Posted by gary (208.133.220.57) on February 05, 2000 at 23:32:22:
In Reply to: To all: When is your check-out time? posted by Francois on February 05, 2000 at 22:53:59:
I certainly remember that feeling.
Month after month after month of attacks of unspeakable pain, linked by periods of fear of the next attack, and despair for what was being lost -
well -
for me that time eventually passed, and the Ch has been getting better for years now, in the same way it got worse for years before
I'm just out of (I think) a 5 month cluster -
and today My wife & I did our chores & ran the dog in the morning, on a bright sunny winter day, with crisp clean air that felt good on the battered old noggin,
then a nice 2 hr ride through the country (where we live, even riding the interstate is mostly through country), and an afternoon watching my daughter compete in her first college track meet-
got big hugs & thanks for coming - from a freshman in front of her friends ! pretty cool !!!
beautiful beautiful sunset in front of us driving home,
stopping at a GREAT restaurant on a big converted ferry boat in one of New England's finest harbor cities -
more seafood scampi and fresh hot crusty bread than even I can get around
(but no wine - I DO have CH after all, and I am not THAT dumb)
OK -
you get the picture, and every word is true
NOW consider:
I've had CH for 30 years;
That's something like 18,000 - 20,000 knock-you-on-your-ass attacks, 4 to 6 months a year LOST
had to walk out of COUNTLESS events when I wanted to be there with/for my kids;
spent god knows how many hours feeling worse than useless.....
obviously you know what I mean
BUT GUESS WHAT -
my headaches are getting fewer and fewer,
all the time,
and have been doing so for the last 15 years,
after 15 years of them getting worse
it took until about year 20 of CH to see they were really getting better -
NOW -
AND I SWEAR ON ALL I FIND HOLY THIS IS TRUE-
if I could go BACK 20 or 25 of those years,
and have the time with my kids as they grew up,all over again, I'd take the old Ch agony back to do it again, and call it a great trade -
my PRAYER now is that whatever this beastly affliction is, hasn't torn me up so bad, that it will prevent me from getting in another 25 or 30 years,
redoing it all with grandchildren yet to be, and the little nieces and nephews already on the scene ;
Garrison Keiler said this evening, on Prairie Home Companion - that life doesn't start getting REALLY good until your fifties -
HOPE THE HELL HE"S RIGHT -
I started this most recent cluster in my forties, in the 20th century,
and am ending it in my 50s, in the 21st century
talk about Rip Van Vinkle !!!!!!!!!!!!
Hang in there, Francois -
and consider this advice,
which I received just today in an email from another of our CHMB friends - pasted in here unchanged:
"About CHs, I'm absolutely convinced that there
are only a few rules to keep them away from us:
Do not: drink alcohol, smoke, eat rubbish and go to bed late.
Do: love your family, gym, work, read good books,
listen to classical music, go to the theater, be good."
I agree.