My Voice
The Golden Gate Bridge is truly a masterpiece of iconic architecture. The 4,200-foot-long, art-deco suspension bridge is made of cable-spun steel and concrete. It’s quite an experience to drive over the freezing cold waters of the San Francisco Bay. Sometimes there is so much fog that it hides the top of the pillars painted in “international orange.” Every time I cross this bridge, I am reminded of the words from a massage therapist, “you have steel cable under there.” That was the perfect analogy. It’s something that I have struggled with my whole life. I stretch every day, am conscience of my posture, take breaks from the computer and use peppermint oil or tiger balm to keep those muscles relaxed. But when I’m asleep, I curl into a ball and clench my fists, basically to protect myself from the pain. I sleep in odd positions. None of this helps to…
Keep Reading...I’m on a plane home to LA reflecting on the last three weeks I spent on the east coast. Several opportunities came my way and of course it all happened at the same time! I am grateful I was asked to be part of events focused on community building, advocacy, education and collaboration.
Keep Reading...The mere thought of taking your brain into a sunny environment, filled with music, friends and acquaintances to enjoy something as simple as happy hour is overwhelming. The outside world slowly becomes a place filled with unknowns. Will my brain behave or will the combination of a screaming child, an ominous rain cloud and the smell of that guy’s pungent cologne cause anarchy in your head?
Keep Reading...Over the last hour, I’ve been watching an amazing sunset. We have a wall of windows and a sliding glass door that leads out onto a huge balcony. The sunsets in California are out of this world. As the sunset progressed, a huge cloud sat right above the mountains and the ocean, creating some magnificent colors and shadows. Purples, pinks and grays are about to completely be hidden as the sun is almost gone and night sets in.
Keep Reading...Yesterday, I attended the 10th Annual Headache on the Hill. Organized by the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (http://allianceforheadacheadvocacy.org/headache-on-the-hill), over 100 patients, doctors and caregivers descended upon Capitol Hill to lobby for migraine research. We met with the offices of Senators and Congressman throughout the day to show how incredibly underfunded this disease is compared to the burden it places on its constituents and the economy. While some meetings only lasted 10 minutes or less, over 150 representatives were visited. I found that sharing personal stories helped to connect our audience to our disease. Sometimes it’s not always efficient to share your story as we are only one of dozens of appointments held in each office that day. We are encouraged to write our story and leave it with the staff member or representative we met with. I thought I would share my letter with you. As an advocate and…
Keep Reading...At My Tallest The beginning of my day starts when Archer leaves for work around 9am to brave the LA traffic. Although I just want to crawl back into bed, I start my day with a smoothie. I sit on the balcony just to double check the ocean is still there (my fantasy land of living at the beach could have just been a dream all along, so I gotta check!).
Keep Reading...My dad gets ocular or retinal migraine attacks. He gets a visual aura that lasts 15-20 minutes and then he doesn’t get the head pain. Oddly, his attacks started after I became chronic.
Keep Reading...I took this video a few days after coming home from 6 days in the hospital. I’ve had a really hard time recovering although the ketamine treatment tends to decrease the frequency and intensity of my migraine attacks. Sometimes you just gotta cry it out.
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Katie is a professional patient, writer for Migraine.com, US Pain Ambassador, patient advocate, speaker, and freelance writer.