Author Archives: Sans Souci

6. Life is a Journey, But This is a Trip: Tangled in Charlotte’s Web

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    September 19, 2018 Yom Kippur May you be inscribed in the book of life for a good year. A healthy year. A migraine-free year. May the world settle down and find joy again.   On this Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the year, many people fast. Pray for forgiveness, face their sins. I don’t fast for several reasons, and when you are on meds or have a health condition you shouldn’t. Be that as it may, I popped an English muffin into the toaster oven and the bright light triggered an ocular migraine. I was distracted … Continue reading →

5. Life Is A Journey, But This Is A Trip: On Medical Marijuana and CBD Oil

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  I am convinced, that after having joined a group of almost 150,000 people on facebook for people who are using or want more info about using CBD oil, that there will be a new movement, that people are dissatisfied with Big Pharma, and that there ARE answers to medical issues. I am learning that people have regained hope and that many who have been taking CBD oil (no Rx needed, legal in the 50 states, does not make one high, there is no THC) have seen monumental results. One mentioned that her thyroid is now testing “normal” and that … Continue reading →

4. Life Is A Journey, But This Is A Trip: What Goes Around, Goes Around and Around: On Vertigo

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  You’ve read a lot about my health challenges and I am moving closer to answers. I have had this since I was a child: vertigo, the feeling of dizziness, allegedly due to “sinus” but now I am convinced it is part of migraine syndrome. The feeling of spinning is horrible and thankfully, the violent spins I have perceived, are not common, but when they happen they are extremely disconcerting, frightening. They are like nothing I have ever felt before. However, lately, on and off over years, I have been feeling unbalanced. Not quite right. I walk and feel like … Continue reading →

3. Life Is a Journey, But This Is a Trip: Better Oily Than Late

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The possibilities of health benefits and cures are propelling people to more natural products.  If people see results, Big Pharma will be on the run. And that’s OK with me. It’s time for change, it’s time to get away from mass produced pills; some of our meds are imported from India and China. Some have been recalled. The farther the source of medications, the more uneasy I get. We’ve seen what has happened in China with melamine in baby formula, for example. Or fish being farmed in fetid water in India. (I cringe when in the Fairway Market and see … Continue reading →

2. Life Is A Journey, But This Is A Trip: Medical Marijuana vs. CBD Oil

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  Where there’s hope vape there’s hope.   The trial process. Mouse-over the photos for the captions. I hope you watched the video I posted in my previous blog. I purchased the Charotte’s Web Plus oil from ThriveMarket.com. I tried a dropper-dose and found it was strong stuff. Mind you, there is no THC in it, this is hemp oil, but I felt it for about 10 hours. I purchased the Charlotte’s Web Vape (pre-loaded) from MedTechHealthCare.com. The vape is strong as well and kicked-in quickly. I am still experimenting with doses and applications, ways and means. I am happy to report that … Continue reading →

1. Life Is A Journey, But This Is A Trip: Medical Marijuana

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That is not me, folks. I wouldn’t smoke cigarettes. I am on another journey in hopes of dealing with and managing ocular migraine. There are a couple of things going on so I will fill you in and perhaps you will find some information meaningful and pertinent for you or someone you know. In my quest to obliterate my migraines I have learned a good deal: they are not just headaches. They are unjust headaches which can manifest as: head pain (which, luckily I don’t deal with often and my lifelong headaches, since childhood, have diminished over the years from … Continue reading →

Vacation is Here: Gone Fishin’

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Wishing everyone a happy few weeks. It’s time to take a break. Heading up to some old familiar places which contribute to comfort and the feeling of a home-away-from-home. Seeing some migraine changes for the better on some new meds. Report to follow. Hoping to get some nice photos and share them with you. For now, everyone be happy and healthy. I’ll write when I can.

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139. Mother-Daughter Journey: The Flood

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  Here we go again, folks! And a Happy Monday to ya. I called my mother early this morning to alert her that a nurse was coming to see her for a six month review by her managed long term care. The phone rang, and rang. And rang. And then I heard my mother’s unsteady voice. “Speak up, I can’t hear you.” “Hello! Hello! Hello!!!” “It’s Me, MOMMMMM.” “Speak up! Is that you?” (sound of buttons being pushed). Beeps. She responds to me. “I had a terrible night,” the tale begins. “I didn’t sleep! A pipe broke and there was … Continue reading →

Creativity Takes Courage

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I finally had some time to go through my camera roll and see what needed to be edited. I came across two photographs of a display in The Jewish Museum, which were taken last March. The story below is extremely moving and the photograph is even more so. As a collector and creator of charms and charm bracelets, this was something to behold. Imagine the circumstances. Imagine the need to create. Imagine how creativity can keep one going. Imagine how this was made. Imagine.         Bracelet. Terezín (Theresienstadt), Czech Republic, 1941-43. Brass: cut-out; porcelain; cord. The Jewish … Continue reading →

138. Mother-Daughter Journey: I Want To Tell You

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  It’s been time for a new post for a while; to continue with the story about my mother I am happy to say that I have had a break for a few weeks and it was wonderful. The illusion was that all was well. The reality was that all was well. The undercurrent was disbelief. Was she stable? Would it stay like this. Underneath it all I had my doubts. What does one expect from a one hundred plus year old person? Yet, I have heard of other elderly people who had it even more together than my mother. … Continue reading →

What Just Freaking Happened? leading to …137. Mother-Daughter Journey

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  This has been a wacky few weeks. As I mentioned, I was giving an on-line iPhone photography course (they call it a workshop, but the amount of time and work that went into it could have gotten me tenure at a university) so I was on-line posting and creating and helping, and researching. And migraining. It was an awful month for migraines, just about a daily event of one kind or another, and I do think I mentioned about the violent vertigo attack; these scare the crap out of me. I try to live, if I can in between … Continue reading →

Migraine Redux: The Shape Shifter

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I usually don’t post when I get an attack but I think that it might give a non-sufferer an inkling into what happens. Yesterday was a day of freedom. On those days I have the fantasy that I will never have a day of migraine again. Wrong. This morning after breakfast I went to my studio to work on a project. Everything was fine. And then: My eyes wouldn’t converge; The room began to spin and I thought, “OK breathe, you’ve got this. Stare at your finger.” I did. It got worse, I was in free flight from a rocket … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday: World Refugee Day

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  From the Kenyan-born Somali poet Warsan Shire: no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark you only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well your neighbors running faster than you breath bloody in their throats the boy you went to school with who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory is holding a gun bigger than his body you only leave home when home won’t let you stay. no one leaves home unless home chases you fire under feet hot blood in your belly it’s not something you … Continue reading →

Migraine Relief?

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I am sitting here with vision loss on one side: my daily ocular migraine. Call from Cushing Neurological: My headache doctor is putting in for the new drug. Being that I have tried all kinds of drugs, machines, glasses, computer screens, meditation, Chinese herbs (bleh) acupuncture, therapeutic massage, Botox, biofeedback, neurofeedback. I am game. When I was a small child crying in pain with headaches, spinning from vertigo, unable to eat, my mother was told I had a “sinus condition.” Well, I likely did, but migraine was the culprit. I was a 5-year old trying to play and be a … Continue reading →

Need A Laugh?

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    Hello, all, and a happy Monday to you. I have been missing in action, I apologize! Into the second week of a photography workshop I am giving (and loving it). A friend directed me to the following Saturday Night Live segment. I think you will enjoy this. Maybe I should get an Alexa for my mother, and rename it Moishe. I just need the “uh huh, uh huh, uh huh factor, and the ability to turn down the thermostat when the heat is on—in JUNE!

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On Passion

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  I am a member of an on-line group via facebook where the members, who live all over the world, have studied iPhone Photography. We have decided to carry on. In doing so, we work in teams and bring a monthly workshop to the group. I volunteered and in January began thinking about what I wanted to do. The group is largely based on group validations, some constructive criticism, and ego. We all want to be good, we all want to be recognized, but when learning a craft, there is more. We have to explore those who have come before … Continue reading →

An Interesting Article on Migraine and a First Hand Experience

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This is the latest issue of New York Magazine; I’ve been reading it for years. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I don’t know why I still subscribe, but I always enjoy doing the crossword puzzle. Yesterday, my day wasn’t great: I thought I felt well, but as I was doing some work, my eyes stopped converging and I felt a vertigo attack coming on. Some of the vertigo attacks have been beyond awful. Thankfully, I have only experienced horrendous seasickness attacks from that kind once. I have had severe vertigo at the dining room table, at my desk, away from … Continue reading →

Memorial Day Migraine

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  Out of the blue, vertigo began: this is vestibular migraine. Not my worst episode at all, thankfully , and it will eventually pass, and I will feel better, until the next time. The signal: my eyes can’t converge. Each one sees something else. Focusing on one point can help as long as this isn’t a major attack. What I call a “major” attack is the feeling that I am hurtling through space in a twirling, tossing space capsule on a full stomach, a high fever, and my eyes feel like they don’t belong to me. There will be a … Continue reading →

136. Mother-Daughter Journey: Don’t Cry Over Soup: An Allegory

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Friends, yes I know it has been a while. I began a blog earlier and then deleted it, it didn’t feel appropriate; I felt guilty. But guilt is part of the problem. I enjoyed a quiet hiatus. I enjoyed it too much, perhaps. But peace has its price in my case. At this stage of the game, having such an elderly parent, the phone could ring at any time of the day or night. The ringing phone makes me cringe. The caller Id can be even worse: if I see my mother’s name appear I hold my breath. This kind … Continue reading →