Chronic Pain Friends International

My name is Mosken and I live in Norway. I am running the online support group Friends International. The group was founded by my American friend Linda and myself in 2001. We are two women living on different sides of the Earth, who met in cyberspace and built a cyberhome for people with chronic pain.

Linda once said: - Mosken and I have a dream, to have this little town in cyberspace, for all who are in need. That they can come and feel the comfort of having people around that understand our huge obstacles.

Our friendship was the foundation of the group. Today, the Friends board has grown to be a busy online community with people from around the world supporting each other. Read about Friends International in Wikipedia. Visit our new websites and Friends International website.

The website has several pages in English,

Norwegian,

one page in German

and a photo gallery.

Friends International is a non-profit, member based online community for people with different kind of health problems. The daily result depends on the members. Our message board is a joint effort of volunteers who support each other. You are welcome to visit us!

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity."

Our support group is based on the "Pillars Of Self-Help":

• Self-help builds on the participant's own innate resources.

• Everybody participates at their own risk.

• The group is based on give-and-take, equal worth, and tolerance.

• The group is based on active participation, not on the role of a passive recipient.

• The forum is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a qualified medical professional.

Linda and Mosken in Norway California Norway Linda and Mosken shopping, Mosken on her wheelbench

Most of the members have chronic pain, back pain, Fibromyalgia (FMS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS, ME), EBV or other immune disorders. Though there may be no cure for us, we believe we are able to improve our lives. We believe in mutual motivation to improve our health, learning to know different cultures and countries, making new friends, teaching and sharing computer skills graphics and interacting around the virtual world. We believe this may distract us from pain and misery and help us build an upbeat community!

Why do we include so many different diagnoses in our group? First of all we don't want to exclude people being chronic ill because they don't have any diagnoses yet. I myself didn't have a diagnoses for many years. Also because many people with a chronic disease often have several diseases at the same time. Sometimes the medical world doesn't know if these diseases are related, wether they are the same disease to begin with or have the same cause.

The story of how Friends International was created....

Linda used to be a US rated athlete volleyball player in California. She once lead a very active life with sport and also raising two children together with her husband. Until suddenly one day her life was changed forever by a disabling illness. She had surgery for her spinal stenosis in her neck, but her life was never to be the same again. She was also struck with chronic EBV mono virus and later got the diagnoses Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FMS). After some years she lead a life constantly battling pain, fever and fatigue. She finally had to stop playing volleyball and her life activities became gradually more limited. Linda found herself living with a disabling, but invisible disease. It was hard for other people to understand. She still looked the same…..

Mosken was an active cross country skier in Norway and a lawyer for the Norwegian Government for many years. She also lived an active life until she was struck with disabling chronic pain. She successfully battled the limitations for many years, but finally had to give in and became bedridden because of persistant backpain. No hospitals or doctors in Norway were able to help her. Mosken had to stop working as a lawyer and stayed home with her two children. Her life became more and more isolated and miserable. She was not able to participate in any activities and was totally dependant on her husband for help. Until one day a handy man built her a computer stand over her bed. A lap top connected to the Internet opened a new window for her to join the world again.

Linda and Mosken "met" through an online support group and started conversing with each other whenever the different timezones allowed. After a while they had seen enough of the ugliness the Internet can offer. Spammers, hackers and people wanting to flame, disrupt and upset other people rather than support and discuss. One of their teenagers explained there is only one way of having a secure place on the Internet; You have to build and run the site yourself. They decided to create a non profit online community for people living with chronic pain. Linda travelled to the other side of the Earth to finally meet the other woman…. She barely survived the trip by the help of pillows and lots of rest afterwards. The meeting was however above any doubt, a great success. They shared their visions and dreams and were determined to make their online support group a place for people from all over the world to meet, share information and research, and battle their disease and pain.