Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Migraine

Well, today may as well have not happened. I woke up with a migraine. This happens to me sometimes. When I work at a church I get about one migraine per week. When I don't I get one about every three months. I don't know why this is the case. I'd like to get all holy and call it my ministry "thorn in the flesh," but I'm pretty sure it is simply how my body responds to stress.

Of the four or so migraines per month, one is usually bad enough that I'll have to find thirty minutes to rest and then go about my day. I usually take Excedrin Migraine and it magically goes away in a few hours. About once a year I am afflicted so bad that I have to go home and go to bed.

Then there is the perfect storm/category five/mother of all migraine migraines. The last one I remember was around 1996. I shut down, see blinking lights, toss my cookies repeatedly and generally pray for an early death. Today was the day.

It started when I woke up, grew worse during my first few meetings and apexed during lunch with my friend Derek. Lets just say that while Derek was eating his enchilada platter I was in the El Rancho Grande bathroom doing my best impersonation of your average frat boy at 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Not my best moment.

I had to stick Derek with the bill and tried to make it home, but ended up taking a few scenic stops along the way.

I eventually got home and went to bed. That is the only cure. I woke up around 5:30 with what I call a migraine hangover. It's like someone has stuffed cotton in my ears and wax paper over my eyes. I now have a once-a-week level headache, which means I can function and, for whatever sadistic reason, write about throwing up at a Mexican restaurant for the world to read.

Here's the big confession: My life is easy. I thought of my friends who have much worse physical ailments than me on my way home today and managed a few prayers for them amidst my agony. That's all the wisdom I have on the events of my day...we all hurt, some more than others. But maybe our pain is the thing that reminds us to care for each other.

5 comments:

... said...

Weirdness. I blogged about my migraine headache on Saturday. I even used the words "perfect storm" and "migraine hangover". I know the feeling of wishing for my death. I'm sorry today was your day! =(

Sandy Maudlin said...

How gifted you are to be able to describe in vivid detail what you went thru today and then still take my breath away with profound yet simple insight. Your day sounded absolutely miserable. Hope you're all better tomorrow.

Helen Ann said...

What a yukky day! God love ya...

We have a guy at our church who LOVES to pray against headaches - and has a great success rate. Come visit us at Vineyard Westside and I'll hook you up! Or we can send him to you...Whichever is the easiest! E-me or Facebook me!

I once got sick on Chinese food and took a number of those "scenic" stops on my way home...Its so embarrassing to be hurling on the side of the road. UGH.

Joules Evans said...

Joe, have you ever heard of/tried Imitrex? It used to come in a shot you could give yourself, which is pref to the pill form because the pill takes too long and the nausea sets in too hard. I used to have similarly freq migraines as well and the shot was a miracle to me. It would take the edge off within 20 minutes, and at least I could be functional then. Didn't take away all the nausea but at least enough to keep from tossing your guacamole. I know there are more recent meds than Imitrex which might be better for you, but my experience is with Imitrex. Regardless, I will pray that God would deliver you of these migraines.

Michael Joseph Sharp said...

Hope you are feeling better!