Spotlight: Deborah Scripa

Spotlight: Deborah Scripa Blog: Weathering Migraine Storms Blogging since: June 2006 Migraines: Since childhood. First I remember nausea while traveling, followed by vomiting and headache. I always had the aura; they would help me sleep. I would watch them swirl and float and twist, thinking everyone had them. Work: Wife, mom, pet-lover

What made you start your blog?

I was keeping a journal in 2005, mostly to keep track of my migraine triggers and changes to my meds. Then I started to get very interested in blogging, and felt it’d be a good form of self-therapy, to get what I was going through off my chest. It was so much easier to blog than to write it all down longhand, too.

What’s the strangest question someone has asked you about migraines?

Hands down, when my mother asked me, “Do you think it's your hair? Maybe you need a hair cut.” This after I spend a month in a migraine hospital. Hmm, what am I paying my migraine specialist for anyway?

What would you most want to say to someone about migraines that doesn’t experience them?

When can I pencil you in for my next one?

What advice do you give people in the initial stages of diagnosis?

If it’s someone local, I immediately hand them my migraine specialist’s number. If not, I tell them to ask very specific questions. Just because the doctor’s a neurologist doesn’t make him or her a migraine specialist. Ask him straight up if he’s been trained to deal with your type of disease and his success rate. If you get a blank stare, move on. I always point people to Teri Roberts’ great site, where you can find specialists by state.

What’s it like raising four kids?

I feel a lot of guilt for letting my family down again and again, even though it’s entirely out of my hands. Cancelling vacation plans is the worst. I miss watching my children playing on the beach, and spending time with the other families; we always have so much fun.

We haven’t been able to vacation at our condo for three summers, but this year we’re going. The traveling is hard on me, and the heat wears on my nerves. But since my health is better now than it’s been in some time, I’m praying, hoping, wishing I’ll do well. I’m already making preparations.

Where do you turn to for support?

My Migraine blog friends, of course. I think we’ve started a wonderful support/friendship network. I also refer others to the same network when I receive a generous e-mail from someone who’s enjoyed or has been moved by something I’ve written.

Have your personal relationships changed?

With migraine, you certainly find out fast who your true and real friends are. The truest ones stick by like glue, always caring and wonderful. The not-so good ones always keep you guessing. I just did a post about toxic friends and the way our family was burned (“Addicted,” May 18.)

The real friends, they are gold. The toxic – they are like a bad metal that turns to rust over time. Wears away in bad weather, can’t take the bad with the good.

What’s the migraine community like?

Very supportive. Very genuine. When I'm having a bad day, I can write about it and get a, "you feel better, girl, I know what you mean!" And wow, do they! Some of my favorites are Teri Roberts, Emily, who writes The Sassy Lime, and Ian, the first friend I made online with the disease.

Is your writing therapeutic?

Yes, indeed. Sometimes I just go off on a weird rant and make no sense at all. Then somebody will e-mail me or comment and I’ll be shocked, thinking, “Wow, I thought it was just me thinking like that.” Seems we all think weird things.

Learn more about Deborah.

Who inspires you? Let us know who we should feature in our next Spotlight Interview. Write us at community@wegohealth.com