My name is Anastasia and I am Chronically Fabulous.

        I have a severe disabling chronic illness. I set up this site so that I could ask for practical and financial assistance with my struggle
        for health, and so that I could help others by providing information, support, encouragement and even .... entertainment.

        A diagnosis of chronic illness is scary, serious and... sobering. As people with an "invisible" illness, we struggle to get the world
        to take us seriously. As a result, the sites out there dealing with this end up somber, un-stylish, and sometimes depressing.

One day as I was complaining to a new friend about all the pain, fear and loss that colors my life with chronic illness, trying to explain how awful, awful, awful, it all is, he put his hand on my shoulder and said to me, "You may be chronically ill, but you are the most fabulous chronically ill person I've ever met!" Thanks to those words, Chronically Fabulous is dedicated to facing the overwhelming stark reality of chronic illness with humor, wit, style and glamour.
Because you may or may not be chronically ill, but you can always be chronically fabulous.

If you want to know more about me prior to volunteering or donating, or if you are just curious about the person who made this site, then:

I prefer to think that you will learn about me by reading through the site, and I write about myself only when it has a larger purpose of explaining some aspect of chronic illness. However the shortcut approach is to read the beginning of my Please Help page for an explanation of my experience with FMS; I don't look sick for why I, ahem, don't "look" sick; and visit my Blog where I recommend the tags "personal" and "rant" among others.

If you suspect you have FMS, if you are researching FMS and want a different perspective, or if you are just curious what this is all about, then:

For the more medical explanation of what the illness really is, go to my FMS page, and for more detailed explanations and theories, I have gathered the best sites in the Medical section of my Resources page. If you want to know what it really feels like to live with FMS, check out my Blog, especially the entries tagged "pain" and "symptoms." If you want to know how having FMS, or another invisible illness, can affect your life, I recommend reading and/or subscribing to my Blog. The focus of the Blog is the psychological impact of chronic illness and invisible disability.

If you want support and assistance in dealing with the effects of FMS on your life and relationships, then:

I hope this entire site will be useful to you. In particular, I recommend that you read my Blog, which is devoted to the psychological effects of chronic illness, featuring many useful ways of dealing with the impact of illness, and overcoming other people's negative reactions and judgments. Check the Psychological section of my Resources page for more. You may also Contact me if you would like to share your questions or feelings with me personally.

To HELP HELP HELP ME!

If anything on this site has touched your heart, affected you, helped you or a loved one, then:

please please please MAKE A DONATION