What a holy $#%^%$# nightmare!  Sorry to hear about Mr. Winky; you gave Jeff and I a hearty laugh - not at your expense, but at the sheer craziness that ensued in a matter of minutes at the most inopportune time 

I also wanted to share with everyone that we got an O2 tank today!!!! WOO HOO!!!! 

Hope all is well with everyone!

hugs!

Kristen

I want to introduce myself to everyone.  I am Jeff, Kristen's better half!

Just wanted to say hello and thank you for all of the great messages.

Jeff

Chuck?  You're kidding right?  You posted that on the gneral board and anyone could see that.  Here is Drummers:

OK, since I have gotten to know you people over the course of the past several months, I think I can now open up and bare my soul to you; so to speak. I trust you guys. Anyone who doesn’t suffer from cluster headaches or supports someone who has clusters; please close this window right away.

Okee Dokee. Now that we are alone, I shall bare my soul. I’ll start at the end of my story, then jump to the beginning and then work my way to the end again. I am trusting that none of you will laugh, make fun or talk about me behind my back. I trust that you will keep this, “our little secret”.

My wife has just purchased me a cluster headache “safety kit”. (This is the end of the story). The kit contains, one pair of safety eye goggles, a jock strap with cup and a small flashlight.

Now. The beginning of my story. Like some of you, I have been getting my cluster attacks at 3:00am. This is a bad time for me because usually I am sound asleep. My mental sharpness is somewhat dull at this time in the morning.

My normal procedure for dealing with a cluster headache is to simply swallow two Ercaf pills, then turn my Oxygen tank to the “on” position. I then take the Oxygen mask, which I keep hanging on the tank for easy accessibility, and place it on my face and breathe, rock my body and quietly moan while sitting on the sofa in our living room. The Oxygen mask is fitted with a convenient elastic band to hold the mask in place on my face. This leaves my hands and arms free to flail about and hit my head and bang on the coffee table. I have performed this simple routine approximately, 8,286 times in the past 15 years.

Well, the other day at 3:00am, this simple routine took a turn for the worse. I was rudely awakened by the Demon in my head. This caused me to jump from the bed, naked, and run down the stairs to my Ercaf and Oxygen. Swallowing the Ercaf did not pose a problem. It was my fight with the Oxygen tank and mask that was quite unsettling. You see, I had no problem turning the Oxygen on. But, I had some difficulty grabbing the mask from the tank.

It seems that the elastic band on the mask got stuck on the handle of the Oxygen tank. I don’t know what it’s like at 3:00am where you live, but where I live it’s really, really dark. I couldn’t see and I really didn’t have time to fully assess the situation with my stuck Oxygen mask. I couldn’t figure out why the mask didn’t want to be placed on my face. So, I just pulled as hard as I could. I now realize that this was a mistake. The elastic band, rather quickly, came unstuck from the Oxygen tank. The elastic band rebounded off the tank and snapped “Mr. Winky”. This is the name I have given to my “you-know-what”.

I’ve found that whenever “Mr. Winky” is injured it causes me to double over fairly fast. Doubling over on this particular day caused me to poke my eye on the Oxygen tank’s handle. The pulling of the mask also made the little plastic tube that joins the tank with the mask break free from the mask. The mask had now become useless. Being rather resourceful, I immediately shoved the tube into my left nostril and found my favorite place to sit on our sofa. My hands that are normally free to flail about were now used to hold “Mr. Winky” and my right eye.

I guess I made quite a commotion. My wife, who knows not to visit me during a cluster headache, now, paid me a visit. Seeing me naked on the sofa with an Oxygen tube in my nose and holding “Mr. Winky” with one hand and my eye with the other, caused her to ask me, “What are you doing”? Still suffering the cluster headache, I had just enough energy to lift my head and politely grunt. The next day my wife purchased me the Cluster Headache Safety Kit. I think I now deserve to be a member of O.U.C.H.

Jeff C. wrote on Oct 4^th, 2008 at 10:18pm:

I was thinking the same thing Linda.  I bet Jeff's not scared.  Although he might punch Chuck's lights out if he grabs his ass.

Linda, SOOO much temptation!!!  It makes me wanna..oh, I dunno.......do something really crazy... like, be nice to Chuck myself?? NAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeff, it's kinda great to welcome you.......wish you didn't have CH, but you have certainly landed in the best place for help in dealing! The people here are strong and supportive and caring...and funny as all getout, too!
LOL..to 'splain my relationship with Chuck.well... he's the BIG(as in older.......... muuuuuuuuuuch older) brother I never had. It's my pleasure to poke fun at him, but if anyone ever hurt him, I'd be upside their backside in an instant! He and Linda are a deep well of experience and information on coping with this affliction, but that is secondary to their generosity of time, love, and soo much more!

I've prolly said enough, and Chuck will be back to reinforce that.

I wish you ALL PF.....and, since I was there when Chuck was helped with his 02, I'd like to be available to help you as well. Chuck was resistant to 02, till my other dear friend-Norwegian bro Svenn, helped him.

Cathi

I was just kidding.  I don't know Jeff so I don't know if he would hit him.  Sorry Jeff, I didn't mean to throw you under the bus!!!!!!

Cathi_Pierce wrote on Oct 5^th, 2008 at 3:25pm:

Lippiegirlie-

Chuckles-BITE ME!

Love,
cathi

Welcome aboard, Jeff.  Buckle up and hang on...sometimes it's a wild ride.    

Best wishes,

George

Hi Jeff.....welcome.

I'm wondering if you've tried the 02 yet. 

Sorry if I missed the answer in an earlier post.

Again.....welcome to Clusterville.  Sorry you have to be here but being a cluster head it's the best place for help and support.

Jackie

George wrote on Oct 5^th, 2008 at 11:22pm:


Oh honey - you said a mouthful!!

Despite being slightly twisted and undeniably strange, the clusterheads I've met and grown to love are the best people on the planet.  They are geographically diverse, but united against the beast.  

I remember my first convention and watching someone other than my hubby get hit.  It was devastating.  My hubby getting hit was "normal" for us, but then I'm surrounded by people in various stages of a hit  . . . . and it was all so "normal.  No one made a scene or called an ambulance or fell apart.  They just helped.  Helped the clusterhead ride it out and then back to the fun.

While I will never thank a deity for the beast, I thank my deity everyday for the folks I've met because of the beast.  I even give thanks for Chuck and his kilt!

HI everyone - sorry for not keeping up on our messages 

It has been a really bad couple of days, actually more like a week.  Hubby has been semi PF, but it has pretty much overtaken him.  I am trying to get into his spirit and remind him of life and how great things used to be. 

He only posted to appease me (I think).  I have tried to print out and read him your postings, but he is pretty much unreachable.  Please know that I appreciate all of them and hopefully Jeff will too very soon.

We do have the O2 tank, but it's not the hits that are causing the problems, it's the fact that he has this to deal with.  He keeps saying he was so healthy before and never had to take medication for anything and now this has debilitated him.  I keep telling him it is only debilitating if you let it be.

The side effects of the medication are a little more than he can handle.  They are so ravaging on the mind and body that he doesn't feel like himself and is usually "looped" out.

It is hard to be greatful for anything at this point because of these CH, but I am grateful to you ANGELS  who have listened and supported me and made life a little easier when I didn't think it could be..

Love to you all,

Kristen