a favor to ask

Friends and fellow health bloggers,

As many of you know, I'm opening a bookstore this year in Athens, GA. Deciding to start my own business was not a choice I made lightly--every step of the way, I had to guess at how every aspect of business ownership would affect my health. After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to move full speed ahead. Once we open our doors to the public toward the end of this year, I will make sure I have a plan in place for when I'm too ill to be at the store. (To start, I'm setting some rules for myself, including a rule that I can't work more than X hours per week, no matter how much there is to do. Health comes first.) Thankfully, working on my business plans each and every day has improved my life and given me more focus, something I really needed. I have more of a routine now that I'm working multiple jobs (freelance work, babysitting, medical document editing, and the as-yet-unpaid bookstore work!). I'm thrilled about my new business and the feedback I've gotten from friends, family, colleagues, and the community at large.

Now's when I ask for a couple minutes of your time. Please visit my bookstore blog and see how you can help me get this project to the next level through free clicks, small (we're talking a $1 minimum!) donations, and even formal investments.

If you've only got a second, just click here to vote for us in the Pepsi Refresh Everything project, and spread the word. You can vote daily!

Many of you out there have your own Facebook pages, your own blogs, your own businesses. Would you consider posting the link to my Pepsi Refresh Project so your friends and customers can vote, too? I'd be most grateful.

Thanks to Eileen Gray and Teri Robert, who are already helping out.

blurry vision day + screen smarts

From the moment I woke up today, my head felt funny. Stuffy and tight, dizzying and borderline-achy. For some moments, it felt as if my sinuses were slowly and painfully trying to press at my skin and burst out. (Gross, I know--but the truth hurts, kids.)

I've mentioned before how going into brightly lit megastores or driving down a rainy road can make my vision go a bit wonky. Today I was having a less-than-stellar vision day--thank goodness for glasses! Things looked hazy, and squinting to look at faraway objects merely irritated my head, face, and sinuses even more. Street signs were blurry and I had to be much closer to them than usual in order to read their words. (Again I express gratitude for my glasses, especially the rose-tinted ones that are especially pleasant on overcast days.)

After I write this blog entry, I'm going to close the computer and not open it again! You hear me, young lady? (Yes ma'am.) I've been spending way too much time online lately, and it's not been for any real reason. Checking my Facebook page every hour is quite unnecessary, as is feverishly looking at my four (4!) Gmail accounts and my bank account information. I feel almost compulsive in my internet behavior this week, telling myself I'll shut the laptop after I check all the accounts and my Facebook account one last time before finishing up with computer time.

Because the computer oozes an eerie glow that's not so pleasant to the eyes, I should be further motivated to shut the darned thing off more often than I do. On a day like today, when I'm feeling a bit under the weather (aforementioned vision blurriness and head stuffiness combined with some back pain), it's easier yet more harmful to keep the laptop in my lap instead of getting up and being a little more active. Bleh.

Today I also had some fast food, which I've not done much in 2009. For weeks I've been eating well--lots of veggies and good-for-you fresh foods. To suddenly indulge in salty French fries and chicken is, in three words, numbing, gross, and heavy.

So Lazy Monster bids you adieu. Time to shut the computer and drink a tall glass of water. Time to listen to music and tidy the house. Time to finish that letter I started last night. Time to stop staring at screens. Time to stay at home and relax despite the fact that some friends have shows (music shows, that is) tonight. Time to not make myself feel guilty for missing friends' shows. Time to say goodnight.

Goodnight

great news from the Migraine Research Foundation!

Someone who's been reading my blog has been kind enough to forward me the following article. She herself is very involved with the Migraine Research Foundation, her parents being the founders.

Please read on and SPREAD THE WORD! Thanks.

MIGRAINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION LAUNCHES WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF FIRST ANNUAL RESEARCH GRANTS

FOUNDATION FUNDING RESEARCH TO END DEBILITATING

PAIN OF MIGRAINE SUFFERED BY MILLIONS

New York, NY – More than 30 million Americans suffer from migraine, yet research into the causes of migraine is both severely underfunded and neglected. Today, the Migraine Research Foundation officially launched its efforts to address the lack of research in this field by announcing the first annual research grants awarded by the Foundation. The Foundation is awarding nearly $200,000 in grants for 2007 and plans to more than double the grant amounts to at least $500,000 in 2008.

Founded by Stephen Semlitz and Cathy Glaser, whose family has struggled with the devastating effects of migraine for many years, the Migraine Research Foundation is dedicated to funding research that will end the debilitating pain of migraine that afflicts millions of men, women and children.

“Our family was surprised to find out that research efforts into migraine were enormously lacking,” said Ms. Glaser. “After talking with many doctors and migraine sufferers, it became clear that my husband and I could make a real difference in the lives of millions of people by supporting scientific research into the causes of migraine. That is why we founded the Migraine Research Foundation, which we foresee growing into the largest private funder of migraine research in the United States.”

Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States goes to the emergency room with a headache or migraine. American employers lose more than $13 billion each year as a result of 113 million lost work days due to headache or migraine. The lack of research into migraine is astonishing considering the widespread impact and consequences that this devastating condition has on American families and businesses. Over 10% of all Americans, including children, suffer from migraine, and nearly one in four households includes someone with migraine.

Guiding the efforts of the Migraine Research Foundation is a medical advisory board that includes leading neurologists and scientists from across the country and is chaired by Dr. Joel Saper of the Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Migraine is underresearched by the scientific community, undertreated by physicians, and underappreciated by society,” said Dr. Saper. “There is no condition of such magnitude - yet so shrouded in myth, misinformation, and mistreatment - as migraine. The Migraine Research Foundation is about more than just the research that it will fund directly – it is about stimulating others to join us in addressing a critical gap in medical research.”

In addition to Dr. Saper, the medical advisory board of the Migraine Research Foundation includes Dr. Rami Burstein (Harvard University), Dr. F. Michael Cutrer (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN), Dr. David W. Dodick (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ), Dr. Peter J. Goadsby (University of California – San Francisco), Dr. Richard Lipton (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY), and Dr. Stephen D. Silberstein (Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA).

The Foundation’s first round of annual research grants, totaling nearly $200,000, has been awarded to four researchers whose work holds the promise of groundbreaking advances in the search for the causes of migraine. The recipients and the research they will be pursuing include:

· Richard Lipton, MD Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Towards a Migraine Genetics Population Laboratory: Building on the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study

· Michael Oshinsky, Ph.D., Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA

Glial Activation and the Chronification of Headache

· Frank Porreca, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Behavioral Model of Medication Overuse Headache

· Ann Scher, Ph.D., Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD

Migraine in Middle Age and Late Life: A Longitudinal Analysis of Factors Related to Migraine Prognosis in a Large Population-Based Cohort

“Today marks the start of a new commitment to supporting scientific research that we hope will lead to understanding the underlying causes of migraine and finding effective treatments for migraine sufferers,” remarked Samuel Yates, Chief Operating Officer of the Migraine Research Foundation. “We eagerly anticipate the results of the work these grants will support, and are optimistic that the research funded by the Foundation will ultimately help improve the quality of life for millions of people.”

The Migraine Research Foundation has already committed to more than doubling the funds available for research grants in 2008 to at least $500,000, with funding coming from the support of an expanding network of individual donors, foundations and corporations. The Foundation also plans annual increases to the total amount of grant awards in subsequent years. Information on applying for 2008 grants will be made available in February 2008.

“Migraine research has lacked for funding and support for far too long. The Migraine Research Foundation is committed to helping research scientists discover the root causes of migraine and determine how to treat them,” said Stephen Semlitz, co-founder of the Foundation and Chairman of the Board. “Millions of families like mine live with the debilitating pain of migraine on a daily basis. Our hope is that eventually, due in part to the efforts we have already begun, everyone who suffers from migraine will have an effective treatment that they can count on to allow them to live a healthy, happy and productive life.”

About the Migraine Research Foundation

The Migraine Research Foundation (formerly The Migraine and Pain Fund) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to ending debilitating pain through funding scientific research into the causes and better treatment of migraine. More information about the Foundation and how to contribute to its efforts can be found at www.migraineresearchfoundation.org.

facebook group!

Hi guys,

For those of you out there who don't go looking at all the comments on this here blog, you may not know that there's a facebook group page for the Migraine Research Foundation. Heck, you may not know that the Migraine Research Foundation exists in the first place!

The people in the group have been reading my blog. Maybe I should:

1. Write more, and
2. Go ahead and out myself.

But first I have to call my neurologist. He was supposed to call in a prescription refill for Zonegran yesterday and didn't, so I ended up with some loaner pills from the pharmacist. How kind.

Why am I asking for more Zonegran after all these months of saying I'm going off of it? Well, I have to keep taking it and then slowly wean myself off. As soon as I hit the "publish post" button, I'm calling my neurologist and leaving a message describing why I want to stop the drug, how long I've been on it (though you'd think they could look at the chart and see...?), and how much. That way they can help advise me as to the best way to slowly stop taking it. Yippee!