Sometimes, life isn’t fair. Sometimes, people get things that they don’t ask for. Maybe it’s just a way to test ourselves, to see it we’re strong enough, but it definitely isn’t fair that it happens to good, innocent people. Are our lives planned out for us? Set in stone no matter what? Maybe it’s like we were randomly selected for our struggles, some as little as a broken hand at a piano recital. Others as hard as addictions, rape, illness or maybe even all three. Or maybe, we weren’t selected; we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe if we had waited just a few more minutes or even seconds, our lives would be completely different. Of course, there’s no way to know. We can only make good decisions and hope for the best. This being said, I am completely unsure as to why my sister has a life like she has.

Ashley, for as long as she can remember, has been exhausted; never felt like she’s had enough rest no matter how long she sleeps. Whenever she’s sick, she gets really sick and it lasts weeks longer than it should. Also, she’s always, always in pain. She (mostly her legs) is tender, sore, weak and sensitive to the touch. She used to have excruciating growing pains while younger and even bumps on the road while driving are uncomfortable. When Ashley was little, she would complain that she was sick and would ask to stay home so many times during the school years. We would just think that she was faking, or exaggerating so my Mum wouldn’t always stay home with her. Now, we see that she was telling the truth. There is definitely something wrong with her. Ashley hasn’t had a pain free day since September 2008. She has been unable to be at school since November of that year. We don’t even know for sure if she will be able to go next year. The worst part is, we can’t even hug her. That friendly gesture is supposed to make someone feel better, well, not in this case. It just hurts her more. I want to be able to hug my sister again.

Nobody knows what she has. At first, she had tests done that ruled out bad illnesses, and the only conclusion the doctors could come up with was Fibromyalgia. The thing is, many doctors don’t even believe in Fibromyalgia. The doctors that do can’t do anything about it. They just give you pain medication and say “Sorry, you’ll just have to live with it.” We don’t think that way. When this type of medical action wasn’t working, we turned to natural paths and things like that. But all that led to was diets and expensive pills from the health food store. So we stopped; it wasn’t working anyway. Now, we were really getting frustrated. Our family doctor seemed to have given up. Ashley soon switched to a new doctor who was willing to take on her “case”. She has made all the difference. She has taken her to specialists, had different, more intense tests done, and has gone out of her way to help. Though, we are nowhere nearer to finding out what is wrong. Nothing has shown up on the tests and we are more frustrated then ever. Do you realize how hard it would be to be a teenage girl going through your senior years at high school sitting at home all day, and sometimes the only other person you talk to besides your family, is your teacher? Sure, Ashley learns the academic part of school but the social parts of it, friends, is what is really hard for her. “Out of sight, out of mind.” She says. We are still trying, never the less. We won’t give up until we get another diagnosis besides fibromyalgia. There is hope.

Ashley, having gone through this, is a very strong person. Not many could be as eager and willing to get better than she is. She hates needles, yet she had gotten so my blood tests, she’s almost used to it. She has made me feel like I should never give up. I know Ashley won’t. Because of her, I’m not going to sit around and wait for things to solve themselves because that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, you don’t have any control about what happens in your life but you can always try to change that and her life with change, I’m sure of that.