Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2007. Mattie was five years old and given the month, we were at a Fall Festival. In a way, it was our family tradition on the Fall weekends. As you can see we were on a hay wagon ride, which had taken us out to a pumpkin patch. Mattie loved picking pumpkins off the vine, but I would say he LOVED everything pumpkin. From bread to pies! In fact, until I had Mattie, I must admit I wasn't a big pumpkin fan. But since Mattie loved it, I did a lot of baking with pumpkin and grew to love it too.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 8,312,109
- number of people who died from the virus: 221,694
I would say Peter and I have been through our fair share of stressors and life adjustments. Naturally during COVID, everyone is frustrated, anxious, and at times depressed. I feel like I could do a "how to" manual, about how to survive the impossible. I am kidding of course, because anyone who knows me knows I am not a firm believer of these how to lists. As if everyone manages or experiences things the same way??? They don't!
But for us, we are dealing with COVID lock downs, Peter's job search, and concerns about the health of our parents. Seems to me any one of these things is stress provoking, but in totality, it feels overwhelming. Oh and I forgot to mention, that Peter is balancing being our neighbor's executor of his will. Which has its own complications as the executors appointed by our neighbor refused to do the role! So our neighbor's family appointed Peter. Not a simple request, as it has to go through the DC courts, which are moving in slow motion thanks to COVID.
With all these different stressors, I feel like they have triggered intense migraines. But I am not just dealing with your average migraine, I have a cluster headache. I have only had one other cluster headache in my life. They are awful, they last months, and are very debilitating. So far I am on week two of dealing with this pain, and I must admit it is exhausting, irritating, and makes it hard to focus on anything. My neurologist says the best treatment for this is steroids, but I refuse to take them.
So what's the difference between a migraine and a cluster headache? Well an individual with chronic migraines might think they are experiencing cluster headaches, but the symptoms of the two are unique. In addition to headaches, people with migraines tend to feel nauseous, see auras, and be sensitive to light. Cluster headaches are more likely to cause sinus issues such as runny noses or watery eyes. They can also come on suddenly, while migraines tend to develop more slowly. Alongside the debilitating pain, several common signs and symptoms come with cluster headaches. The headache will generally affect only one side of the face, with pain targeted around that eye. The eye might also appear red or weepy, swell, or droop.
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