It’s Saturday night and people my age are making plans. They are planning to meet up with friends, they are planning a movie night with their families or they are planning a nice quiet night to themselves. I on the other hand am doing none of those things. I am getting ready for a very unpleasant night and following day. I am getting ready for a migraine.
People who have migraines can probably relate to this statement: “I feel a migraine coming on.” Unfortunately, if you have never experienced a migraine, you really have no true understanding of the pain. It is not a really bad headache. It is debilitating and exhausting.
As I settle in for the night, knowing full well I will not be sleeping, I pop some pills as a last ditch effort to prevent the inevitable. The night goes as expected: I toss and turn, waking up multiple times with pain in my head and neck. The early morning comes and as expected, the pain intensifies. I try to get up and be productive. I know I have a very small window before this pain becomes unbearable. I pop some more pills; they might as well be tic-tacs at this point. The pain in the left side of my head is the only thing I can focus on now. The nausea has joined the party and I crawl back into bed praying I don’t vomit.
This Sunday is spent in bed. The blinds are down and the window is open, making the room dark and cold. I alternate between ice packs and heating pads. I doze in and out, each time I wake hoping the migraine is gone. It is not. The funny part is how you try to negotiate with your body. You try to put yourself in a certain position and remain very still and for a split second you might get some relief.
My parents stop by and I hear my husband tell them I am not feeling well. I am so disappointed, but the thought of moving from my bed to see them is unbearable. I know outside it is a beautiful sunny fall Sunday. There are so many things I would love to be doing. But all I can think right now is don’t cry, it will only make the migraine worse.
The day continues into evening. I am curled up in the dark, with the fresh fall air circulating the room. My husband peeks in; I am able to speak to him without too much discomfort. I know the migraine is slowly going away. A few hours later as the sun sets outside I am able to open my eyes to look at the sunset. The beautiful dim sky with an orange glow.
I get up feeling like I just ran a marathon. My body is exhausted, I feel like a zombie and the excruciating pain has become a dull ache. I make myself eat some soup and shower, just in time to crawl back into bed for the night. I know I will sleep all night. I will get up and go to work in the morning. I will listen to my co-workers describe their weekends. They will talk about the great times with their families and their friends. When they ask me how my weekend went, I will reply with the same reply I always give: “uneventful.”
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Thinkstock photo via samotrebizan.