Wow! Where the HECK have I BEEN?

I have again been remiss at updating this blog. Go figure. I have a good reason that I will explain thus:

For some reason my body has decided to go back 30 plus years - good for some things, but really bad for what it chose to go back TO! When my husband and I were first married back in 1972, I was working a desk job in Oakland. I hated it! In the process of winding myself up in the turmoil of the moment, I started having migraine headaches. I remember one that lasted 3 days! That is 3 long days of hiding in the dark, throwing up and not being able to focus on anything (literally) except the pain. Not a good time to remember, I assure you. Then, the job was done for other reasons and I moved on to a retail position in a camera store (you all know this as my passion) and voila! the headaches just ended.

I have always self-diagnosed that as a stress related time thus discovering the reason for the migraines. There were also food triggers. I spent a lot of time researching these in those days (remember 1972 - no internet) and found out that certain food would set one of these on a course of destruction to your brain. My triggers were chocolate, walnuts and cheddar cheese. The chocolate was the trigger for the 3-day adventure to hell. I had eaten a "red velvet" cupcake at a party of some sort. I remember the cupcake, not the party. I can not, to this day, look at a red velvet cake or cupcake without feeling the dizzying pain in my memory.

The migraines of present are not near as debilitating as the ones of yore.

•  I get the sparkles (first sign it is coming), take one of my high power motrin-like pills
• then the focus leaves me. 
• the pain sets in. It takes about a half hour to get my focus back at which time the sparkles are gone and then I just deal with the pain, which has not been near as bad as 30+ years ago.

Usually the early consumption of ibuprofen lessens the pain and the time it takes to regain some semblance of sanity and brain function. But then there are times like last week when it just takes over and kicks my ass down one side of the street and up the other. 

Add to that spending nearly 3 hours in the doctor's office to get told it is probably stress and to take the ibuprofen when it comes on (No, DUH?), then top it off with acute hunger (not expecting to spend so much time in the waiting room) and picking up a sandwich that gives you food poisoning. All I could think was "Really? I mean REALLY???"  

My cousin Florence and my sister, Theresa.

So by Friday I came out of a tunnel of sorts and it was sun shiny out and blue skies. I was still a little gun-shy of the bright orb up there and what it could do to me, but I ventured forth to go with my sister to see a dear, dear cousin who is in an assisted living center in Rossmore for an accident with her back.  It was nice to be among the living again, Although, truth be told, the folks in the center with her were moving just slowly enough for me to focus on them and not be confused by too much activity. A perfect place for me to visit the day after the destruction of so many brain cells.

I also am relegating part of the blame for the migraines on an ocular issue. That being the 2.5 power cheaters I am wearing when in front of the computer. Add to it poor posture when sitting in front and squinting at the screen for long periods of time. I am sure I don't have the correct arm position as well as who knows what. Bottom line, I have changed a few things in my life to try to make the headaches a thing of the past once again.

I have started with my diet. I watch all my trigger foods and avoid them like the plague. In turn I also have been laying off the meat keeping my diet to fresh veggies, fish and some pasta. I have dropped my time spent at the computer to next to nothing (ergo, less blog updates - see? told ya I would get to that!) and actually am on spring break at school so I don't have anything to do with photo manipulation for a week or so. I feel like I have dropped a couple of pounds (a long way to go on that one...) and I have (knock on wood) not had a headache since last Wednesday. I think I may have staved off a couple of just regular ones... but no sparkles!

So now I have filled the page with woes and complaints and I can move on to much more important stuff. I promise to work harder to keep this updated. Until later this week, happy trails friends.