My Migraine Battle: On The Forefront

I'm Pissed Off!!!

I'm really angry today. I've heard so much lately about family, friends, medical staff and physicians who are unsupportive, to say the least, of their "loved one" or "patient" who is suffering from migraines. Migraine Disease is the most misunderstood and ignored disease in this country, no kidding! Doctors have from one paragraph to 1/4 page, in all their years of education, on migraines, in their text books, (first hand knowledge from a doctor friend). And other people just don't want to "deal" with a friend or family member who's in pain.

Is it because we're all too busy to care about other people these days? Is it because we blame the victim? I know someone whose mother blames her for making herself have a migraine. There is no such thing as a migraneur who wants migraine!

Another friend who suffers from chronic migraines, wrote today to say that she read about a chronic migraneur, went through the following situation:

"She'd had a Migraine that didn't respond to her triptans or rescue meds, so he'd taken her to the ER. They immediately encountered a problem when, because he was neither her spouse nor medical power of attorney, he wasn't allowed to accompany her to the exam room. They decided not to push the point for fear of seeming "difficult." James told me he was, "shocked beyond words when she came back out in less than half an hour." Sadly, she didn't come out so quickly because she'd gotten quick and effective treatment. On the drive home, she told James that a doctor she'd never seen before had treated her. He'd come into the exam room, checked her reflexes, and told the nurse what kind of injection to give her. Janice told him another doctor there had tried that before, it didn't work, and asked him to call her doctor, who was glad to receive such calls. The ER doctor replied, "I'm not calling anyone. I know how to treat people like you." By that time, the nurse was back, and gave her the injection. Both the doctor and nurse left. The nurse returned with Janice's discharge papers. When Janice objected to being discharged because she felt no better, the nurse left, and the doctor returned. He told her to "vacate that bed for people who really need it" or he'd call security."

How pathetic is it that we have to kill ourselves to be out of pain? This disease is so frustrating, because there isn't a cure, there is very little research or research funding to find answers, and to top that off we are treated like the scum of the earth because of our disease. This is the ultimate in discrimination. It's horrifying and I really, really wish that we would be heard by the medical community and society as a whole who turn deaf ears on our pleas for effective relief! What a humiliating experience Janice had. Yet, that happens constantly to migraneurs. I've heard from so many migraneurs who've had like experiences, you'd be amazed. This wasn't Janice's first experience like this, but she made sure that it was her last. This should horrify every person who reads this.

Please, if you read this blog, I beg you to start discussing it at the dinner table, with friends, with your doctors. Even if you don't have migraines, you can help by simply beginning discussions. Since the days of Plato, discussion has begun the snowball of opening minds and getting men to think about affairs. If you're really ambitious, please write to your local hospitals and ask the administrator about their policy for treating migraneurs. Asking questions jogs the mind.

That's all I can say for now. My heart is broken over this situation and another similar one that I heard about today, so that is all I can say.

posted by Jessica @ 7:44 PM