Thursday, October 23, 2008

Me & My Migraines


Migraines might be nothing new to some of you but they are to me. Well I guess not completely new I think I've had maybe 3 in my life before I moved to Arizona. I certainly didn't have chronic migraines and although they were painful they weren't debilitating!

A few weeks ago I started have these terrible migraines! I'm telling you the kind that make you throw up, go blind, and so forth.  So naturally the first time this happened for me I decided I would just go to sleep--sleep it off you might say.  Well I did that only my "sleep it off" turned into a sort of coma of sorts and I didn't wake up for another 11 hours. 

You might be thinking wow that is bad but not that bad if it helped get rid of the migraine--and I would have to agree with you.  At least I can go to sleep and wake up without my head feeling like it's about to explode.

The problem--and where the debilitating part comes in when I tell you that I've had 7 migraines in a little over 2 weeks! Each time resulting in pain, sickness (yes throwing up), and then an 11 or so hour "coma" for relief.

So thus my drama with my migraines! I started putting up taglines on my facebook about my migraines and got so many people suggesting things about migraines. I felt that I had joined some club of the sufferers. Seriously though there is way too much info for a migraines sufferer to figure out what is causing their migraine. I mean I stopped eating certain foods, started eating other foods, tried to de stress, then tried to figure out what could have been my trigger etc.

In the end I ended up at the doc's office at my school (I have student health insurance) knowing she would most likely tell me the same things a gazillion other people had told me.  Well she listened and actually empathize with me noting, "Yes I can see why you want to figure this out as these migraines seem to be taking away chunks of your life!"  ( Isn't it great when you go to the doctor and feel validated for your suffering!).  So she gave me a few prescriptions and a referral to see an eye specialist (we both thought this might be the trigger as I had eye issues earlier around the time of my migraines starting).

So I set out to go see an Opthamologist and they wouldn't see me. Seriously I called 3 and they all said that I needed to go to a Neurologist not an Eye Doctor.  In fact 2 of the Eye specialists I called referred me to a Neuro-Opthamologist. I didn't even know there was such a doctor (aka Occular-Neurologist).  

And so I begin my journey of figuring out what is up with my brain! ( sorry this post is so boring but it is really what is going on in my life these days)

Monday, October 20, 2008

Benefit Concert for Nie Nie in Mesa!






I think by now most of you know about Stephanie & her husband Christian who were in a plane crash and badly burned. Stephanie has a blog that many people frequent (her sister Jane also writes about Stephanie & Christian).  I won't get into much detail here because I feel like if you have a blog or read a blog you know this story. It has been all over the news, all over blogs, tons of fundraisers, and much more...

Speaking of find raisers... A good friend of mine, Mindy Gledhill, will be performing a concert on October 25, 2008 at 7:00 PM in Mesa, AZ. She will be performing at Mountain View High School (2700 E Brown Rd.  Mesa, AZ 85213). Tickets are $15 and all tickets and CD's will benefit Nie Nie and her family!  Please go to Mindy's website to get tickets and invite your friends!

Multi Stake/ Regional Rodeo!

This Rodeo/Dance was a huge girl's choice dance. I took Nate (pictured next to me) who I met through Pamela.  There was barrel racing, tug-o-war ( I took video but it wasn't loading well), egg toss, and much much more!

Nat & Kylee

Nate & Kylee          Natalie & Jason

Robert & Pamela           Nate & Kylee

Whitney & Tyler      Kylee & Nate (and fake barbed wire)

Can you see how much dust was in the air? It reeked havoc on just about everyone!

  
Jacob & Amy       Amy & Brett (Enjoying the Rodeo)


                                                                          Kylee & Natalie

After the Rodeo shin dig a bunch of us went and had a bonfire!  It was fun and I was introduced to Sobee bombs! For those of you who haven't seen them (I had never heard of them but everyone else seemed to know about them--must be an AZ thing) it is where you fill a Sobee bottle with gasoline, put the lid back on, poke a small hole, then place it in the fire. They explode and it looks really cool!

Pamela's Birthday!

Kylee & Pamela 

For Pamela's birthday she invited some of her friends and instead of us giving her gifts she made us all an authentic Italian (she served her mission in Rome) feast!


Happy Birthday Pamela!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Conference Weekend

I love the mountains!

Jodi & I played with Kris' nieces and nephews while were watching the BYU game! Go Cougs!

Miranda & I at Temple Square! It rained the entire weekend we were in Ut. It had been 106 in Mesa so I didn't even think about bringing an umbrella or coat or anything.

Miranda, Kris, Karen, & I had tickets to the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference!

Mirand, Karen, & I at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. I had just finished watching a photographic portrayal of the life of Christ. It's called, Reflections of Christ, by Mark Maybry (he lives in Mesa, AZ) and it is truly incredible. It will be touring the states soon but if you don't get to see it live be sure and go to the website.


Meet Deja & Kiki, my best friend's new little "Girls".  I was afraid they wouldn't like me but they did and I enjoyed watching conference with them on my lap. We got along great and I think I will make a great auntie!

"In our lovely desert..."


Amazingly on our way home we stopped at a Wendy's/Gas Station and I ran into my brother's best friend from when they were kids. It was so great to see Jason again!

September

My good friend Kris (on top) just recently moved to Arizona and Alex helped him out. It was great to have a few familiar faces around!

(L-R) Whitney, Tyler, Kirsten, Kylee, & Cory.
We went to see Rob Gardner's "Black Beard: The Musical" and it was fantastic!

Whitney, you are too cool!

Tyler & Whitney (some of my new greatest friends ever)!

It was great to have Cory come visit from Kingman, AZ for the weekend!

Cory & I found this crazy secret device in my room--a red light blinks whenever there's a sound but it doesn't react to motion???

The Porters took us all out to dinner at Carrabas for Jodi's Birthday!
(L-R) Top: Kylee, Steve & Liz Porter. 
(L-R) my roommates: Becky M., Katie F., & Jodi C. (& Catie Porter)


Cory & I played Basketball @ Golfland and then with our tickets we bought bouncy balls!