My friend's first (and last?) migraine

One of my very dearest friends is extremely gentle and understanding when it comes to my health. She works with me and encourages me to take breaks, to not work so much, to have more time to relax and read. She’s a really sweet person, and even though I’ve written before that I want every non-migraineur to have at least one migraine, I have always thought she was so sympathetic that she didn’t really deserve that one migraine in order to be understanding.

Cue a perfect storm of events this past holiday season that triggered her first-ever (and we hope last!) migraine attack. The weather has been loco here in Georgia, 75 degrees and rainy one day, 50 and clear just twelve hours later. And of course the holidays bring their own special package of triggers, including the holiday cold so many of us were passing around. She told me she actually could not believe I can function during some of my migraine episodes. She was determined to work through it, but found that bending over caused exquisite agony in her head and that her brain was totally foggy when she tried to talk with customers.

I hate that she had a migraine, but I must admit that I feel better understood than I did before. I honestly hope and pray she never gets one again, and I think her chances of avoiding future migraines are pretty good, considering all the unlikely elements that combined to trigger this solitary attack. Now I know that she can see, at least in some small way, what it’s like for me to deal with this disease on a recurring basis.

Have you ever had the experience of having a friend confess to you that, after his or her first migraine, he or she finally understands what all the fuss is about?