are seeing medical advice.
For more information about the Union County Fibromyalgia Support Connection, call Aragones at 732-499-9028 or email
CAPTION
Dr. Patrick Pucciarelli of Doctor's Care Pain Management Clinic in Linden speaks about Fibromyalgia at an event at the Rahway Public Library in May.

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Paul Hadsall, editor
CMD Media
The News Record, The Patriot, and The Atom Tabloid & Citizen~Gazette
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