This thread has really touched me, Satman, as you are a true AN hero, here.
After struggling for a number of years with a number of issues I finally have a near perfect life. I have educated myself as an adult (BFA at 45 yrs old, summa cum laude) married a great fella, live in a beautiful home overlooking the river, have 2 wonderful scallywag step-grandkids to play pirates with (every birthday is a pirate party,) 750 square feet of studio space, and have a gallery that sells my artwork practically before the paint is dry for big bucks.
To look at me you would never know I had an AN. I'm a good-looking 56 year old woman. My hubby thinks I'm pretty hot actually. I have a symetrical smile and both eyes blink at the same time (thank you Drs Friedman and Hits.)
I get up, have coffee, eat a piece of homemade bread and jam, change into my painting duds, go upstairs to my 750 sq foot studio, squeeze out the paint, pour the medium into the cup, paint a few strokes, and then the Headache Monster begins chewing on my neck and works his way up the back up my head. Then he takes his red hot poker out of his bag of tricks and shoves it into the back of my head! Poof! My day is over and it's 11:00. Paint wasted. Day wasted. This happens about 1/2 the time. Sometimes I get a few more hours before he comes, sometimes I get a whole day. Lately, with hundreds of $ of meds every month, I have been getting a few more hours a day. When he gets really nasty I give myself a shot of Imitrex and poke him right
back and he calms down.
So what we got here, you and me Satman, is a case of the
WHY-MES. Every once in a while the Headache Monster brings his friend, the
why-mes along with him to stir up double trouble and then we got ourselves a
huge mess:
(Being a visual artist, a visual is needed here)
I try to fight them back with a dose of
acceptance. This is the hand I've been dealt and I need to play it to the best of my ability, try to understand the message in all this suffering, if there is one, and learn to love the ones I'm with and be grateful for what I have.
This forum helps alot. Cave people sat around the fire swapping stories for healing and people have been doing it ever since. Thank the ANA for giving us this cyber firepit to keep us warm and keep out the dark!
Hang in there Satman. Surround yourself with people in the same boat and you will stay afloat!
Capt Deb
![](http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirate2.gif)