Ways to Spread Awareness for Cause

Awareness is a new road that I am traveling. I have had migraines my entire life yet until about a year ago I did not take much ownership of them. I just allowed it to run me. Since I have started joining support groups, hearing stories of others, reading, changing my diet, and learning about this beast that resides inside me I have had an improvement. I have gone through lots of peaks and valleys. I have found medications that I feel have helped then my body seems to get some sort of resistance to it and I fall back to where I was again. The weather changes, I get my period, I’m stressed, I don’t get enough sleep and the list goes on and on until I’m back in that valley again.  But there is something about awareness that has given me some confidence.

Here are My Wishes for the Awareness

I wish I could be a part of a program that educates our youth and those influencing them about migraines. Eliminating the stigma that surrounds it. Not only am I a sufferer from a young age but I am also a former special education teacher. I understand that children need to understand what is going on with their bodies, along with their families, the nurses, teachers, and their peers.

I was fortunate enough to get my undergraduate and Master’s degree while suffering but know that many have had to drop out because of Migraine. Why, as a teacher, was I identifying dozens of different disabilities but never once addressed migraines? It should be seen as a disability and the children should be given accommodations like any other child who is identified to need help.

The teachers should understand the severity, the nurses should understand ways to treat it. The parents should be given resources for giving assistance, and the student body should be made aware of the condition.  Being in pain and misunderstood is depressing. Having emotionally vulnerable children suffer is scary and unfair.  I think they are wildly ignored by our society.

Fundraising

I wish there were more fundraisers. So, I have several charities that I donate to each year. Importantly, I actually have some that I do not even know someone who suffers from it. But I feel it is an important cause. So why have I never been to an event for migraines? Who is donating to my cause and why can’t the ones that love me do the same? I would love there to be walks, auctions, dinners, and events to support the millions of us who suffer. I read facts about how expensive being a suffer is and how little is being spent on research. There is no cure and I certainly would love to be a person who helps raise money to find one.

I hope that one day I can look back on this blog and say “Wow, look how far we’ve come!”