April Support Group Meeting & Advice about Returning to College

Dear FMS Friends,

Our April meeting for Spartanburg, SC, has been rescheduled to Saturday April 17 instead of April 10. I hope you all will come out to hear Nancy, our guest speaker, give us pointers on nutrition and FMS symptoms. She is driving all the way from Seneca to visit with us, so let's make an effort to be at this meeting. I also have a great hand-out about different foods and their benefits to our health.

I also wanted to discuss a question presented to me in an email. If any of you are considering returning to college, you may want to take these suggestions on how to cope with the addition of stress from college courses and keeping your firbromyalgia under control.

Here's what I recommended:

Ask the Office of Disabilities and Learning Differences at the college about getting a note taker for days you will miss because of Fibro flares. Take a doctor's diagnosis on letterhead from your Primary Care Doctor or your Rheumatologist. Also take a Fact Sheet about FMS from the NFA website http://www.fmaware.org/ . Get classified as a Special Needs Student under the ADA.


Get a medium to small size rolling book bag and take the elevator whenever possible or handicap ramps. Pack a thin square pillow or seat pad to cushion the bottom of classroom chairs--they are usually hard as rocks. Only pack what you will need that day--a few sheets of paper for notes in a folder that you can transfer to a larger binder kept at home.

Ask the instructor if you can record the lessons since you may have trouble writing for long periods without getting hand cramps and fatigue. Ask for any copies of hand-outs to be kept by someone who is in the class whenever you are absent or make your professor aware you will need these at the next class. Ask about make up quiz and test policies since you may have a number of absences. Be sure you have been classified as a special needs student first before speaking to your instructor.

Sit near the front and center to avoid distractions and to see better. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Take no more than two courses per semester and do not take them on the same days to avoid overlapping memory problems. You will have more on your plate than you can handle if you sign up for more than two courses per regular term! For summer, take only one course for the full summer term--no compressed mini-terms.

Go to the library and make sure you know how to access full magazine articles and the card catalog electronically from home through the internet. Ask about the lending library policy from other institutions if it is a state university or college.

Get a handicap parking sticker from the office for driving licenses. You must have a note from your doctor or rheumatologist stating a need for one. Parking long distances from your classroom is only going to tire you out more. Save your energy for classroom time.

Linda B. Greer
Volunteer NFA Support Group Leader
Spartanburg, SC