Afterschool Pains: A 6-Year-Old's Journey with Migraine

(Part One of a Three Part Series About Growing Up with Migraine)

Scared. Ashamed. Abandoned. Confused. The feelings of a 6 year old having a migraine attack, again this week, while at her daycare. While the other kids ran to the Friday afternoon snack, she headed to her migraine room the staff had set up for her. It's not like she didn't like the snack. No, she wanted to enjoy it with all her excited peers. The moment they smelled the sweet snack in the air, their smiles exploded and they went running. She didn't understand why the delicious smell made her forehead feel like it was being crushed by a frozen brick. They jumped and cheered while she desperately tried not to throw up. 

The 6 year old girl scurried to get to her throw up bucket in the migraine room. The hallway lights and sounds of laughter made school's lunch come up even faster, but she made it. The dark, quiet room was a lonely, safe haven. She had no idea she was going to spend thousands of hours in this same situation throughout her life. Sick in solitude. Wondering, judging voices whispered on the other side of the door. “What's with that girl?” She was fine earlier. All she could do was sit next to her bucket and try to amuse herself with shapes in the dark. 

She would block out the whispering while remembering her mother's loving words of reassurement. Mama was the only one who truly believed her. Most people got frustrated and mad when they didn't understand the neurological disease of migraine in a 6 year old child. It's much easier to blame the kid for wanting attention or simply acting out. When you're diagnosed with migraine at the age of 2, you hear all of the accusations. But this 6 year old just wanted to go eat the Friday jello fruit cocktail with her friends. She just wanted to be a kid.

This blog was written by Cynthia Cooper, a Migraine at School Ambassador. 

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