"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Sunday, April 15, 2012

My Marty

My son Marty has had a rough go of it. This last fall he had finally reentered public school after 2 years of homeschooling. He had overcome his nervousness due to the bullying he suffered from in middle school and was settling in. He found a fabulous group of friends through ROTC and was working so hard in all his classes.

And, then he had that totally fucked up reaction to his allergy medicine and it took months to get him back on his feet. Despite fighting through all that, he finished the first semester with good grades and he was ready to rock and roll when the second semester came around. Marty was really kicking ass this semester. He was pulling straight As and was getting back into the swing of things with ROTC. Then, this damned, never-ending migraine from hell hit him. It's been going on so long that we're having to reactivate our homeschool, withdraw him from this semester, and have him get the credits he needs to advance to 10th grade through k12 online this summer.

Somehow, through his whole difficult reaction to his allergy medicine, Marty maintained an amazingly positive outlook on things. But, this migraine has been a lot tougher on him. He's got a tough enough personality that he could deal with pain but the light and sound sensitivity has been kicking his ass. And, he still can't focus on anything small without triggering a worsening of the migraine so reading has been out. He's tried multiple meds, IV pain relief, and even chiropractic care. It's been disheartening for both him and Vic and I to see one attempt after another fail at breaking the migraine.

Now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm really seeing improvement since the last medicine switch, but I'm sort of afraid to let myself believe that the end is in sight. Marty acknowledges that things are a bit better but isn't willing to credit the medicine. All he's willing to say is that maybe the better weather is giving him a break. Frankly, I don't give a damn what's causing the improvement...just that it keeps happening.

I would love it if you could send him a message of encouragement or a joke to make him laugh. That would mean so much to me.