I’m Seeing the World Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Several posts ago I mentioned that I’ve been seeing a new doctor. The wife of one of Kev’s coworkers gave us the name of a neurologist who specializes in headaches. And she practices here in the valley. I’ve looked for such a specialist on a number of occasions over the years and was never able to find one, so this tidbit of info was a pretty propitious find. After a particularly rough headache week in February (a migraine that completely incapacitated me for two full days was only part of that week’s drama), I made an appointment.

The doctor asked me a million questions, some I expected (symptoms, family history of headaches, personal history of headaches, if I eat chocolate or drink caffeinated beverages, etc.) and some that surprised me (if I get carsick, if I can read in a moving vehicle). After a neurological exam and all the questions, she told me that I have chronic migraines. This was not news to me. I’ve know that for a good long while now. She also told me that I won the genetic lottery for headaches…not really the kind of lottery anyone wants to win, but there’s really not much I can do about it. I’ve been doing the headache think for so long that most of the lifestyle changes she could have recommended have been a part of my daily existence for a couple of decades now. She did, however, take the time to talk about sleep. I know that not sleeping enough triggers headaches for me, and she said that she could not overemphasize how important it is to get enough sleep. She also said that headache prone brains do not like change. Huh. Even my gray matter has OCD. Aren’t I the lucky one! (Be sure the read that last bit with the appropriate sarcasm.)

Right off the bat, she changed the dosage of my maintenance medication and took me off the rescue meds I was taking. Apparently one of the ones I was taking was pretty bad for causing rebound headaches. And the triptan I was taking (triptans are the class of drugs that treat migraines) was so short lasting that by the time my body metabolized it and I started to feel relief, it was already wearing off. She also prescribed some tinted lenses for my glasses to help with the light sensitivity bit.

Here’s a bit of background on the whole light issue. I’ve been getting headaches on grocery shopping day for years and I could not figure out why. About a year ago I happened to read somewhere that fluorescent lighting can trigger migraines. I mentioned it to Kev and he suggested I try wearing my sunglasses in the store to see if it made a difference. It did. I was able to considerably improve my odds of getting the shopping done without having a headache and over the past year, I’ve learned to recognize the earliest symptoms of the light triggered migraines and head them off with my sunglasses. So I was intrigued by the tinted lenses idea.

It took a few weeks to get the lenses made and longer than normal to get used to them (because they are filtering out light, when I’m in a particularly funky lighting situation I can see the light refracting and get a bit of the “pencil in a glass of water” effect when I move around), but I’ve already noticed an improvement. In the very worst of the stores-Walmart (which is only a small part of the reason I hate Walmart so much) and Joann’s (bad for me but good for my budget)-I still need to wear my sunglasses. I think the tint would need to be considerably darker to make everything hunky dory in those places. But in other stores I don’t seem to have any problems. And it seems to really help when I’m sitting at the computer. I had gotten to the point where I could only look at the computer screen for five or ten minutes before I started to feel a headache coming on and things are significantly better now. (Seriously, there is a really good reason why I’ve had such a hard time keeping up on my blog in the past year.)

So literally having a rosy outlook on life is helping. Changing up the meds seems to be helping as well. I’m not having a headache nearly every day anymore. Things aren’t as good as I’d like them to be, but I seem to be on an upward climb. Hopefully that will continue.

Was This Listed In The Job Description?

Yesterday was one of those days that make me wonder what I was thinking when I decided to have children. It started off well enough, but things took a turn for the worse about the time Nathan came home from school not wearing his glasses. When I asked him where they were, he informed me they were broken. It looked like they were just missing a screw, but when I asked him how they broke, he told me he was hitting his head. With what, you ask? His own hand, of course. So I dug out the glasses repair kit, trying not to be too peeved, and set about trying to fix them which of course I was unable to do because either 1) I'm stupid, 2) They were more broken than I realized, or 3) I didn't have the right size screw. I'm hoping it is #3, but afraid that it is #2. And #1 happens more frequently than I care to admit, so that is still a possibility as well.

Upon realizing that I would have to take them back to the store to be repaired, I stuck the glasses in my purse and headed back to the kitchen where I found Matthew standing in the fridge. And yes, I have chosen the correct proposition. He was standing on the little ledge created when the crisper drawers are closed, grabbing eggs (which he is still allergic to), and throwing them up onto the top shelf. Being launched with such force caused every one of them to crack. Some slid down between the shelves and the back of the fridge, getting caught partway down, insides continuing to ooze downward, finally pooling beneath the crisper drawers. He got to approximately fourteen eggs before I caught him. I had to take the shelves out and clean the entire fridge. And it's not like it even needed it. Kev cleaned the whole thing about four days ago. Luckily for me, a cleaning tip I read about recently actually helped speed up the process. (To clean up egg, cover the egg with salt. Give it a few minutes to soak up the egg and then you can easily wipe up the whole mess.) I was able to salvage about 2/3 of the eggs and made oyako domburi for dinner. (This is one of Kev's mission recipes that we love. It uses half a dozen eggs so it worked out very well after yesterday's adventure.)

This was definitely a discipline worthy event, but I had no idea how to punish Matthew. First of all, he is one and reasoning with him is pointless. Second, all the tricks that worked with Daniel and Nathan do nothing for Matthew. With the other two, I could give them a time out by plopping them on my lap and holding their hands so they couldn't move. They hated it and after a few times they got the idea. Matthew, on the other hand, doesn't care. He sits perfectly still, no screaming or fighting of any kind, and as soon as I let him go he goes right back to what he was doing. Flicking his hand doesn't phase him either. So after a consultation with Kev, I pulled out the Pack'N'Play. Matthew new discipline plan is to get a two minute time out in baby jail, which he doesn't like at all. It seems to help though. He was timed out for playing with the UPS for the computers, but hasn't tried to touch it again for almost twenty hours.

Since my first born was absent during both of these adventures, he must have felt an overwhelming need to join the "Try My Patience Club" upon arriving home. He leaned his entire body weight against one of the rails of the Pack'N'Play, causing it to buckle and I was unable to fix the problem. I was enormously displeased to have the method of Matthew's discipline broken so immediately after its inception. But Kev figured out how to make it work again, for which I am enormously grateful.

Ah, motherhood. It is never boring.

The Wrath of Mother

It took five whole days of kindergarten to break Nathan's glasses. When he came home today with the mangled frames and only one lens, I was irritated. When he told me that they broke because one of the big kids grabbed him and made him fall before school this morning, the irritation became anger. Anger at the unnamed older child who bullied my kid. Nathan said one of the playground attendants (He called them "one of the school stack with an orange vest." I'm thinking he meant "staff.") saw the whole thing and came right over. So I'm hoping that some responsible adult at the school will ensure this doesn't happen again. Incidents like this can make a child hate school and I don't want my bright, inquisitive five year old to hate school.

So now we search for the lens because although there is a breakage warranty on the frames, a lost lens means buying a new one. Nathan thinks it is on the bus, but he is in no way a reliable eyewitness so the school secretary is checking with his teacher as well as the bus driver. At least we were smart enough to buy two pairs of glasses so Nathan will still have a pair to wear while we get the broken ones replaced.

And I'll sit here and attempt to think Christ-like thoughts. ("I don't want to beat up the bully. I don't want to beat up the bully. I don't want to beat up the bully . . .")

The Nathanator

Nathan got his glasses today. They came relatively fast (only 5 days-they estimated 7 to 10), but it still seemed like forever to him. He was so excited that he was jumping up and down and hollering, "My glasses came! My glasses came!" I'm sure the excitement will wear off, but for now it will definitely be an aid in the transition period.


After last week's Evacuation Episode (and during the Crayon Crisis), Nathan drew a picture of the evacuation. In the top left corner is the scoop portion of the digger. The green is the natural gas line and the little black part just under the teeth of the digger is the natural gas leaking out. In the center of the top is one of the workers. On the far right side of the page is our house (with a purple roof) and our car driving away. I'm not sure why our car is blue, but it is. At the bottom of the page is a scared face to show how he felt. The letters kind of superimposed over the top of the picture are actually the date: Aug. 7, 2008. I think he did a pretty darn good job recording the event, especially considering that he doesn't really know how to write yet.