#9 ~ Al Ain: Miserable Migraines / Peaceful Primary / Kahoots

Primary girls sending a video to me explaining  how to help my headache get better! Zuri had on  slippers like mine ~ told me to stay warm 😉!

Wed, 4/8/26 ~ full blown migraine, then headaches nonstop for the next 4 weeks. I had another migraine, Sun, 4/26/26 at 1:30 after church ~ what the heck? And then between these 2 migraines I got 3 vision migraines; Thur 16th, 17th & 18th. What's even crazier is that for the last 5 years, right before a migraine and right before my head starts pounding, I smell "cotton candy" ~ like real yummy cotton candy (not every time but many)!  Sometimes with aura and sometimes without. No one else can smell it, just me, but then 💥 the headache begins. I've got less than 10 minutes to get some meds into me. 

I had finally gone into a clinic in the morning and was seen by the GP then a Specialist and was hooked up to an IV then ended up going to the hospital to a neurologist that night and was hooked up again with fluids, and a stronger pain killer.  After 45 minutes the neurologist came back in and said, "your headache is all gone." not a question but a statement.  I said, 'No, not really".  He said, "ok, 80%." I thought, "ok, time for a different neurologist". He sent me home with a week's worth of painkillers that I was to take everyday, which I did, which did not help my headaches, at all.

It had been a week since I used my own migraine meds and on the 26th, knowing this 2nd migraine was going to be a doozy, I took my own medicine. His medicine only lasted less than 2 hours for my daily headaches and only made them a little better but I knew my meds would at least stop the full blown migraine, vision, nausea and exploding headache.  

I'll have to check out all the new and different Migraine meds that are available. Marcie takes Ubrelvy along with a daily pill but hopefully mine won't get that consistent.

The Branch, our kids and everyone  (fasted and) prayed for me and then a little miracle happened. After we came home from seeing the GP to get a referral for the 2nd neurologist ~ I actually had 1 hour, around 2pm, where, all of a sudden, I had no pain whatsoever - it was as sooooo weird and wonderful 😳😦😄. I thought, "maybe I don't need to go back for my 5pm appt cuz my headaches are completely gone", but I think Heavenly Father was giving me a glimpse of how it will be soon and not give up and have hope and to know once again how much the prayer of others work. 

Everyone's prayers were heard and were answered. 

One hour, just all of a sudden, no headache ~ nothing, pain free, just for a little over an hour. It was amazing. Then after an hour full blown headache again. If that's not a miracle I don't know what is. I hadn't taken any pain killers for the last 4 days before that (and just got one a couple hours after at the hospital). 

But, regardless, we still felt we should go to the neurologist and I'm glad we did. 

In the meantime, life went on (just did it with miserable daily headaches).  On the brightside we found a new favorite market right by our home.  It is a bit more expensive but has everything we need, even some dried fish for snacks 😜.  Billy also found a pretty good foot, shoulder, neck and head massage place for me but it's $70 for an hour . We thought maybe it would help with my headaches and I did like it but my shoulder hurt for a week afterwards when it hadn't before 🤔. Billy discovered a Carl's Jr but it was really a Hardees, who knew we would be Hardee's fans! Last but not least, a member from the Abu Dhabi Ward, Charlie, had an interview here in Al Ain so we had our first sleepover guest!   

I was in bed with my migraine so I didn't get to meet him but Billy said he was really great and hopes he gets the job and is able to move to our little Branch!

We have to leave early to go to Dubai tomorrow to get our car exchanged cuz something sounds weird. They'll fix it and give us a loner. Unbeknownst to us, even though I asked the guy as we were leaving, this SUV only had 5 seats not 7 like he said there were, which caused a real issue at our next 2 big activities 😏; making Billy make 3 runs picking up everyone instead of the regular two. 

We need to get a bus or move to a villa that's closer to one of the malls (which I am sure neither will happen)!

Such a fun Primary class today ~ I usually keep them pretty busy for about an hour and a half; we just have too many fun things to talk about, color and do! Today we talked about the many trials Joseph went through, then glued the scriptures onto his coat to make it many colors. After that we colored a separate coat then on the back side we used some foam clay art and made another beautiful coat for Joseph. I do love Primary and these little bundles of joy!

The girls' Mom, Victoria (top middle), arrives around 5:30 and then they all hang around for a bit. Charm, in the middle, and Jenny center bottom, come with the girls and usually take a nap in the living room.

Status Migrainosus

Back to the hospital we went to see my 2nd neurologist (again) and they pumped me up with oxygen, steroids and a little codeine/tylenol. They've prescribed some heavier meds: Nurtex; every other night for a month, Codeine; as needed and sleeping pills for a week. I was hoping this would take care of the migraines and the daily headaches 🤔.  The weirdest thing about this whole situation is that I have never had continual daily headaches after my initial migraine, nor have I had so many migraines in one months time. I think what might have happened is that when I start getting a migraine, I pop in my medicine and it takes care of it.  But what my body is needing is for me to slow down, rest and just turn off my brain and regroup.  But since my medicine had always worked so well (with just a baby residue headache after the migraine) I just kept going 110%.  With the worry and stress that I have for our little Branch and all their many problems I just didn't take a moment off to regroup, reset and rest my body and brain.  I think the Lord has helped me my whole life in shutting my body down and resting (because I wouldn't do it for myself).  In HS it was cramping once a month where I literally was in bed for a day and a half, then migraines after I had my 2nd baby where I had to stop because I was pregnant or nursing for 11 more years and couldn't take medicine, then when I got migraine meds and wouldn't slow down, I jumped into 2 separate depressions in my 30's that knocked me out for a few months. After my bouts with depression I actually began slowing down. but I'm afraid that I obviously forgot when we arrived here in Al Ain. So I am grateful that Heavenly Father is more aware of my needs than I am.  It truly has been a blessing and hopefully I'll be better at taking care of myself from here on out.

Soooo, yes, that combination seems to have done the trick and I'm doing much better today! I've got a bucket load of meds by my bed which I won't end up using. One interesting thing was that the 2nd neurologist told me not to take my migraine medicine during the aura phase (or cotton candy phase, whichever it might be) but wait until my head starts hurting 🤪, but I know what happens when I don't take it immediately and I was not going there. Doctors are sometimes "interesting". Sometimes I think that when they are doing their internship someone needs to hit their head with a mallet and ask them to not take any medicine until they can see clearly 🤣🤣🤯!

As many of you know, whenever I have surgery or any major medical thing going on, it isn't too far behind that Billy goes in for something 😝! So here we are at Billy's dermatologist appointments; he has had 4 spots cut off and sent for a biopsy and then a zillion frozen off. We've gone to Billy's dermatologist 6 times; I'm not sure why the doctor didn't just remove all 4 spots at the same time? He would remove one then a week later he would take out the stitches and remove another, etc.  It's not like they were making a lot of money since we were only being charged less than $5 each time 🤔.  Anyhoooo, everything looks good now 😅!

~ KAHOOTS ~

Our little Branch had a kick playing Kahoots on Zoom with all the women in the Abu Dhabi Stake (all in the UAE - roughly the size of South Carolina).  It was so fun to see everyone that is still in the UAE at our Stake Activity and some joining us from the US. Carla, from our Branch here in Al Ain, took 3rd place out of 40 ~ we were so proud of her (she said her boys were helping her 😜). I've already been embarrassed by this game but the good thing is it didn't show all the scores, just the top five.  I think that I was 28th out of 40, but I'm hoping no one else noticed!

I hope you are doing well and life hasn't thrown you too many curve balls ~ if so, remember these two wonderful scriptures and have hope and faith just like I tried to practice this last month 😉!

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” Psalm 55:22

"All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” D&C 122:7

Can I leave Billy alone in Cambodia ~ Webster May 2017

I'm not really sure when I will leave Cambodia. Bill will probably have to stay through March and truthfully I'm afraid to leave for a number of reasons. One is that I still worry about his health and the second is I worry the times I don't go with him on the scooter that he will get in an accident (or mugged) and be left for dead (when he leaves the apartment). After prayer 😇 each morning I make him text me each time he arrives at one place and then again when he leaves that place then text when he arrives at the next place, over and over again, etc., this goes on like this all day long 🙄.  He is very good at doing this as he knows how worried I get and stay worried all day [but the alternative is me going with him and sitting around at meetings and stores!😨 ]. 

I do need to get home to the US but I don't want to leave him here without me (or without Kenny here). There was a little gal here that got dragged off her bicycle (late at night) cuz 2 guys were grabbing (stealing) her purse < I use a backpack or pockets for my stuff so I'm safe (hopefully).  It really is a safe country but there are still some not so nice people around. Anyhooooo . . . needless to say I worry and my imagination goes wild!

Last week we had an unreal experience (truly one of the worst in my whole entire life).  A cute couple (our age) from Idaho we're visiting their family here in Cambodia and wanted to go see the farm.  Bill and I got a TukTuk and picked the couple up and headed out to the Farm.  We had only gone a few blocks when we needed to pull over so the husband, Bart, could jump out and throw up a little. Bart had gotten food poison the night before and his stomach was still a little queasy.  

We stopped and got him some Ciprofloxacin and the pharmacist also gave us this liquid calcium/vitamin mixture that was supposed to coat the stomach. Bart only drank a tiny bit of the mixture and then took the Cipro (he was supposed to wait 15 minutes after the mixture [but didn't] 🤔).  

As we traveled out to the farm (it takes about 30-45 minutes to get there) we had an enjoyable time talking, visiting and sharing stories - we really got along well with both of them (which is always rare to find couples that you both like 😜)!  

As we got closer to the Farm (crossing over the Mekong bridge), I was telling a story and Bart kind of started having a goofy looking smile on his face (like a drunk).  I asked, "Bart, are you ok?". Then his wife asked the same thing but Bart was unresponsive. Then all of a sudden his head slightly tips over a bit and he passed out.  If that wasn't bad enough then a volcanic stream of brown liquid literally spewed out of his mouth and nose like a waterfall. It just shot out like a faucet in the sink pouring down on his lip and chin. TALK ABOUT BEING TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.  The poor wife (Joanne) is yelling his name and saying, "Call Collin!!! Call Collin!!! (her son)". She hadn't brought her phone with her and we didn't have Collins phone number so Billy emailed him on his phone. 

During this whole time, Billy, who is sitting next to him, is shaking his shoulder and I am trying to find a pulse on his wrist (to no avail) then calling his name and shaking his leg.  Joanne is just frantic and screaming his name over and over again and telling him to wake up and we are all just helpless.  I am thinking we should continue to the farm (5 minutes away) so that we can get help and a car (and people that speak Khmer and English) and take him to a hospital or doctor.  

This carry's on for about 2 minutes - I know this seems like a short amount of time but it felt like 20 minutes, especially when I thought this person was going to die right in front us. So after this short (long) time all of a sudden Bart just snaps out of it and wakes up.  He was a little disorientated and realizes he has thrown up on his shirt - only liquid but about a gallons worth. Needless to say, we were all sooooooooo relieved. Joanne slowly helps him get out of the TukTuk and goes to the rail (looking out at the river) and rest (and spits).  

When he got back in the TukTuk his lips were a little blue. We tried to get him to take deep breaths and sip on water.  We took him to the Farm and him and Joanne rinsed out his shirt and we put him back in the TukTuk and showed Joanne the readers digest version of the farm.  Then we took off and went back home.  He was a bit better and the color came back into his lips by the time we got home.  I was worried and kept checking him the whole way home afraid he would have another "episode" before we got there. 

He is all is better now! But - OH MY GOODNESS - we were totally powerless that whole time - TOTALLY.  There was absolutely nothing we could have done had he not snapped out of it and being in Cambodia we didn't have access to  . . . anything (besides prayer/blessing). We were in Ta Kmau (province of Kandal), which is only 7 miles from Phnom Phen but it is rural and takes a half hour (or longer) to get here from anywhere - traffic bumper to bumper!  We had no idea where a doctor could have been found let alone a hospital and we couldn't have even called an ambulance.  It scared me to death.  I thought I was going to witness a death.

Pictures of them (not of the incident 🙄)!!

https://jamie5663.blogspot.com/2017/02/soul-sister.html

Soooooo you can see my hesitation leaving Bill here without me in March. If there ever was an accident or emergency he would just die on the side of the road (and if I stay, I'd at least be close by 😌 ). Like I mentioned, each time he goes out on his Moto without me I am on pins and needles until he texts me when he arrives and then after he tells me he's leaving I wait impatiently until he texts again to let me know (just a little psycho)! 

Once Kenny gets here I'll leave but we're not sure when that will be. I think I'll fly into Marcie's to help them before the baptism (April 8th) for a week then on to StG. I just found out that Robbie wants to bless his daughter so we might end up flying to SLC then flying to CA then back to SLC.

I need to get home to clear out the St George house and make a bunch of trips up to Alpine to unload, sort and organize and pack the bottom garage at the Alpine house.  The packing out and unloading is going to be a nightmare and the time is ticking.

P.S. Joanne is Kristine Jenson's (close) COUSIN!

Collin and Rosemay are Kenny and Lindsay's good friends.