Migraine......

As I sit here enjoying the next couple of hours I have that I can half function because of wonderful medication waiting for the throbbing to return for the latest mirgraine battle.
I’ve decided to tell you about my battle with migraines.
It all started 8 years ago when I was a freshman in High School. I got the stomach flu really bad, it was awful.. (I’ll spare you the gross details) I was home sick from school for a week, I wasn’t getting any better so off to the Cannon Falls Clinic I went. They didn’t do any blood work, no tests of any kind, they did however ask me if I could be pregnant, yup they did and there was no way that was a possibility unless I was the next virgin Mary which was highly unlikely. The doctor there concluded that it was probably a virus and it needed to work its way out. Ok, so with that off to home I went they did tell me however that if I wasn’t feeling better in the next day or two to come back. Nothing got better so back I went, then they told me (yet again after NO tests) that I had mono and just needed to rest. Now started the horrible awful migraines (I had no idea at the time, that that’s what I was experiencing) they were so bad that the only way I could get any relief was to lay on my back have my Mom straddle me and press with all her weight into my forehead.
Mind you I had been taking all kinds of Tylenol, Advil, etc., etc. to try and get some relief. My Mom took me to see a doctor in Red Wing, who decided it’d be a good idea to do some tests.. but he said that I had Hepatices C (but in his defense with all the Tylenol, Advil, etc., etc I’d been taking) it probably seemed like a logical explanation, but I’d only been at school and at home. So there was a small chance that , that was what it was.. Back home I went.. As the next couple of days passed I only started to feel worse any my headaches only got more intense. So back to Red Wing we went, this time to the most wonderful man (he will continue to be my one of my Hero’s in all of this) he took one look at my grey/green skin, sunken in eyes, and the fact that I was crying and no tears were coming, hadn’t gone to the bathroom in close to four days. Yup, you’re right it was pretty bad. I was admitted into the Red Wing hospital the Friday before super bowl Sunday and was in the hospital for five days. I was given close to 10 bags of IV fluids and it took four bags before I finally went to the bathroom. I was given morphine for the migraines and was finally back to my old self a week later.
I did well the rest of my freshman year and the start of my sophomore year. The middle of my sophomore year the migraines returned full force. My migraines were so bad at that point my Mom was ready to go buy me some pot to smoke so that I could get some relief. There were too many to count trips to the ER in the middle of the night for drugs that were only going to give relief for a couple of hours before a rebound migraine would start. I had steroids shot up the base of my skull, that didn’t work and to this day I still have knobs on the back of my head from those stupid steroids but when you are at a point that I was you were willing to try anything. I missed a total of a month and a half of school before they decided it’d be a good idea for me to be homebound tutored for the remainder of my sophomore year. I was put on a 504 plan at school which is a federal program that gives students with medical problems more time to complete things and more or less makes teacher back off and help when needed. At about the time I was being homebound tutored we found who I can pretty much sum up as my HERO! Dr. Pat! My Mom in all her research had read that chiropractors were known to be able to help with migraines so we made an appointment with Dr. Pat. He found that I had fibrotic knots up and down my neck, into my jaw, and into my shoulders as well. There was a point there that I saw him as often as two or three times a day for weeks at a time.
By the time my junior year rolled around I was on the mend. Yes I still did get migraines but I knew when one was coming, unlike before. I could sort of predict them and knew what to do to try and make them less painful. I knew that if I needed to I could go see Dr. Pat to help ward one off or to get rid of one.
To this day I still battle migraines but they are few and far between and I know what sets them off.. Sometimes like the one I’ve been battling this week is most likely because of change of routine, a new job, and the fact that I’m leaving home for good the end of the month to start a life in Hastings who is the most wonderful, and amazing guy a girl could ask for (besides my Dad that is J ) So with the help of Dr. Pay, bengay on the forehead (yes it really does work, it warms up your forehead very nicely and makes you able to sleep), some rest, and with the help of my migraine medication I’m going to beat this one(hopefully soon)
That’s all for now, I know it was long but thanks for reading.
This story is part of how I got to be where I am today.
Remember Everything Happens for A Reason!
alice