Fibro World

Photo by dbkingThe Game of Life is a board game where players make decisions of how to gain the most tiles and most money.  Rite Aid Pharmacy ran their own promotional game loosely based on the game of the same name.

Customers received game tokens with each purchase along with a game card to match the token to a prize. 

At first glance, the game was ridiculously tedious -- tearing open the tiny tokens (1/2 " by 1-1/2") along perforated lines and matched to one of several spaces for each prize on a game sheet.  The pictures and the numbers had to match.

There were 13 possible prizes -  gift cards, Wii, kitchen makeover, mortgage payment, other treasures ranging from $2.00 to $250,000, and best of all: a G37 Infiniti Convertible to die for.

Well, it was a snowy winter, and there wasn't much to do in the way of entertainment so Dot accepted the challenge and began tearing and pasting.  I shopped at Rite Aid.  Cans of nuts, light bulbs, moisturizers, Doritos, chocolates, and toiletries filled our closets.  We collected piles of duplicate tokens, which were worthless.

Just One More!

We finally got to the point that we had filled each category except for ONE piece.

So many prizes within our reach -- opening each token became an excruciatingly exhilarating then painfully deflating roller coaster.

Finally, on February 28, the contest ended and we kept muttering, "just one more token, just one more token!"  Our life was over.

Playing the Fibro Game of Life

How reminiscent that experience was to our own Fibro Game of Life!  We have categories too that require a bunch of tokens to win amazing prizes like:

• no more pain
• no more migraines
• no more nausea
• no more photo sensitivity
• no more fatigue, and
• no more sleepless nights. 

On our Fibro Game card, each prize is also filled with many tokens and we have piles of duplicate tokens (the worthless ones).

Tokens and More Tokens

Over the past three years, Dot has had several medical appointments a month with referrals from one doctor to the next and some unexpected hospital visits.  So we managed to collect many duplicate tokens of doctors:

• 3 neurologists
• 1 neuro-psychiatrist
• 1 psychiatrist
• 2 psychologists
• 1 opthamalogist
• 1 neuro-opthamologist
• 4 physiatrists
• 1 gastroentorologist
• 2 rheumatologists
• 1 internal medicine doctor
• 1 family doctor and
• 8 emergency room doctors.

We have tokens for every doctor except the one that will award Dot the grand prize: The Fibro Cure.

Pass the Meds

We also have a ziploc bag full of medication tokens for prescription and non-prescription drugs.  But the golden one is still missing, so no prizes here either.

In real life, Dot has a file drawer filled with empty bottles of used medication and a box of discarded meds that either were either ineffective or had severe side effects.

Complementary Offers

Dot has also had a busy time trying to find the winning token for complementary medicine:

• 2 acupuncturists
• 2 medical hypnotists
• 1 myofascial release specialist,
• and at least 6 physical therapists. 

Dot's current physical therapist may be the winning token so we are very hopeful.

The Big Win?

We count ourselves fortunate because in the Fibro Game of Life, there is no time limit.  Unlike the Rite Aid promotional game, we have years and years to keep collecting tokens.

Perhaps a token to the Mayo Clinic or the Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins Hospital will produce the big win.

Yes, Dot, all we need is one more token but meanwhile, we have a free ride on the Fibro Merry-Go-Round.  So forget the Infiniti convertible!

Update on March 9, 2010 by Dot

This article was featured in Grand Rounds

The latest edition of Grand Rounds is up at the Health Business Blog!  David E. Williams, co-founder of a biopharmaceutical and health care consulting company MedPharma Partners, has put together a special pain and suffering edition.  A Fibro World speciality!

The Game of Life (especially the Rite Aid version) is tedious. After collecting lots of tiny tokens, somehow there’s always just one missing for a fabulous prize. At least for Fibro World, that’s what fibromyalgia is like. Yet hope remains.