Tag: journey with me…mini2z

After The Storm

After The Storm

Somewhere, in my memory box is a poem called After The Storm that I wrote. I haven’t found that box and hope it survived our flood.  It also makes me think of the poem, After a While by Veronica A. Shoffstall and the blog I wrote featuring it titled: Hopeful.  

What does this have to do with After the Storm?  Well, I will find the poem but the storm for me has been my health but more recently we experienced a catastrophic rainstorm.  We had almost seven inches of rain in less than three hours.  As a result of this storm, we flooded, in our yard and then in the house.  We also got rain from the roof that leaked as a result of the catastrophic windstorm in March.  (that’s another rant)

Photo from the Windsor Star – link on photo
What the Ditch/Drain is like normally

We have this check valve or back up valve that is installed so we don’t get water.  Well, the valve failed.  At first, the water was just in the yard, on the street but then it came rushing up the drain in the floor.  When we moved into this house, it was covered with tinfoil.  The only water we’d had in 22 years was when the hose broke on our washer when we were out at a birthday party.  We have a wet/dry vacuum but it would fill in seconds but our son brought home a sump pump, then our son went to my grams to get her spare sump pump.  We had two pumps going in the basement and we were able to keep it to about 3-4 inches when our neighbours had a foot to a foot and a half of water.  On top of all this, we were getting leaks in the bathroom and kitchen.  The kitchen isn’t so bad but the bathroom is another story.  Our insurance company, Allstate, has been great.  Our basement is covered to our maximum allowed and because we did so much of the hauling of the wet and severely smelly carpet, boxes and clothes out to a bin we ordered, we will not have to pay the deductible.  The roof that was supposed to be replaced after March is now going back to the insurance company to reassess the damage because it now includes water damage that shouldn’t have been there.  We are waiting on that.  After the storm, we already have the cheque from Allstate and can start to put this part of our life back together.

L-R, Backyard Lake, Flooded Road, Flooded basement, first pile of wet, soggy basement items, The Sasso Bin with load #2, the Red Sky at Night After the Storm

 

I’m also working on my health.  My health storm isn’t over but I’m choosing to find the balance.  I’ve become a doTerra Wellness Advocate to save money on essential oils for my personal use but it’s become so much more to me.  I can look in every room of the house that and see doterra products, be it oils to shampoo, to soap to a diffuser or two.  Slowly, I’m adding more and more natural, healthy for me items into my life.  I’m excited about doterra and the direction it’s heading for me.  I have my now too small box of oils, a larger one is on my Amazon wishlist!  I have doterra products all over the house now, hand cream that is not greasy, soap and shampoo in the shower.  I plan on making my own bath bombs because the store bought ones are just too strong for me.  I have lemon and wild orange on my window sill for adding to water.

I’m still getting nerve block shots in my head, neck, back and SI joints weekly.  The hope is to be able to go every two weeks soon.  I have scheduled the appointment to see my Endocrinologist so that we can all work to trying the LDN. I have every doctor on my team visits in the next two weeks, after trying to only schedule two per week.  It is actually exhausting getting ready, getting there on time only to wait for long periods of time.  I have been really out of sorts and finally figured out that I was doubling my iron pills and not taking my antidepressant.  Yeah, that was a really stupid thing.  Lesson learned, look at the actual label before filling up your Pill Drill for the week.  Our new mattress set will be delivered on Friday, so we are hoping for a great night’s sleep.

Sleep, I need sleep, it’s just been so exhausting.

mini2z … journey with me

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Botox for Migraines  – Yes, 24 needles 


Botox for Migraines!  Yes, 24 Needles!

 

Let’s go back in time a bit and I will give you a bit of history on my Migraines.

When I was 24 or so, my then fiancée and I were horsing around and we slipped on the hardwood floor.  I went backwards and hit my head on the dining room table.  OUCH!  It hurt and I had an immediate headache, swelling and bruising.  Almost a month later I got my first migraine and it started where I hit my head.  I was in bed for almost three days and it was brutal because I had no clue what was going on.  I suffered through the next which was only a couple of weeks after that.  The next one landed me in the ER because the pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and desperate need to be in the dark was too much.  The ride to the hospital and waiting in the ER was torture but that’s when I was told it was a migraine.  They gave me a shot for pain and nausea along with two IV bags of fluids as I’d gotten dehydrated.  I was referred to a neurosurgeon who I saw in the hospital about three weeks later.  He confirmed that I had migraines but no it could not have happened to me by hitting my head.  I disagree with that but okay.  I had a diagnosis.  I found out that this is what my poppa had suffered from all his life.  I just always knew to be quiet if he was in his room with the blinds and doors closed.

The diagnosis and journey with medication and trying to get the migraines under control before they start was long.  I didn’t get migraines while pregnant with either of my kidlets which was a godsend.  Migraines would come on without much warning that I could tell at the time.  Now, I get an aura (didn’t understand it back then) that I’ve always had prior to migraines.  We had tried Imitrex but it landed me in the ER with chest pains.  Fiorinal C1/4 would become the migraine medication that worked for me along with Gravol, which is an antiemetic.  Migraines have me in my room with room blackout blinds closed tight. ear plugs in with an ice pack on the back of my neck, antinausea medication, a flat ginger ale and pain medication.  Sleep and time are really the only things that work for me.  Over the years, I’ve done all the eliminations to try to find the triggers and the only one that I can find is chocolate.  I can have a couple of pieces, a chocolate bar or a piece of cake but if I have more I’ll pay for it later.  My other trigger is the weather.  It’s any change in the barometric pressure; rain – yes, snow – yes you name it, I get a migraine.

That neurologist all those years ago was the only one I ever saw.  Fast forward to 2014 when my health took an even further nosedive when I started collecting specialists.  I was referred to a pain specialist and neurologist in 2015.  On December 19th I received a phone call reminding me of my Thursday appointment in just a couple of days.  I was pretty shocked because I’ve been meticulous about organising my appointments.  I confirmed it and put it on my schedule.  I was really impressed with the doctor from the get go.  Nice low lighting so as to not trigger migraines, comfy chairs (really important to a person with chronic pain) and short wait.  I was in the appointment for almost an hour and left with a prescription I had to try before my insurance would cover the Botox, a referral for an MRI and prescription for the Botox and a plan to work on getting my migraines under control.

My follow-up appointment went well.  Just a few days later, I received a letter from my prescription insurer that they would cover the Botox and the guidelines.  I called the doctor’s office and yes for a cancellation got an appointment early the next week.  I had to bring $150 cash as OHIP doesn’t pay for the administering of the serum but it’s better than $1000.

The big day came, my mom drove me.  I went to the pharmacy in the medical plaza because the doctor likes the serum to have just thawed.  I guess that’s the best way to use it and the doctor’s preference.  Again, waiting is only minutes.  Then he tells me about the 24 shots and the initial map that he uses on all patients the first time.  The second and subsequent visits would allow for the customization of the injection points.

Then he tells me about the 24 shots Click To Tweet

Side effects were very minimal for me.  I had some pain in my left ear area and will inform the doctor on my next visit.  As for the not being able to move my eyebrows properly, I haven’t seen this issue or for me, it’s a non-issue.

My next appointment is in June and so far my migraines are still present and have not reduced in numbers.  Spring with the weather changes is always a horrible time for my migraines.

Do you get migraines?  Are they affected by weather?  Have you tried Botox?  I hope you enjoyed reading my migraine journey and will share your migraine journey with me!

Journey with me … mini2z

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Thursday Thoughts


Thursday Thoughts I link up over at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom:

This Thursday has me thinking about:

  • My guilty pleasure has been Bachelor in Paradise!  Seriously, how dramatic can it be?  To have no Air Conditioning and the women have great hair and makeup all the time.  Crying?  I don’t think I’ve ever cried that much about a guy in such a short time, thinking of Ashley.
  • Also been watching some of the Olympics flipping between Canadian and US television channels.  Still can’t understand watching Golf but found myself stuck on it for a while. Just show me the end of the sport and see the top five people.  Today the 10m dives, BMX and more decathlon is what has my attention.  
  • Speaking of attention; I have been getting worse in my focus and losing my thoughts when doing tasks, talking to someone I just stop in the middle and completely forget what I’m talking about.  It’s getting so frustrating.
  • My youngest kidlet is currently up in the Bruce Peninsula and posted a photo on Instagram with the Sorry Mom I’m on a Cliff – I don’t like heights but she did it and I’m proud of her. 
  • I have been in a flare for over a week now.  Constant pain in my hips, back and right leg and a migraine.  I seem to have the migraine under control now.  I’ve had three doctors appointments this week and I love that all of them understand my illnesses and validate that the pain.
  • My husband and I are thinking we need to put our trailer somewhere where we can use it more than a couple weeks out of the year.  We will use it more when retirement comes but now it’s just sitting in our driveway.  He thinks that Sauble Beach is just way to far to have it as a seasonal trailer.  He wants to look at a few places near home.  The only one I like has an enclosed area for the pupalups to run around off leash and get some energy burned off.  I just want it far enough away that it feels like we are away but hubby wants to be able to drive to work if we need to.  Decisions, decisions….
  • I ordered the Instapot that everyone has been talking about.  It’s been delivered but it’s still in the box but it’s supposed to make cooking quicker and easier.  My question is can you put something frozen like chicken and let it cook?  My problem is we have food but it’s always frozen and we find recipes and don’t prepare.

Se on a Cliff at Bruce National Park
As
As you can see, I hope you can see that I’ve made some changes to my blog.  I changed from mini2z.com to mini2z.org and became self hosted.  I did this because I have received some free products to try as a member of the Chronic Illness Bloggers network.  This will allow me to put items I want on my blog such as an affiliate link, advertising a product I love, etc.  I found out that self hosting isn’t very easy as I thought it was going to be.   I’m still not done as I’m trying to figure out a nice plugin that will allow a nice posting of my Instagram feed.  I just want to feature the last photo or two on the blog.  I like a blog to have some photos to break up the writing.  
What are you thinking about on this Thursday?

Thank you for continuing with me through the changes of Journey with Me … mini2z

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