George B.: I think it must be something that every person must cope with when the one you love, your wife, your love of your life, partner in nearly everything, begins to have problems in nearly everything they do.

When you're first faced with the fact that pain and sleep loss has made life much more difficult for your partner, you wonder, is it age catching up with your partner? Is there something wrong? Is it something that can be fixed with a pill?

At first, questions abound and answers are few. Next is the testing, the questions, the searching, and then finally, if you're lucky enough to have a doctor with the interest to keep up on the latest in ailments and treatments, you have a diagnosis in this case FMS.

Living with a partner suffering with FMS can be a very frustrating experience. One lesson I was taught in the U.S. Marine Corps many years ago was that you never leave your comrades behind. You only travel as fast as the slowest member of your unit.

Gail D.: My twenty years as an energetic, busy, enthusiastic pharmaceutical sales representative required that I constantly "think on my feet." Within three months of the onset of FMS, I was on disability from my sales job. Instead of thinking "on my feet," I was forgetting where clients' offices were, and drawing a blank when asked even the most basic questions about my products. The fatigue and physical discomfort of my FMS has reduced my productivity substantially. … I have difficulty following a conversation, and am distracted very easily now.

Maryann C.: As I look from the outside in I see more than ever how vital it is to be able to participate in life with others. Sharing and being a part of each other's day to day events is so important. It is what nurtures and sustains all relationships. It is what keeps us bonded to each other. It is what makes life worth living. I am unable to do this. This illness has pushed me into uncharted territory, where no one wants to visit. It is an isolated and lonely world that most people do not understand, even those that are closest to me.

Trevor W.:'One smile and he could change my tears to laughter' words from the song 'Oh mien Papa'

Yes there was the day when Papa could just do that, when Papa was Superman.

But then watching a daughter grow weaker day by day… Nine years on, I see it as an unlimited prison sentence, which not only affects the prisoner, but the prisoner's family.

Everything has to be planned round visiting times, or, when she is well. The only thing that can be planned are my fundraising events to support research and awareness, during which often I think, 'oh for cure, an end to it all and a return to normality'.

Josie O'C.: I was never able to attend high school and experience all of the joys and sorrows that it entails. I've never been to a party with both boys and girls. I've never been on a date. Not because my parents didn't allow it, but because I was too sick to sit through a movie. I went from an active, vibrant, social, well adjusted 11 year old girl to a shut in and I will probably be a shut in for the rest of my life. … I am determined that I will get a college degree in spite of the disease even if it takes a decade. Unfortunately, that is probably how long it will take since currently I can only take one course a semester. ... I will find a way to contribute to society. That is my dream now.

Karen G.: I used to love to do flower and veggie gardening-now it is too much of a task-but I still try-and it ends up getting neglected due to day to day maybes.