Migraines and Radioactive Eggs

 

“Write everyday” “Protect that time slot” “Set up your schedule to maximize your creativity.”

Every writer who aspired to become a published novelist gets told this, repeatedly.

However, there is an fitting phrase “Easier said than done.”

My current writing goals are to have two to three long writing sessions per week with small daily journaing. (I'm rebuilding my brain's stamina after a long stressful hiatus.)

Now, on paper these are reasonable goals even for a full-time working adult.

I am not a full-time working adult. My side hussle is house and pet-sitting. It should be super simple to write when I'm paid to live in someone else's home, right?

Unfortunately, my life is a bit more complicated.

I have several chronic health condition that regular throw my 'reasonable' expectations out the window and into the bin. Even when I'm not at a job, there is always some energy hog that leaves me struggling to protect my precious creative energy and time to write. The most frequent foe is migraines.

For example, this last Tuesday, I planned to write out my blogs rough draft in the morning, then run errands in the afternoon. Wednesday morning would be a medicine exam (just a few scans of the stomach) with updating my social media and polishing off the blog before posting.

Life and my health had other plans.

Tuesday morning was a wash as my mother had a very dear, very deaf friend over for a visit. They speak very loudly. I'm not deaf. Also, the unfortunate design of our house means my room is a natural amplifier.

After about ten minutes into hearing all the latest drama and woes, I left the house for a walk, a long rambling walk.

This kept my stress levels down, but also ate into my physical energy. I wrote it off as my lower body PT. After company had left, I had to eat lunch and do my afternoon errands. One of these errands was my chiropractor part of my P.T. for my upper body.

I was exhausted with the start of a migraine when I got home at 3 PM. Mom had more company coming that evening, so I went to my room for a power nap. The new plan was to recharge my batteries, help with the house, and quickly journal or something before company came.

Unfortunately, I was so tired, I left my phone in the car. Blissfully, I slept through the wake-up alarms, my evening medication alarms, and all my other alarms rigning away in the garage. It was two hours before my body decided the recharge was finished. The migraine was lingering

I had just enough time to medicate, compliment Mom and Bro on the quick house prep (they cleaned the kitchen, cooked taco meat, and did an all purpose tidy while I was dead to the world), and then company arrived.

Now, in a reasonable world, the food and medication would banish the headache, I would make some token socializing with Mom's friends, and then retreat to finally get the writing done. That's not what happened.

My migraines are terrible, stubborn beasties. It was all I could do not to fall asleep again. This was not an option tonight. If I threw off my sleep cycle the next morning, Wednesday would be miserable. So I stumbled through the motions and pecked away at my key board. (None of what I wrote was suitable for a blog update.)

Wednesday morning started very very early at 5:45am. Also there would be no breakfast or coffee this morning due to my upcoming medical test.

Mercifully, I had someone to drive me to the procedure 20 minutes away. Once there I was served a small breakfast of toast, a single dixie cup of water, and slightly radioactive eggs. (I felt cheated that they were not green or glowing.) Next four hours was spent waiting for the eggs to disgust and getting pictures of of my stomach taken. (Hence the radioactive bit. It makes it easier for the camera to track them.)

Four hours! you might be exclaiming. That's the perfect time for writing!

Well, no actually. I was in the MRI center waiting room. In addition to poor connection due to big honking magnets, it's hospital waiting room. It was busy and not a good place to leave a personal laptop, even without the big magnet issue.

For the first hour I made paper notes for future blogs, but had nothing for this week except a picture of my not-green-eggs and toast. At the second hour, the lack of water was giving me a headrush every time I turned my neck (It's a chronic blood pressure issue). Third hour, I had to stop myself from reflexively going to the water fountain after a toilet break. Forth hour, I was lightheaded, hangry, and very grateful my driver hadn't abandoned me to make my way home in this condition.

Lunch was egg drop soup and rice so as not to overwhelm my stomach. Then the migraine broke like a storm front. An afternoon nap later (with an alarm this time), I rose like the unholy union of a vampire and zombie. I hunted down more liquids and easy to disgust nutrients, while stumbling over my own feet.

After two days, I had maintained my unreasonable body through several mid to high level adult interactions. I was exhausted come Thursday morning, which held yet another doctor's appointment. Writing-goals wise I had scribbles that need converting and also posted a picture of my radioactive breakfast on Facebook by not anywhere else.

This was actually a good week. Yes, the blog would be a day late and the social media needed a tune up, but fingers crossed, I could (and did) knock it out by Thursday evening.

Friday, I plan to shift into full recovery mode. Sleeping in, eating leftovers, more PT. My journal will likely be a illegible cursive line of 'sore and sleepy. sleepy and sore.'

Time management looks different when you live with chronic migraines and assorted health issues. You can make reasonable goals and plans. However, the reality is there will always be something you have to either catch up or let go.

There's no magic time table or weekily planner that will guide you to better writing habits. There no way to schedule appointments for dealing health problems, friends and family in need, all of life's vaugities.

When you try to build habits or develop a discipline, you will fall short, especially if it's for something 'simple.'

Ironically, the solution is yet another 'easier to say than do' directive. Don't give up.

I may fall, I may retreat, I may take a new approach, but what I won't do is give up my love of creating and sharing stories.

Migraines and radioactive breakfasts are passing events. Upsetting, yes. Challenging, yes. However, it not quite enough to stop me.