Friday, June 01, 2012
Christie
  • Christie
  • Location: West Chester, PA, United States
  • Gender: Female
  • Birthday: May 14, 1975
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HEALTH INTERESTS:

Migraines,  Chronic Migraine Pain,  Lupus,  Fibromialgia

DRUGS I AM TAKING:

Christie has not shared any drug information.

ABOUT ME:

Well a little about me... I'm 31 and have suffered with chronic migraines since the age of 4. Was diagnosed young and have had the worst of the worst I think. I went a few years where I kinda "grew out of them" through my late teen years into my early 20's. Then in 1998, wham... they came back with full force. Since then I've been through so many treatments, spent some months with Jefferson Headache Center at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and have tried every home remedy I could find. In short, these days I simply take something at onset. No preventatives other than watching what I eat or do as to not trigger a headache. I've learned it's virtually impossible to predict them and prevent them. So you learn to live with it. But sometimes the pain isn't the hardest part, but the acceptance rather, from others around you that have no idea what a real "migraine" is, proves to be worse than the attack as a whole. The lack of understanding, the feelings of guilt when others don't understand, the work place where everyone else can take a Motrin and be on their way, and the simple feelings of depression because no one ever seems to "get it" are the hardest. I do always try to remember that there is someone else out there worse off than me and I should be thankful that I can live the life I do. After all, I spend my life helping others at their worst moments and hoping that something I do at one moment in time, makes a difference in someones life. I'll explain.

As for my personal life, many days (and nights) are spent working the street as a fire fighter and EMT. By degree, I am a graphic designer and still do that on a freelance basis or contractual. My heart is in the emergency medical services world though so I do as much of that as I can. I am also an EMT instructor and work for Delaware County Community College, Montgomery County Fire Academy and am the EMT training coordinator for a private company. Life is full, for sure. I'm an officer at the fire company I run with and completely and utterly enjoy the thrill of the "brotherhood", as we call it in Fire and EMS services.

I'm newly married, just under a year, to a wonderful man. He often doesn't understand, but he certainly puts up with his share of my mood swings and headaches. It will take time. And then there are our children, the 4-legged kind. I'm the mom of two toy poodles, Gracie and Kobi. A 90 lb American Foxhound by the name of Quint and two mewing furballs, Katie Cat and Smudge. I think of all the "people" out there, my cat Katie understands the most. She seems to just know when I'm hurting or one is coming on. She lays at my head or on my shoulder and puts her paws on my head sometimes and just massages (claws) at me. She rubs her face up against my head and simply lays as close or on top of me as she can. She's always been this way with me, especially when I've been in bed for days. Katie, always by mom's head!

Anyway, that's me in short. Looking forward to chatting with a few people. Feel free to email me as well. emtgirl087@aol.com

~Christie

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ROLES:

Living With It in Migraine

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