Our Humble Beginnings

My Name is Cheryl Young; I am the Founder & Executive Director of Fibromyalgia Well Spring Foundation. I have had Fibromyalgia (Fm) since 1992. Before then, I was on top of my World, living in my dream home, enjoying working my Watkins Business with over 400 associates, while taking care of my two girls. Until then I would never have believed an illness could strike so fast and change my way of living for the rest of my life. At this time I had just gone through a nasty divorce, and, because of my lack of strength, I lost my dream home, but was able to keep both my girls which were more important.

This disorder is really dangerous since it frequently attacks high achievers, hindering their productivity. For example, one symptom of Fm is extreme high and low mood swings which can seriously interfere with one’s work. Also, since Fm is not an obvious disability, other people often make us feel we are useless, which can lead some of us to contemplate suicide. For myself, since 1992, I have lost my Store, lost my home, have lived in a car, and have gone hungry, all with little support from family and friends. However I Believe that you have to stay Positive, do a lot of self talk when you are feeling low, and be willing to change your life and take one day at a time.

In February of 2006, a local Arthritis Society Support Group for Fm sufferers invited me to be their guest speaker. From the audience, I learned that, because of reduced earning ability, many of the attendees were finding it hard to find a home that they could afford. I noticed they had either lost all hope, or were trying to convince themselves that there was a reason for them to keep on going. When they asked how I accomplish the things that I do, I replied that by using complementary therapies, like natural supplements, magnetic, and other alternates, I taught myself to heal.

The intent of this Foundation is to create public awareness of Fibromyalgia, to give fellow Fm sufferers Hope that their life is worth living, and to provide subsidized housing that accommodates a Fm sufferers energy level.

The Foundation is the beginning of a project which will help fund a village for Fibromyalgia Sufferers, in Langley, British Columbia in Canada.

Back to 1992 a friend took me to a Naturopath who treated me for a year, which I either spent in bed or on a couch resting. Chronic Fatigue, which tends to go along with Fm, left me with no energy to do anything, and so cold, feeling I was just a pool of nothing. My body was trying to heal itself and needed lots of rest. However I was lucky that I could afford to pay someone to run my warehouse and home. My friend, Nigel watched over me at night and in a few years, became my husband. It was the first time someone in my life, except for my mother, cared about ME.

Early on, Nigel started researching many natural avenues to find help for me; he was on a mission to get me back to the Cheryl that he remembered. We tried everything, some things made a difference but then I would slowly slide again. We knew the answer was Natural, and decided Supplements would be the answer, so started researching into supplements. Just when we were going to make a decision about which ones to try, Watkins launched a new line of Supplements, we decided that I would try these first. I have been on these supplements for years, and find they have made a big difference to my life.

Although I slowly healed, the cost of various complementary alternate therapies slowly drained my savings.

Because other Fm sufferers have told me they cannot afford these costs, Fibromyalgia Well Spring Foundation will be subsidizing some of the cost of the alternate forms of healing.