Migraine Relief?

I've mentioned before that I suffer from migraines. There are different types of migraines and I have the kind that almost always starts with an aura which includes various visual disturbances such as "swiss cheese vision" (multiple blind spots) and silver, sparkly rivers. I also sometimes have hemisensory symptoms such as tingling and numbness in my body on the opposite side of the headache.

The aura occurs first and then after it subsides, the headache pain comes on. The hemisensory symptoms can occur during the aura or the headache and sometimes in the prodromal phase before any other symptoms occur - sometimes days before I get an aura and head pain.

Many migraine medications (including all of the triptans) are contraindicated in patients with hemisensory symptoms as the medications can cause stroke in those patients. That limits my options for migraine relief.

There's a new device coming on the market perhaps next year that provides drug-free relief to some migraine sufferers who experience migraine with aura. It provides an electrical pulse that zaps the migraine response out of the brain's nerves (that's the technical description) before the blood vessels can dilate, causing the headache pain.

Here is a local news story about it.

You can be sure that I'll keep a close eye on this one.

First Day of First Grade

 

Last year's photo here.

Anniversary Card

For my parents

True Love isn't just about finding someone who makes you feel happy. True Love isn't just about finding someone who says what you want to hear. True Love is about finding someone who you commit to being your best for but who understands when you're not. True Love is about finding someone like each of you found.

Squeezing the budget

Do you find time to pray? Do you make time to pray? What if the first thing you put in your schedule was time to pray?

This is a quote from Reverend Susan LaMar, pastor of a church near us:

My priorities are sleep first, meditation and prayer second, and everything else follows. If my day seems too busy to pray, I double the time I spend in prayer . . . and all else follows. And goes better. It is the tender offering that I give to that which I call God.

Do I dare try this? Would I even succeed at trying to double the time I spend in prayer instead of removing it from the schedule when I can't find space on the calendar for all of the other things? Can I handle what God might show me, say to me and ask of me if I do this?

Pandora Radio

Have you been to www.pandora.com? It's a cool music site that puts the Music Genome Project in your hands.

What is the Music Genome Project? It's "a group of musicians and music-loving technologists" who have listened to tens of thousands of songs to map them at a fundamental level. What does that mean for you? You can create your own stations, seeded with songs or artists that you like and then the information in the music genome project allows the site to play other songs like that, based on their "musicality" (did I make that word up?) For instance, maybe you like music that has a lot of vocal harmony and a driving rhythm guitar - then other songs that have that will be presented to you. Maybe songs you already know and love and probably some songs you didn't realize you'd like or have never even heard of!

Check it out - it's lots of fun to see what music it picks out for you based on your selections and it's also just an easy way to get a nice mix of tunes when you don't own an mp3 player. Ok, so I'm probably the only person left without one, but that's ok. You can also use Pandora on your iPhone.

Thanks to Elesa for showing me the Pandora site a couple of months ago - I use it all the time!

Precision Rafting Expeditions

If you're in Garrett County, MD, or nearby, and looking for a whitewater rafting trip of any level, check out Precision Rafting Expeditions. We went on a float trip last year with them and an easy whitewater trip with them this year and couldn't have been happier with our experience - and theirs!

Every guide that we encountered was friendly, learning everyones' names including people in other rafts, and highly experienced and knowledgeable. I kept telling our guide this year that it was hard for me to see myself heading right for a big rock and trust that he wouldn't let me slam into it and yet, he never let me slam into a big rock. I'd call that a successful trip.

Whitewater rafting the Cheat Narrows

Before getting in the raft - Andy, Dad, Dianne, Kevin in the front
 

My dad and me in the front, Kevin in the middle and Andy and our guide, Bill, in the back
 

Thrown for a loop, Bill reaches out to keep Kevin in the boat while I'm about to fall out of the boat myself and instinctively grab for anything to hold onto (Andy was there and he's pretty solid so I guess that was a good idea)
 

Through one of the rapids, Kevin sat in the front of the boat and got drenched - he loved it!
 

More Deep Creek Happenings

Kevin swam in the rain while I watched him in the rain
 

Eating homemade ice cream lakeside is enjoyable rain or shine
 

We spent a good bit of time just looking way cool
 

Deep Creek Vacation

It was supposed to rain a lot while we were on our vacation at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland but, fortunately, it didn't rain the whole time. We had the chance to....

Kayak on Deep Creek Lake (my parents are pictured there), Herrington Manor Lake, Savage River Reservoir and New Germany Lake
 

Catch minnows and other fun things to study
 

Purchase delicious, fake lemonade through the car window from a cute little boy
 

And steal each other's food during picnic lunches
 

More to come in another post...