Yeah, well, I do

She Still Will Not Complain

Another woman who calls her migraines a friend--but at least she seems to do it in a smack-talking sort of a way.

she now gets by with 16 prescription medications, 9 over the counter pills, and weekly shots at the Diamond Headache Clinic of dolophine (Methadone) for pain and promethazine (Phenergan) for nausea. On the afternoon I saw her, she described the sharp headache behind her left eye as about average for her — a “6″ (10 being the worst). But because of the dramatic weather changes outside, she rated her second, more diffuse, headache — which emerged in 2001 on the back of her head and down her neck — as higher-than-average, a “7”).

Ha! I'm lucky--I don't take as much medication as she does, and my hospital visits aren't as regimented, but it sure looks familiar. Not to mention the simultaneous headaches. I haven't tied mine to the weather yet, though.

All in all, she sounds like a tough old broad--tougher than I am, for ill or not.

Sometimes not looking like you're in pain isn't about being tough or strong--sometimes it's simply about not wanting to go into any sort of detail.

I have to say, Siri Hustvedt blogging at the NY Times is more sensible than the last one I linked to. I think she's a bit whack when she ascribes some marginal positivity to the affliction by considering them as a regulating force in her life, preventing her from overdoing and overfeeling.

I'm so far from over- right now, it's not funny. I just want to do, and to feel.