what is normal?

I've had a couple of people message me about how scary Saturday's episode was.  For them.  :)  They thought I was particularly nonchalant about the whole thing.  Which I am.  Now.

At the time, I was deadly serious, with no sense of humor.  But if I can't laugh afterwards, I would lose my grasp on sanity.  Laughter is the best medicine and all that.  After efficacious migraine medication, that is.

I forget that people who aren't used to dealing with migraines or the people who suffer from them would assume that this was an anomaly that needed immediate medical supervision.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much abnormal about Saturday except that it was worse on the debilitating scale.  I know there isn't a lot out there about migraine, which is why many people just assume it's a bad headache.  It's far from that.  It's a whole complex neurological event that affects many different parts of the brain and body.  And to make it even more complicated, it varies widely from person to person and even within the same person.  [FAQ and FAQ, which are definitely not exhaustive in nature]

Despite barely any money being put into migraine research in the past 50 years, we know surprisingly little about them, she said sarcastically.  Yes, I am bitter.  According to the National Migraine Centre of the UK, more people are affected by migraines than by diabetes, epilepsy, and asthma combined. So many people are affected by migraines, and yet it's not a priority because it's assumed people don't die from it.

People do die from it though.  Many suicide because they lose hope of a "normal" life.  There was one case recently of a father who killed his daughter so she wouldn't suffer anymore.  You might argue that he was insane.  But I would argue right back that watching someone you love suffer for years can drive you insane.  It's why I don't burden my friends and family unnecessarily.  Not that I think my brother would kill me.  At least not for this.  ;)

Perhaps you can better understand why I was so ecstatic about a new drug being developed for them recently.

I almost skipped writing about this recent episode because it's such a downer, and who wants to read about that?  But, then people develop 'Grass is Greener' syndrome and think everyone's life is better than theirs.  Because all we ever see are people posting on social media how fkn fabulous their lives are when they're out and about having fun.  Not many people post about the darker sides.  And everyone has a darker side, even if they don't admit it publicly.