To be or not to be

Spring of 1986, a day when I will never forget.

July 7th 2011 a day that changed my life that is still so fuzzy.

1986: I don't remember the day other than this. I was wearing a pink shirt with Oshkosh coveralls topped of with my pink cowgirl boots. I came in from hanging out in the barn with pixi, my barrel racing horse. I wasn't feeling to good, my stomach felt like it was in nots. I had a feeling in my head that clouded my vision and my ability to hear anything but very loud sounds. I threw up while my mom was rubbing my back but nothing was coming out. My dad ran to the infamous gas station (that's a story for another day) and got me sprite. My mom tucked me in my bed with a cold rag on forehead. She took my temperature and I didn't have a fever. But there was a pain that I've never felt before in my head and my stomach was not like it should be, my vision was still really blury. But I was tough, I didn't want my mom to worry. She gave me the sprite with a straw and man that was a treat in itself because I wasn't allowed soda or drinks in my room and I only got straws on special occasions. She gave me some pain medicine, and rubbed my temples and ran her fingers threw my hair. I was asleep in no time.

This was my first migraine ever. I was 5 years old.

Going thru my life they got worse. I was diagnosed with chronic migraines. I thought for sure at times I would die. In high school I went thru several different migraine treatments and therapies. Everything would work for the first treatment but my body would reject the same thing more than once. They got so frequent that I had to give myself shots whenever one would give a hint of starting. I even felt like a heroin addict once when I didn't have a shot, my migraine was getting worse and I had to go to the drug store clear across town to get my RX filled, got my shots ran to the nearest bathroom stripping my shirt off while in persuit and gave myself the shot in a nasty public restroom. These shots were a godsend because they would work it's magic immediately. I dressed myself as I was feeling the rush of this sweet drug. I walked out to my car all euphoric like and fell asleep in my car. Woke up half an hour later and drove back to work. That was the last time those shots really really worked. I would still take them as needed but I would have to take something else on top of it to help.

I got into a routine of peach rings shoved in the back of my mouth to keep me from throwing up. Sipping sprite. Taking 4 ibprophen every 3 to 6 hours. Eating otter pops. Having foster lay on my back (yes I trained him to do that). Taking long hot showers while being in fetal position and an ice pack on my forehead. And most of all, staying in a dark quiet room and sleeping.

July 7th 2011:
I woke up the day before feeling one coming on, i did my usual routine and thentaiko 4 ibprophen and went to bed. I woke up on July 7th and felt worse so I took more ibprophen and threw some peach ring in my mouth then fell back asleep. Another 3 or four hours same thing but it seemed to just keep getting worse and worse. I was throwing up at this point and kept taking more ibprophen and trying everything I knew to get rid of even the smallest amount of pain. By the time Aaron came home from work I asked him to take me to the hospital. I threw up when we got there and felt it keep coming up every 5 minutes. The doctor asked me on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst imaginable what my pain was. I said 60. The doctor then gave me fluids do to my dehydration and then talked to me about the drugs they could administer to me. My options were first an anti nausea to keep my fluids in me. Then a pain killer. He asked what all I have taken and I told him then Aaron chimed in and said "wait, the pills above the microwave? Those are Acetaminophen. Yep you guessed it. I'm allergic. I thought they were my ibprophens but I guess I know why I was just getting worse. So the doctor said I have probably already perched them out of my system and then gave me my options. Everything he named off were things I've already tried and don't work anymore but by this time I was balling my eyes out and ended up saying "just give me the strongest thing you have because I can't take this anymore" so he did. He gave me a more potent dose of the shots I was taking before and I felt that sudden euphoria and the tightness in my chest,(this is why I trained foster to lay on my back). So I asked Aaron to come put pressure on my back to relieve some of the pressure in my chest. And then I fell asleep. When the nurse came in I was shaking like patients do after being put under and she gave me a hot blanket and asked how my pain level was. I said about an 11. So although the medicine took the edge off, I was still in a lot of pain. They gave me another shot of the same stuff and then handed me 2 ibprophen. I felt that feeling again and aaron already was at my back almost like he knew exactly when I needed him.

After a while the dr then came back in and asked me my pain level I then said about 3. My migraine was now at its breaking point but I still felt horrible. He asked a bunch of questions and then asked if he could run doe tests. I am all for the study of migraines so I said absolutely. He gave me a diet plan to begin and this was my last migraine to this date.

Along with being allergic the strangest things like Acetaminophen and nuts ad so on, I found out that I am allergic to gluten. Yep I got thrown on that bandwagon and it was possibly the best thing health related that has ever happened to me.

So if you have chronic migraines, I suggest you to get tested.