Friday, July 1, 2011

A Giveaway!

I recently got a care package in the mail from a fellow migraineur and blogger, Jessica, over at Painfully Speaking. And there will be presents to celebrate!


Oh, there's a special delight that comes with receiving packages in the mail. The postal carrier is no longer an everyday background drone going about his business, nearly invisible to the naked eye. Suddenly, that busy man in blue is Santa Claus walking down my street. (Taking his time. Stopping to talk to neighbors. HURRY MAN U HAZ MAH PREZZIES!)

And I relished the opening of the box. Unpacking slowly, I examined each item, and tasted more than one. There were several familiar items, but a few new, and I was plum giddy with the thrill of presents.



Can you believe this haul? Let me detail. I'll start with the familiar products. The Benadryl is for the allergies that can make my head explode via vicious machine-gun sneeze attacks. Visine is for the red, dry eyes that can come with allergies, but are more predominately a side effect of medication. The chamomile teas are for relaxation, sleep, and just because tea is good. The tiger balm is for a minty saturation vacation, it feels good on sore neck and back muscles, and my head loves the menthol.

The nose spray is another useful tool for hay fever battles, almost a portable neti pot! Maybe I'll make it through this allergy season after all! The Burt's Bees lip balm is one of my favorite things, it's nicely mentholated and soothing, and is theoretically made with more natural ingredients than your average chapstick. That icepack is a good one. We have a few of those plastic, drug-store ones, but they bust on us after only a few months, so this one will be super useful, and will last much longer.

As for the products I've never tried before, there's a roll-on vial of a product called Head Clear, it's meant to be soothing on the temples during a headache and it is pretty nice. A homeopathic spray called 911 Stress Control is another new one, directions say to spray it three times on the tongue during times of stress, repeating as necessary. I've used this a few times, and I can say with confidence, it didn't hurt anything.

The Moon Drops are a homeopathic remedy for sleeplessness. I'm usually a good sleeper, but it takes just one night of rough sleep to cause an avalanche of migraine activity, so it's been nice to have these. I've used them a handful of times, and haven't had any prolonged sleeplessness lately. So far, so good!

The ginger chews are SO good! My nausea's been pretty mild lately, but I had to try one just for the taste. So yummy! I'll have trouble leaving these alone until I *need* them.


Jessica is obviously really good at this care package thing. When I was done poring over every item, and trying everything at least once, I emailed Jess, gushing over her picks. She emailed me back, and blew my mind by offering to make up a box for one of you! I'm so happy to host this giveaway. Getting that package that day, a day that was not good in any other way, made it a little happier. It eased the hurt and made me smile. Good on you, Jess, for spreading smiles around.

To enter to win your very own custom made box o' goodies (contents totally at Jessica's discretion), comment on this post with your email and tell us what products you'd include in a care package to a chronically ill friend. Enter by or on July 15th, one entry per person, please. On July 16th, I'll do one of those randomizer doodads and will announce a winner on my blog. The winner will then be contacted by email by Jessica herself to arrange delivery of their very own care package. Are you excited? I'm SO excited!

This giveaway is limited to the contiguous 48.

Good luck!


This giveaway is closed. Thanks!


4 comments:

Heather said...

How sweet of Jessica to not only give you a care package but offer to make one for a giveaway!

I've had such a bad attitude lately when it comes to doing things like this...for example, my church started a new program where you make a meal and they'll serve it to the homeless living in the woods nearby, and although I wanted to do it, a thought kept creeping in my mind: "I can hardly make meals for MYSELF!" And yet here's Jessica, who also has chronic pain, and she's making care packages for others! I'm inspired, and now I will definitely cook a meal for the homeless.

To answer your question, Jessica pretty much covered it all! Other ideas might be a magazine for distraction from pain (like People or something fun) &/or a book about dealing with pain.

Jessica said...

Good idea about the book Heather!!!

Abby said...

Wow... all those items are so thought out. I love that they all serve such a great purpose. I haven't tried the Sweet Dreams or the Nose Spray... but the other stuff are great items I've used for my head many times. Such a nice package!! btw I just came across your blog today, but I'm totally relating to you. Thanks making us others out there not feel so alone!

HitchChic said...

This is awesome. Care packages are so fun to get in the mail. I am new to reading your blog. I have regular headaches and migraines as well. New items that may help are always welcome information.