May 2017 Issue of F.U.S.E. Magazine May 2017 Issue | Page 17

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Nikki Brown (Olivia Harris-Brown) was
born to a Baptist Pastor and an Elemen-
tary Teacher on January 14, 1978. From
birth until now, Nikki has endured and
overcome more illnesses than the aver-
age person would face in a lifetime. She
was born with scoliosis, anemia, eczema,
had two hernia repairs, removal of a
fibroid, removal of her tonsils, stomach
ulcers, acid reflux, hypertension, scarlet
fever, chicken pox, internal bleeding,
internal bruises, developed asthma as an
adult, gestational diabetes, pancreatitis,
a cyst on her left breast, an enlarged
thyroid, and has suffered from depres-
sion and anxiety. These illnesses would
make her a prime candidate…In January
of 2015, Nikki was officially diagnosed
with fibromyalgia. However, the journey
began the previous year. In August of
2014, Nikki was sitting on the side of the
tub reaching in the tub to pull up the
stopper when she fell into the tub. It
took her two weeks to recover from this
accident. In October of 2014, Nikki was
coming out of the assistant principal’s
office at her job when she fell over a
group of chairs. She didn’t hurt much,
and did not want to deal with Work-
men’s Compensation again so she didn’t
file a report. Around fifth period the next
day, the pain began to intensify to the
point where she could barely walk. She
could not walk at all by the time she got
home and her husband had to carry her
inside the house. Nikki sat on the couch
for three hours, because she was unable
to walk. Her husband rubbed her down,
gave her a heating pad, an ice pack, and
some pain medicine. The pain began to
subside but only a little bit. The next day
Nikki went to her doctor who gave her a
Cortisone shot.Originally, Nikki was di-
agnosed with Sciatica and started physi-
cal therapy, which did not help her be-
cause she did not have Sciatica. Nikki
suffered from before.
was losing weight, because she couldn’t
keep down most foods, and was in stren-
uous pain. She was unable to take care Create an exercise schedule. Exercise for
of her family or herself, which made her a person with fibromyalgia is not hard
core! You take baby steps. Do what is
angry and depressed. She could no long-
comfortable
for you and then progress.
er do the things that she was normally
Nikki started out walking around the
accustomed to doing such as grocery
block once and then progress to add
shopping, washing laundry, cooking for
more rounds.
her family, etc. She hated her life and
felt inadequate as a mother and as a
wife. Nikki could no longer play with her
Get in touch with your inner self. Nikki
children and was constantly falling due
began practicing gentle yoga while lis-
to her legs giving out on her. Nikki was
tening to ocean waves. It is important to
miserable and did not know what was
stay calm as much as possible, because
wrong with her for months, until she
getting upset can trigger joint pain.
was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which
she had never heard of before.
Nikki’s life began to turn around in Janu-
ary 2015 when she was diagnosed with
fibromyalgia and became gluten free.
Most people associate Celiac with being
gluten free, because many people with
fibromyalgia do not realize that gluten is
part of the reason why they are ill most
the time. Her doctor told her that she
would have fibromyalgia for the rest of
her life because there wasn’t a cure, but
she refused to allow an illness to over-
take her life. Yes, this illness is still new
in the medical world. Based on her re-
search, it has only been around since the
1980’s. The key is learning how to man-
age the illness and not allow the illness
to manage you:
Get proper rest every day, even if you
add a nap into your daily schedule. Rest
is so important to keeping your bones
from hurting.
Free yourself vocally. Nikki’s physician
told her that it would be best to tell
those around her about her illness so
that they would understand why she
makes some of her decisions, which may
seem odd. Nikki has a family at home
and at work that supports her fully, but
allows her to do for herself.
Be true to you. Nikki has learned how to
“keep it real” for the sake of her own
individuality. She isn’t apologetic for
asking questions when it comes to food
or food preparation. She isn’t apologetic
for not participating in activities such as
marathons or sporting events. She does
what she is comfortable with and not
what makes others happy.
Enjoy life! Having fibromyalgia does not
mean that your life is over. Nikki lives
what she believes is an ordinary life. She
is an author, spends time with her hus-
Figure out what you can and cannot eat.
band, plays with her children; partici-
Nikki is lactose intolerant and gluten
pate in ministries at church, and works
free. By cutting out foods with lactose
full time as a Language Arts’ teacher.
and gluten, she does not have the severe
tummy and back problems that she