Young Girl's Disabling Migraines
My rhythmic breathing sounds magnified as I snorkel. The sun heats my dry back as I gaze down at the coral reef filled with colorful fish. I am floating so gracefully.
Suddenly a cold chill runs through my body. Everything goes black. The water is no longer calm- my back is underwater and I can feel my body being pulled by a current that carries me farther out to sea. My rhythmic breath is gone. I can hear the panic in my breathing- shallow and almost non-existent. I pull my head above water- flooding my nose and mouth with salt water. Choking for breath I can not see land or the clear blue water I was near just moments ago.
I am scared. Alone. My mind creates story: A shark could come up and eat me. What if a school of Rays surround me? There are whales and barracuda out here. I think I feel something bump my leg. I’m gonna die in this abyss! Just 30 yards off shore of the Cayman Islands the sea floor drops in a massive wall 6,000 feet deep.
This is exactly how we felt in 2017 when our youngest daughter fell ill.
This illness was a 6,000 foot wall drop kind of sick because we couldn’t figure out what was wrong and why she was in so much pain. We spent 2 years swimming this unknown. We went to Childrens hospital every week for
treatments. Sometimes we were there many days a week. She missed more school than she attended. We looked for help from neurologists, Integrative med docs, acupuncturists, bio-feedback providers, brain integration specialists, and therapists of all kinds from OT’s to psychologists.
Life was tiresome, lonely, and depressing. My baby asked me really hard questions. Valid questions. If there is a God- why would He let me go through this much pain? Why isn’t He answering our prayers? The scariest moments for me, as her mom, were her wishing a “shark” would come and “eat her” and take her out of the rough waters. She was done with the pain and felt no desire to keep swimming.
I couldn’t blame her.
This song by Elevation Worship was how I answered her questions. It helped me find hope each day.
I played this song and I cried out. I yelled the words. I claimed the words. I owned the words. “You take what the enemy meant for evil and you turned it for good.”
I told my girl that I did not understand why she was going through this pain. I showed up honest and broken with her and told her I felt like God was far away too. I felt forsaken. I felt alone. Scared. Beaten.
Feelings are not facts.
I claimed truth. I honored my feelings but did not give them permission to rule.
I told her that one day God will turn this hardship and bless others. None of this will be wasted. I told her over and over that she would overcome. I reminded her she is a warrior. She is strong. She is a loving person and she would use this experience and help others. I promised her I would use this experience to bless others. None of it would be in vain.
I claimed the words:
“The weapon may be formed, but it won’t prosper
When the darkness falls, it won’t prevail
Cause the God I serve knows only how to triumph
My God will never fail.”
I promised her that I would have faith for her until she had her own. I would be strong enough for both of us. I owned the words:
I’m not backing down from any giant
‘Cause I know how this story ends.”
Yes, I know how this story ends
There is no promise that this world will be easy and go well for us, in fact, we are promised trials.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world,” John 16:33.
We are not guaranteed a victory this side of heaven. So I prepared for the most painful outcome. I am on my face in gratitude before God each morning I am so grateful our story did not end there.
We were introduced to Amare. Amare is the Mental Wellness Company that heals the gut/ brain and the communication between the two. I have been told when we heal the gut and the brain- our body can begin to heal itself.
On May 1, 2019 my girl started Amare Fundamentals and Amare Relief. I had no expectation of this helping her pain or depression but I was promised a full refund if it didn’t, so I thought I would give it a go.
To my heart’s joy, 3 weeks after taking The Fundamentals and Relief, her migraine headache broke for the first time in 2 years! This is a kid who was on all kinds of meds from pills to IV drugs to stop her pain. She was blinded by this migraine many days. She saw auras daily. She threw up and felt miserable every single day. 3 weeks into Amare- she was laughing.
I looked at her and couldn’t stop crying. I was so relieved and grateful. This school year our girl has attended more school than she has missed. By the grace of God she has not had a migraine since late May 2019. She dances, laughs, works hard, plays cards and chess. I am still claiming the words of this song- scripture. I will make the pain and hardship we went through a victory for us and many others.
I became a Wellness Partner for Amare Global and my mission is to cruise the dark, rough waters and help others who are gasping for breath. I am throwing out dinghies and flares so you can find some help and hope. I am on a mission and that mission is driven by gratitude and compassion.
I promised my baby that God would use her pain to bless many. So I am living that out. If you are on the dark side of the 6,000 foot sea wall and need some support- you can evaluate Amare products and see if they prove to be a lifeline you don’t want to swim without.