Migraine

Hi - Happy day after the Ides of March! And St. Paddy's Day eve? Oh, and it's Palm Sunday too. That's all I can think of at the moment.

Thanks LauraSue,

quote:

"In the Roman calendar, the term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other 8 months."

but... why? What was the significance and why was it different in different months? Inquiring minds want to know! This may require deeper research....

Can you tell I'm bored? Too woozy to stand, tired of the books I'm reading. Yesterday's migraine passed but by the end of the day my throat was sore and I started major sinus yuck overnight. Green glop pouring down the back of my throat - lucky I already have a doctor's appointment for tomorrow! At least we got out to dinner with our friends - very nice interlude of a few hours between migraine ick and sinus yuck.

We went to the restaurant where Rachel works - she wasn't on that shift, but very gratifying for the waitress and host and several other people to go on about how wonderful our daughter is!

Our drier broke yesterday in the midst of our major weekly laundry - so Danny will be off to the laundromat today - I thought I'd be doing it but it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere! I think we have a service contract on the drier , have to look that up, and get someone out for repair asap, but in the meantime we've got to get through this wash!

Chilly rainy morning here in NJ. I hope your weather is treating you kindly and you're all feeling well.

- Megs

I took a few days break - every now and then my back (mainly left shoulder blade) startes bothering me and I have to lay off the computer for a few days.

Today was Palm Sunday and Kath signed up as a high school mentor for a confirmand. It just so happens the girl has the same last name as ours and supposedly we are all related. Kath was so upset that the family was very late and didn't show up to the end.

We had a family reunion on dh's side of the family yesterday. All I can say is, good eats!

Megs, that's too bad about the sinus yuck. I remember when I used to get that and it's no fun at all. Haven't had it in years though. Maybe because I went for allergy shots?? Hadn't thought about it but that must be it. Too bad about the dryer too. It's always something, isn't it.

Deb, sorry to hear your back was bothering you. I have problems with my left neck and shoulder blade too, the trapezius muscle, so I can really relate. Glad it's better!

I successfully avoided a migraine recurrence yesterday, so my goal today is to extend the streak to two days with no migraine. I haven't had a two day break since mid-Feb, so that would be really nice. I don't have to go out today, so I might be okay. DH wants to watch the show on HBO about John Adams, but I'm afraid it might trigger me. He said I could watch it in bed with an icepack (and tinted glasses and earplugs, yes, totally absurd, I know) rather than on the wide-screen tv in the den. I'm still afraid it will trigger me, but I'll see how I feel later.

DH made meatloaf last night, and mashed potatoes. It was so yummy!! Unfortunately I got an upset tummy (Megs, didn't you say you have IBS too) and had to take some Imodium and some PeptoBismol. But at least I didn't get a migraine! That's how we put everything in perspective these days. Like "Oh, I totalled my car but at least..." Or "A crane just fell on my house and demolished it but at least..." Or "I stubbed my toe but at least..."

Hey all. I'm posting from the east coast today. I did make it here to my family's house in MA on Saturday morning on the red eye. The flight was ok, though I was absolutely miserable the first hour - incredibly nauseous and in pain. The drug cocktail I took seemed to help though, and once the plane leveled off I was ok. Of course, the red eye always messes up my schedule but so far I seem to be doing about my average.

DBF made the trip with me, his first to MA. Hopefully tomorrow we'll go into Boston. I have an appt with some grad school folks in Boston but I'm hoping we can get some touristy stuff in too, since he hasn't been here before. Today I'm just taking it easy, but DBF is going out bike shopping with my sister and BIL. In other news, I stupidly forgot to buy more magnesium supplements before I ran out so now I'm scrambling to try to find some. My neuro wants me to take chelated magnesium, which is actually difficult to find. I have a place at home that I buy it, but I didn't remember I was out until it was already closed. There's a natural foods store here I'm going to try, but if they don't have it I'll have to wait until Wednesday when I'm home again.

Megs, sorry to hear about both the sinus ick and the broken dryer. I'm having some PND (post nasal drip - that's the way it gets abbreviated in my headache diary) today since I'm more allergic to the east coast than the west coast. I always forget how much I hate it and how gross it is. Hope you're feeling better soon!

Deb, is your shoulder doing better? Family reunion good eats - sounds yummy indeed!

LauraSue, hope the beastie leaves you alone today. I live by those "at least" statements sometimes to keep things in perspective.

Hope everyone is enjoying the rest of the weekend... my internal clock is jet lagged so I have no idea what time it is.

Howdy! I've been gone for a week, I think. We spent last Sunday through Thursday on a Spring Break trip. DS, the one who was really on Spring Break, wouldn't go with us, but we went anyway. Understandable -- he's got a girlfriend here, and he hadn't seen her for 4 or 5 weeks. We invited her, but her spring break isn't until this week. Odd that schools have non-matching schedules. DS will be back next weekend for Easter.

We went to Petit Jean Mountain in Arkansas. Stayed in a little resort of log cabins. Beautiful. Met my sister, who lives in Texas, there, with her DH and freshman-in-college daughter, who was a really good sport about being with 4 grownups. Petit Jean is about 7 hours from each of us. She lives in Denton, TX, 8 hours away, and she only comes home once a year, so it was good to see her. Hiking to a 90-foot waterfall and to breathtaking views and along a mountain creek. I missed a couple of hikes because I needed a nap because of my head, and I was pretty miserable one night, but I generally did OK. Then we spent another day visiting friends in Stuttgart, where DH grew up. We got back Thursday evening.

Got a call at 6:30 Friday night from my specialist's office. Her clinic day on the 28th has been canceled, and could I come this next Tuesday, the 18th. It was either then or sometime in the summer. So I changed my reservations. Not a big problem at the hotel, but because it was within 72 hours of departure time, it doubled the price of my plane ticket. I'm so blessed to have a loving husband. I think I can jockey a couple of Southwest Frequent Flyer tickets to fly through Houston and then to Nashville the next time. Southwest doesn't offer an itinerary from here to Nashville.

I've been waking up with head pain every day, which is a step backwards. We'll have a discussion about that.

It looks like I've broken through the 170 wall I hit for several weeks. When we got back from our trip, the scale said I'd lost 5 pounds! And it's stuck around for 3 days, so it might be real!

Megs -- I hope your sinus infection is better and that your dryer wasn't too expensive to fix. They usually last a long time. We're on our 4th or 5th washing machine, but our dryer is 26 y/o.

Deb -- Isn't family reunion food great? I usually bring something I know I can eat. It was a real problem when I was on Nardil.

Laura Sue -- Meatloaf and mashed potatoes make my mouth water! Gotta make that sometime soon.

The latest in our judicial bribery mess: This is long, so skip the next few paragraphs if you don't care.

Friday, the big guy, Dickie Scruggs of the tobacco settlement fame, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to bribe a judge. The recommendation from the US Attorney is that he serve the maximum -- 5 years in a federal pen with a $250,000 fine. If convicted on all counts, he faced 75 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. Considering that he made more than $750,000,000 (the general guess, nobody knows for sure) from the tobacco lawsuit, it's a pittance of a fine, but that's all that the law allows.

Sid, one of his young law partners pleaded, too, and is getting 2 1/2 years plus the $250,000 fine. Both he and Dickie will irrevocably surrender their licenses to practice law. I'm sure that Dickie's only problem will be managing his millions from a jail cell. I'm guessing that Sid's family will be well cared for, too.

Which leaves Dickie's son, Zach. He hasn't pleaded, and Dickie didn't agree to cooperate with the authorities in his plea deal. So he won't have to testify against his own son if he goes to trial. Sid agreed to cooperate, however. Rumor was that Dickie was negotiating for Zach to avoid jail time, but that deal hasn't surfaced yet. Zach has asked for a delay of the trial because they just got some of the evidence the prosecution will use.

It ain't over. There's another case of bribing a judge, not with money, but with an offer of a federal judgeship. That one involves former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who just happens to be Dickie's brother-in-law. Trent retired from the Senate the day before Dickie's indictment came down. Dickie's plea agreement specifically said that it doesn't apply to other possible charges.

Nobody goes by their given name in this deal. There's Dickie and Zach and Sid and Joey and Steve and Bobby and Ed and P.L. We were in law school with Joey. Mississippi is a small world.

Gotta get ready for my visit with Dr. Brandes. Make my headache diary readable and write my agenda and all that. I leave at 2 tomorrow, change planes in Chicago, of all places, and get to Nashville about 8. Then I leave at 8 Wednesday morning and get home mid-afternoon. And go to bed early. Wish me luck!

See y'all later, possibly Thursday.

Gretchen in Mississippi

Good luck with the doctor's appt Gretchen!! I'll be thinking of you. Glad to hear about your lovely little log cabin getaway. Sounds wonderful.

MJ, enjoy the trip to Boston. My condolences on the time zone shift. It knocks me out too.

Awwww, I'm sorry about the sinus ick, Megs! Have I ever told you what the arrogant, clueless doc-in-the-box I saw for a sinus infection told me to do because I was cracking and bleeding deep inside? He actually told me to smear K-Y jelly in my nose! Desperate, I tried it, even though it was cracking and bleeding too far up for it to do any good. All I got for the effort was a sticky mess, since K-Y jelly isn't buffered for drooliedragon snouts.

Deb ~ hope the shoulder straightens itself out soon. GGGRRRRRRRR!!! for having to sit on uncomfortable furniture of any ilk. I'm glad the munchies helped make up for that, though.

Laura Sue ~ feel better soon!

MJ ~ hope you adjust to the jet lag and all that quickly, so that you enjoy the bejeebers out of your trip!

Gretchen ~ (raised to the power o' googob!)

As for me, I'm just recovering from a Costco trip on a Sunday. We though if we went earlier, it wouldn't be so bad, delusional souls that we are.

Droolie - Ewww! on the KY! I've put a lot of stuff up the snout in the course of 14 years of sinus ick, but that's a new one on me. Hope the trip to Costco was worth it.

MJ glad your trip was survivable - I hate red eyes! Have a great time in Boston - I love Boston! How nice for Adam to get to see your family place. yes and welcome to east coast allergens - never say we aren't generous in sharing!

Gretchen great to see you, missed you this week - I'm glad you had a good trip, despite some head ouch - the setting sounds really beautiful. Good luck at the doc!

LauraSue - at least you didn't get a migraine - that's my litany too lots of times (including now...) I hope the meatloaf was worth it. Yes, I too have IBS in my list of chronic ickies, doesn't flare too often but when it does it hangs around for awhile.

Deb sorry your back's been hurting. Hope it's better. Glad you got to have good eats at the reunion.

I'm lying practically flat. hate how utterly weak and wiped out the sinus stuff makes me. I did get some web & writing time in - managed a blog post about sinus & migraine - I still think I have chicken & egg problems sometimes. (Sinus pain from migraines? Sinus glop from migraine irritation? Migraine from sinus inflammation? All of the above?) I am as worn out as if I'd actually done anything today!

Finally got an answer out of Rachel about her work & rehearsal schedules so we'll be going to RI to my sister's for Easter and a few days' break. We haven't had a real vacation in about a year - so it'll be nice to get away. Probably go to Old Plimouth Plantation so Danny can meet the people re-enacting his Mayflower ancestors! Kids & i have gone but he never has.

Well there's finally something I want to watch on tv - exciting day!

- Megs

Happy Evening Everyone,

I suppose most of you east coaster are probably already relaxing....I hope you are. Just popping in to say Hi!! We made an impromptu visit to the San Diego Zoo today when Amber went there this morning for a field trip, got lost...called...got lost again....called....got lost and drove down a one way street the wrong way crying!! We got her there thanks to mapquest and she asked if we wanted to join her..Get the picture

Megs-I hate sinus ickies!! Feel better soon (and don't put K-Y jelly up thereLOL)

LauraSue-Feel better soon!

MJ-Have a great time in Boston!! Love that town, except driving in it LOL

Gretchen-So glad to see you post. Miss ya!!!

Droolie-Costco on Sunday? Are you asking for a migraine? LOL!! Hope you did not have to push your cart into any unsuspecting people to make your way through

Dar