2010

Now that Christmas is officially over, and I'm safely back home with my icepack and chamomile within easy reach, bundled up under blankets and basking in the glow of my desktop monitor, I feel like reflecting.

The Three Day Christmas Extravanganza had some really great moments, some mediocre moments and only a handful of terrible moments. I only had to beg off for two of the five gatherings I was expected to attend, which I consider a success. My homemade gifts were well received, and they were pumpkin gingerbread muffins, banana muffins, and crocheted plastic bags. I have a few ideas of how I'll do things differently next year, but mostly I had a good time. I ate well, but in moderation. I medicated as needed, but far less than I had worried might be necessary. And I got to see my family, which was the most important part.

And it was a pretty good year, overall. I think that this was the year that I really discovered food. I started cooking from scratch a lot more and have made a point of incorporating ingredients that I have never used before. For example, I've now cracked a coconut, roasted brussel sprouts, carved a pineapple, made seitan from flour, made hummus, baked bread, perfected stir-fry, and ate a whole lot more raw. I also learned how to cut my own hair, how to use my sewing machine, and I relearned how to ride a bike!

On the medical front, I got Botox, and then a new primary care doctor. I tried antidepressants for about a minute, and a few alternative treatments (one very alternative), most of which didn't help, but there was the resounding success of a temporary high dose of vitamin D, which gave me back a serious amount of daily spoons.

Blogwise, I started replying to comments more consistently and I think my writing has improved, though I have no proof of this.

Goals for the coming year: maybe finally getting acupuncture, that'd be great. I'm going to continue to make learning new things a priority, challenging my mind and body is so important for my health. I'm going to continue to reach out to others on the internet; the connections I've made have been so helpful, so supportive, so interesting, and so validating, that I can firmly say that positive social interaction (within whatever limits one may have) is some fantastic medicine.

Recently someone told me that they didn't know how I faced each day. I agreed that life is hard, and with chronic pain it can seem hopeless. But it's not, is the thing. My daily migraine pain and associated symptoms bring me down, all the way down, flat on the ground and barely breathing sometimes, but as soon as I am able, I get back up.


I wish you all a happy 2011! I can't wait to see what happens next.