Of course I have a beautiful daughter. No mother will ever tell you her daughter is the worst in the world, no matter what good or bad that comes from her. But my daughter, aah yes. She is very special to me. Not because I almost lost her when I had low placenta priva throughout my pregnancy or lost her again when I had to have emergency ceasarian and the doctors could not find her heartbeat. She demonstrated immense ability to stay calm when I had a migraine yesterday. It was excruciatingly painful. This was what happened.

This is my daughter, the aspiring baker.

She looked up the internet and searched for a Youtube video on how to treat migraine. She typed in this :  “How to cure a bad headache” on my iphone. It is odd but traditional Chinese physicians believe that migraines are caused by energy disturbances in the liver and gall bladder meridian points. We were in the living room when this happened. I was grimacing in pain when she had the video on, so I could only listen to it.  I had to walk back to the bedroom to lie down but just couldn’t pick myself up. She stopped eating her dinner and held my hand as she walked me over to the bedroom.  The minute I laid down on the mattress, the pain started to feel like it was right on top of my head and bursting out. I became breathless. I thought one of my veins in the brain was about to snap and I’d collapse. I kept trying to breathe.

She tried to ring her father, who had gone for a walk but he didn’t bring his mobile phone along. I asked her to forget about calling daddy. “Get me a panadol.” She went looking for it at the first aid box. I did not see any sign of panic in her. She was calm and kept saying, “It is going to be ok mummy.  I will get a glass of warm water now. I am coming.” I said to her, “Sorry honey, for troubling you like this.” And she said, “It is ok mummy. There are many people in the world outside that are going through worse than us right now. It is all right.” She sounded just like me! ehrm, the adult. Yeah right. But this is all her. She responded to me in the utmost calmness. I could not ask more then. I knew I was in good hands. I asked her to finish her dinner while I waited for the medicine to do its job for me. Like that would be the answer to all cures.

Then it all happened. I had to vomit. I felt like I was pregnant at 8 weeks. After that, I came back to bed again. Instantly, the video she showed me about how migraine could be related to our bladder came on top of my head, amongst many nonsensical thoughts that had been plaguing my mind. I called for her to fetch me the medicated oil, eucalyptus oil, Axe Oil Brand. She hated the pungent smell but somehow could put up with it that night. I rub the ointment on my tummy and started to massage along the stomach area and up to my chest. I have a natural gift for traditional Javanese massage. This time I had to trust my own instinct that what the video said about migraine being related to the bladder and stomach was true. I had to do something. I thought of walking down the street in my pyjamas to the nearest clinic. Oh! Bother. If I was going to collapse then, I wouldn’t be able to think at all.

My husband came home from his long walk. He had a great adventure and wanted to share it with us. Upon seeing the state I was in, he stood right beside and wondered if the massage he gave me earlier on my shoulders were just too hard. “It did start the healing process, dear. I was already feeling bad then.” I couldn’t blame anyone but myself for this. I needed to finish the ironing so I could get on to do other things online and tons of other work. The work of the housewife and work from home mother doesn’t seem to stop at the helm of the apron. And this being the worst day of my life, I had so many bad past memories that kept creeping up in my mind and invading my privacy. It happens every month just before my menstruation. PMS – nobody knows what this means, pre-menstruation syndrome. Sounds more like problematic monthly sickness to me.

Anyway, back to my pitiful state on the bed. My daughter walked in again, sat right next to me and massaged me. She said, “Mummy, can I read a book to you?” At this time, I knew I needed the lights to be switched off. The migraine was so bad I couldn’t even stand seeing the iPhone screen. But I let her read anyway, and use the bedside lamp near her as reading light. Oh man! My husband came back in with an LED torchlight. Oh so blinding! Its the headlights from a BMW. So she held it upwards towards the ceiling with one hand while her other hand held the book. I felt calmer gradually by the sound of her voice and her little fingers on my back, massaging me nimbly. I couldn’t see how she managed to do 3 things with 2 hands but the splitting headache pinned me down so hard I could barely move my head up to see.  Her soft young fingers reminded me of that angelic feel of a little baby daughter I held in my arms a decade ago. I couldn’t remember when we both started to doze off. But I knew I needed to sleep, hopefully that could help me forget I ever had this pain in the first place.

3 hours later I woke up. It was 11:30 p.m. And there she was, my beautiful daughter, sleeping right next to me. Her storybook was still on the bed. She had also slept. She had had a long day at school, she was exhausted, probably more than me. I knew then, that immense calmness in her made such an impact that night. I really could not ask for more. I have the most beautiful daughter.

So I would like to share this video to anyone who may need an answer on how to treat migraine. It may seem odd but hey, I am well this morning. Still not 100% but I know migraine can take days and hours to recover. My instinct told me to massage my stomach areas and it worked for me. Hope it works for you too. Thank you, my beautiful daughter.