Hi, I’m Jessie. I run PALS East Bay, a non-profit in Oakland, Ca that provides free vaccine clinics every 4 weeks for low and no income pet families / companions in and around Oakland, CA. In between clinics, I primarily serve homeless people’s pets directly at their encampments. 

In November 2021, I was involved in a car accident. The other driver ran the red and hit me, making my Ford Explorer Platinum a total loss. 

Time passed, and my injuries evolved into Fibromyalgia. I had never heard of this before – I was relieved at first to get a diagnosis, because I kind of thought I was going crazy… The symptoms that I was living with were just unreal. 

I soon learned that Fibromyalgia was a trigger subject for many – and there were plenty of opinions ranging from it’s not a real thing to I must have been abused as a child & I’ve just repressed the memories. The Fibro Community itself has a wide range of opinions on medications and basically how you should live / eat / move. 

I’m not a medical doctor (or any kind of doctor lol) I’m just figuring out what works for me as I go and doing the best I can. If anything applies to your situation or someone you know, great. If not, that’s ok too – polite comments and conversations are encouraged. We’re all doing the best we can. I’d love to learn from others but we can do that while building each other up, not breaking anyone down. Be gentle please.

I have two really great kids, and some wonderful friends who have been incredibly supportive. I seriously don’t know how I’d have made it this far without them. Even when I choose to not do things / participate, just the understanding to let me be and knowing I can reach out at any time if I need something feels like a security blanket. I know that makes me luckier than many.