One week on..

I'm not sure what the weather has been like in your neck of the world, but here in Southwestern Ontario (100 miles west of Toronto), it's be absolutely bizarre. Last week we hit lows of -15C (5F) with a windchill below 0F to an anticipated high of 12C (53.6F) today and an anticipated 14C (57.2F) tomorrow.

Why the weather bulletin, well it has to do with my Trigeminal. I've noted over time the impact the weather seems to have on the effects of my condition. When I used to share this with others, it was hard for them to understand. It's appears that many others suffer from the same irritations, as you can see from the sample posts of other sufferers on DailyStrength's TN group.

Source: Disney from Google

Recent posts from DailyStrength.com TN group:

Here we go again! The changes of season that I use to Love is now painful. The change in temp or rain is killing me. by: BostonTN

Icy wind is my most consistent trigger, and caused my last attack. I take huge precautions against getting blasted on the side of the face, but have gotten hit there anyway on occasion. Have you noticed a specific pattern with allergies? Some people's attacks seem to correlate pretty nicely with the sharp allergen increases that happen during seasonal changes. by: Jady

A while back, I was given an opportunity to travel to Palo Alto, CA and meet with three incredibly talented specialists at Stanford's Medical Center. I was there to see about participating in a limited trial to find out if an already approved drug could be re-purposed to help in pain management. Unfortunately, the new application did not work quite so well for me, though I did learn a real valuable lesson. You see, it was the very first time that I was encouraged, in fact instructed to monitor and record my pain cycles. What I learned was that the pain is typically always there just in varying degrees (we measure on a scale of 1 - 10) and,  that in knowing comes the opportunity to manage the pain. It also means that I've become a more typical Canadian, paying much more attention to weather forecasts.

So a week on and the weather is playing havoc. I'm keeping positive and focusing on the tasks at hand. Thankfully, Joan is a great calming, caring and empathetic presence in the evenings when I'm not as active as I'd like to be.  Here's a post that can sum up our feelings at times, I post this as I hunker down to stay out of the swirling 55km winds and dropping temperatures outside.

I keep hearing people talk about how much they love the change of seasons and the fresh, crisp air - if only they knew. I used to like it as well, but now it just means more pain and less time outdoors. Honeycrisp apples are available this time of year and they are my favorite. I have to be careful because biting into one and having the sweet, tart juices in my mouth (and chewing) can trigger the pain... Ugh - by: LadyBug.

I'm not usually someone that spends a great deal of time in support groups, but I feel a real affinity for these folks across North America that are sharing their experiences, best practices and understanding.

What is nice about working in 2013 vs when I was first diagnosed is technology. I can still work fairly effectively and when I can't get out (usually doesn't stop me), I can now have a Skype call or Google hangout to advance those in person meetings that are so necessary in business.

Thanks for listening and look forward to staying in touch.