Air Horn Graduation

My son had his graduation from high school this week. We really lucked out with the weather on his day especially given that it has been raining almost everyday for the past two weeks. This was a very hot bright sun shiny day.

Realistically, I know I'm never going to win as far as the weather is concerned so I was happy with the sun. My head doesn't like the sun or the rain and graduation would be much better off outside than inside a stuffy auditorium with echoing noises any day of the week.

Graduation day was full of Migraine triggers from the very beginning. I'm sure I don't have to go into the normal stresses of the day or of the challenges of trying to get a teenager up early in the morning to go to the required practices and other pre-graduation preparations when all they want to do is sleep in late.

I also needed to pick up an abortive prescription at my doctor's office and have it filled before going to the mall only to find myself needing to take one after I arrived there. Even though everything was stacked against me, I was hoping I could avoid one on this day, but it would just be another thing I had to deal with that I didn't have the time for.

I got to the ceremony early and was able to find a seat in the shade which helped as much as I would expect. My troubles started after the graduation procedure began - that is when all of the air horns came out! They were ALL over the place and I was surrounded by them. The best part was right after the last kid, excuse me, adult was called up to get his diploma. ALL of the air horns went off for a very long time.

I read a post this morning, No, You're not Crazy, You just Have Migraines, that made me think of the crazy thoughts I had while all of these "Migraine Makers" were sounding off. I was picturing something cutting off (insert your own imagination here) the source that was creating the noises to make their sounds.

I know this is a bit drastic and I probably wouldn't have said anything if I didn't read this great post, but look at this list of triggers and exasperating factors I'd been contending with all day: teenage son, noises, sun, heat, stress, weeks of rain, family members, very loud noises, the mall, the doctor's office, the pharmacy, hormones, dehydration and a bad night's sleep. There were additional stresses not related to graduation going on too. Although I did find out this week I survived the latest round of job cuts, there were many people close to me who did not.

I do try to find the bright side of things and here's what I've been able to come up with for graduation: I dread to think of what I might have done had the graduation actually been held indoors and the air horns been brought in there and blown. I can only allow my imagination to run wild and be thankful I didn't need to live through that fantasy.

I didn't have anything on me, but I would have been afraid of making a scene on my son's last official day of school. I have been working so hard on trying to get my head under control and to be able to control myself in general. I've made some progress, but the rain and all of these other little triggers and the air horns do not help.

Now I have another child on his way to further his education. What more could a proud mom ask for?

No Flashes

I went to my nieces dance recital. It was really nice and the auditorium was dark; just the way I like things. The rules of the program were you could take pictures as long as you didn't use a flash.

However, there were several over zealous parents where about every third performance they not only used a flash camera, but thought they were studio photographers and kept snapping away. I ended up covering my eyes and trying to keep my composure. I actually started planning my escape route over my aunt and brother, then down the aisle and finally out the doors.

I don't want to give up what little normal life I have left! I want to enjoy normal things such as this. I know my nieces are not my daughters, but they are a big part of my life. I do want the other people to enjoy their children's dance recital too, but no flashes should mean no flashes. Right? Or am I being too sensitive?

Homemade Oversite

I need to be more careful when I am away from home. I recently realized that I have become more comfortable with some foods, especially homemade foods, when I really should not be.

The reason for this? When I am at home, my foods are safe. The products are carefully screened at the supermarket so they do not contain my triggers.

The problem with this is that when I am at other peoples houses and they offer me something to eat or drink, I don't think about the product and ingredients they are using. When I prepare the same foods at home, everything is safe. So although their foods look the same, they may be totally different and may not be right for me. I have learned that I have to either make sure I eat before going out or bring a dish that I can eat when I visit.

One thing you'll get to know about me is that I tend to get on a subject and stick with it until I can figure it out or get it out of my system. I know I'm not going to figure this out any time soon. Triggers have been on my mind a lot lately as I really need to get the number of Migraines I am getting down.

At my last Migraine Specialist's visit, she even mentioned that we need to work on finding the right preventative combination since I do have so many triggers. It made me feel so much better having a doctor tell me that rather than having a doctor tell me that 'sometimes you can find too many triggers' as I was told by one of my previous doctors. As you could imagine, that previous doctor only lasted the one doctor visit.