Spotlight: Erin M. Phelan

Spotlight: Erin Phelan Blog: A Homesteading Neophyte Blogging since: May 2006 Migraines since: Age 5, possibly since birth. I have both classic and common migraines. Passion: Homesteading. What started as a simple garden to help save on food bills has turned into a full-scale mini-farm. Work: I'm a food writer with All Foods Natural and World Food and Wine.

What is homesteading exactly?

My husband and I own five acres of land northwest of Wichita, Kansas. We raise heritage farm animals, Dexter cattle, various breeds of chickens, geese and ducks, bees, and have three mixed-breed goats, two angora goats, and a sheep named donkey. We raise almost all of our own food, from basic garden vegetables, to strange-looking heritage melons. We produce our own milk, butter and soon cheeses. We butcher our own organically raised animals, and will soon harvest honey.

Modern homesteading is basically the same as the traditional homestead. The only difference is we bought the land.

What made you start your blog?

I was frustrated by the lack of information available to homesteaders. There were books to tell you what to do, but not what not to do. We made many mistakes over the years – like the time we brought home 250 pounds of free apples without a clear idea of what to do with them. Or the time we transferred live bees in the back of a hatchback.

What motivates your writing?

One reason I blog is to create community. That might sound strange, but when you’re as different from our neighbors as we are, seeking online camaraderie makes sense. The town where I buy supplies doesn’t welcome a death metal homesteader with open arms.

Do you read other migraine blogs?

I don’t seek out specific blogs related to migraine, no. I know many people who have them, but migraine isn’t the only thing I write about. It’s kind of like restless leg syndrome, you see one person tapping her foot, and your legs get uncomfortable. That’s why I don’t seek out such blogs.

Have migraines changed your career or career path?

Yes. I was constantly missing days of school and work. I have always wanted to be a writer - not necessarily a food writer, as my taste leaned towards a horror genre. But there were other goals migraines kept me from accomplishing.
I don’t know that migraines influenced my choice to homestead. If they were choosing my career, migraines would have me marry rich or win the lottery so I could hang out all day doing nothing that would set them off.

What’s it like for you?

The pain is unimaginable. Some nights I wake to the smell of sulfur. Fearing the house might be on fire, I’ll walk through the house trying to locate the source, only to be stabbed in the back of my eye with a pain that brings me to my knees. Sometimes I feel a slight pressure in the lower back part of my head, or between my teeth or in my sinuses. Sometimes the pressure builds behind my eye, halos appear around people and objects, and I taste metal or blood in my mouth. These are my warning signs. But sometimes there’s no warning and I up crying because of the pain. The pain can be literally blinding, or cause tunnel vision. Light, sound and smell become the enemy and all I can do is sleep and stay close to a bathroom. On a bad day, the blood vessels around my eyes break and I look like I’ve been struck.

How do you manage them?

I don’t, actually. I learned the rebound migraine trick during my first pregnancy, and that’s as close as I’ve come. I’ve taken everything from herbs to narcotics, penicillin to an opiate. My doctor’s prescribed every “miracle” drug he can find, but none has worked. I’m at a point now where I just throw up my hands and deal with them as they come. I can sometimes stave them off in the mid-day, though. If I’m working out in the sun and the back of my neck tightens, I’ll go in and rest until that feeling passes. But I could still get a migraine after I go to bed.

What’s the migraine trick?

Over the counter migraine drugs only work for seven days no matter what. So now I time when I take them. If a migraine begins on Tuesday and I have my boys home, I’ll take the meds just until Friday night, so the migraine will happen on the weekend when my husband’s home to care for them. This only works with one type of migraine, though.

How do the migraines affect your homesteading?

I get migraines on a weekly basis during the spring and summer. Winter isn’t as bad because I’m not as active. In general, homesteading is more difficult, simply because you can’t call in for the day. You have children and animals that must be tended to. No matter how much it hurts, I have to get up at 530, wake, feed and see off the family, and then do morning chores before passing out in my dark room.

Do you have outdoor triggers?

Sure. Sudden changes in the weather, humidity levels, and too much sun. I don’t have allergies.

What do you wish someone had told you when you first started dealing with migraines?

I can’t say. The tests to discover what was wrong with me began when I was two, and diagnosed with multiple types at five. I don’t know a life before migraines.

What are you most proud of?

That would have to be how my three wonderful boys are turning out.



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