Distraction

In an earlier post I laid out my top 5 ways to cope with pain without medication. The most important one, in my opinion, is distraction.
Distraction is at the root of every coping mechanism - including medication.
We distract our minds by staying busy, by focusing on other things, by using medication to numb the senses or mask the pain, we distract our cells from attacking one specific area by giving them something else to attack or by increasing adrenaline to invoke the fight or flight response. We can distract ourselves from pain in various ways - thank goodness.

Today was a tough one, primarily due to wind and pressure changes. Not only have I been feeling pretty awful lately, plus likely developing the cold that my husband has, but my chronic migraines hit me HARD today.
The moment I woke up, I knew it was going to be a trying day. 
Of course, I attempted every one of my coping strategies, along with appropriate medication, but it just did not seem to make much of a difference. I got some fresh air, I tried to do a little bit of stretching (but failed miserably), I slept the day away, I had all of the lights off and stayed off of my phone as much as I could.
By early evening, nothing had really changed. I was still vomiting, I had no real appetite, and I felt (and looked) like the walking dead.

So what did I have to lose?

I needed to eat and I desperately needed a distraction.

So, unsure if it would work or worsen my symptoms, Rj and I decided to play a board game and have some snacks. I cut up some apple pieces and made myself a mini cheese board. I had goat cheese, wheat thins, sour cherry spread, and fresh apples. Something I could keep snacking on without feeling like I was just eating junk (we often have chocolates or junk food while we play games together). While it's not perfect, it was a healthier meal overall and it kept my mind fully occupied on both the game and the food.
Simple tasks, like having to spread cheese onto a cracker and trying to get the perfect proportions is enough to give a nice distraction. Add in Risk with invasions and armies and trying to beat the Lannisters for once, and then Boggle - searching for as many words as possible within 3 minutes - and you have decently effective coping strategies. 

Board games like Risk followed by Super Boggle were enough to help me get through the evening. The pain did not subside, of course, and I still felt nauseated, but all of this helped me ignore it enough so that the night was enjoyable instead of just being painful.

We then ended the evening with puppy cuddles.
A bad health day does not mean that the entire day is bad. It can be difficult and can even induce crying just from pain throughout the day, but I would still count this as a good day.
Fancy that.