It's taken me over 2 years to make this post and I still don't feel completely ready. But in Dec of 2020 I was injured and was unable to do my photography or continue the candle making with my lovely kiddos and felt I left you all hanging (except family ) on why we've been MIA. I will spare you all the details of what I've been through and continue to go through daily, but will share a little about the injury that caused a rare, non curable, disabling, progressive, extremely painful disorder. LONG story short, I broke my foot and it caused a disorder called CRPS. It used to be called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and is now called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome CRPS. This disorder has caused bone resorption which has caused me to have severe Osteoporosis and the CRPS also progressed to CSS -Central Sensitization Syndrome (lots of abbreviations ) There is a long list of symptoms for each disorder the injury caused, that is way to long to list and to be honest....probably no one really cares to hear. In short, your nervous system is malfunctioning and beyond the burning fire of pain that never stops there are extremely painful symptoms you have to deal with daily. As you know, your nervous system controls your entire body and so the CRPS even effects your organs. This is why you are pretty much having to deal with everything under the sun when it comes to pain and different symptoms. Not many understand this horrific disorder which makes it even harder to deal with. There are no medications that will help and the suffering is overwhelming. I feel that I need to share a little about this disorder to bring more awareness and understanding to CRPS. Since Dec 2020 I've never been able to walk again. I was bed ridden for 18 months and am still in a wheelchair unable to weight bare, my entire leg is atrophied and it has been heartbreaking for me to say the least. Many who know me, know that I was always on the go and being in a wheelchair has been very difficult for me. Losing independence is a huge deal and has been a real struggle. As a part of my therapy It was suggested to me that I work a little on this website , do some candles with the kids and try to get out to do some photography, just photographing anything. Easier said than done when you struggle to function on a daily basis. My kids were a huge part of Fire & Light from the very beginning. They are very creative souls and art has always been a huge part of their lives. They love art, photography, drawing, being creative, crafting, creating candles and love all aspects of helping with everything from photos, videos, editing, you name it they can do it. Talk about great helpers. Jesse has been badgering...(haha). I mean positively encouraging me to start making candles with him again. They will be posting some things we create on this website. We will make small batches or orders as requested. As this disorder is also now affecting my hands too, its a great therapy tool to try to use them as much as I can but when I can't.... luckily I have two wonderful skilled little artists to help out. (I think I've been demoted to supervisor lol) They are not so little anymore at the age of 18 and 16. Just the perfect age to learn and grow the business in their unique ways and give them some entrepreneur experience. As I've been unable to work since 2020 there are many things I'm in need of, but as you know being disabled is expensive. My son pointed out that we need to do something......So selling the candles is going to be for a purpose.
My son Jesse thought it would be a great idea to incorporate the orange ribbon for CRPS awareness onto the website and include it in some logos on the candle labels. He's working on some great ideas to help create awareness about Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, we will see what surprises he comes up with. Jesse is a whiz at graphic design, photo and video editing and has interest in all aspects of business and technology. Eve is all about design, creativity, photography, art, beauty and wellness and she has some great ideas for designs, fragrance blending and painting techniques. They have both been working with photography, graphic design and editing so it will be exciting to see how they grow through this journey.
