Mommy Blog

Rebooting

in Giggles on February 10, 2023

Stay with me today, I promise I’ll make a point in the end.

I’ve been trying to get this post out for several days, but unfortunately this week I’ve been dealing with a substantial migraine.

Migraine headaches and I are old friends. I am also well acquainted with cluster headaches, tension headaches, and everyone’s favorite: sinus headaches. Oftentimes, all four of these characters vie for the lead role in whatever pain drama my body decided to run for the day.

For most of my life I thought it was truly my migraines calling all the shots. After thirty-seven years of trying desperately to simply manage and mitigate the constant onslaught of pain, I discovered that I was wrong.

While my migraines were impressive and “study-able” in their own right, they were not in charge. When I was forty-five years old, I was finally properly and completely diagnosed. Along with the cornucopia of headaches I’d collected over the years, my underlying and most devastating ailment was called Occipital Neuralgia.

The short version of this is quite simple: Due to anatomical abnormalities during my construction, most of the nerves in my head lacked the proper room and pathways to receive adequate blood supply. So, through the years as I grew, the muscles in my head, along with a few rogue lymph nodes, and spare fat deposits, were effectively choking the literal life out of a massive collection of important nerves.

While migraine disease is the most common headache disorder in the world, affecting roughly twenty percent of our own US population; Occipital Neuralgia barely even makes a blip on the screen. A measly thirty-three hundred people, total, in the United States have been diagnosed.

Why am I telling you all of this? Honestly, I don’t know. Part of my crazy train of thought is to raise awareness. Many, many people deal with constant and persistent headaches that check several of the typical boxes for common headaches, but not all—or not enough to classify as any one specific type. For a decade and a half, I stumped neurologists across the country because of my headaches’ inability to respond to traditional western medications and treatments (and some non-traditional treatments). I was told more than a few times, that this was my life and would have to “deal with it.”

Hearing a statement like that from your healthcare providers is extremely deflating.

In March of 2021, I made one final last-ditch appointment with a new doctor. I had no idea that in the timespan of fifteen minutes, she would change my life. She is the one who explained Occipital Neuralgia to me, and more importantly, she told me she knew how to fix it.

Six weeks later, I was face-down on an operating table while a surgeon released twenty-eight nerves from encapsulated muscle, scar tissue, lymph nodes and more. In six and half hours, he restored blood flow to nerves that had been steadily dying since I was born. My relief was instantaneous.

Four decades of increasing pain was almost completely removed.

He was my miracle.

I am now eighteen months post-op. I’ve had four or five monster migraines in that timeframe, and a few minor head disturbances since my surgery. All in all, I am a walking miracle.

So, why the trip through my medical case files?

I had one of my follow-up appointments with my surgeon this week. I had some questions and a few concerns. Chiefly, why is my hair falling out? Why do I feel as though I’m on Aerosmith’s Rocking Rollercoaster at Disney World with ALL my emotions going up and down and inside out? And a few other oddities that I won’t bore you with. His answer was simple:

I am rebooting.

My endocrine system was functioning at the highest level for decades. Decades. My fight or flight sequence was always in GO-mode. There are about ten other hormones that deal with an attack on the body. All of mine were rapidly firing at all times.

Now, they don’t need to, but unfortunately, many of them still are. It is all they know how to do. Dr. Perry told me I am in the middle of a great reboot. I need to be patient with my body and let it heal.

Patience is not something I am well acquainted with.

But, I am learning.

So, let me ask you this: Is there something going on in your world that is requiring a bit more patience than you have available?

Perhaps it is a health issue, or a career situation, or a relationship. I’m tasking you with cutting yourself some slack. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you cannot reboot your systems that fast either.

We are still technically in the season of the New Year. It’s not too late to lean into your own personal reboot. Take your time and embrace each new stage. If today was a swing and a miss, just remember the immortal words of Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow is another day!” Try again.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. If you are experiencing health issues, please seek medical attention. Go to multiple providers, drive to other cities or even other states (if you’re able). Don’t let anyone make you think that because they don’t know the answer, that there isn’t one.