Softening the Bad Things

Today's post is a personal one. If you are a fan of Lucky 13 Lacquer or blogger extraordinaire, Accio Lacquer, you may be familiar with Softening the Bad Things. 

You can see Lucky 13 Lacquer's full post here that explains her whole process for making this polish.  To give you an idea, this is an excerpt from that post:

My goal with Softening the Bad Things is twofold: first, to remind those who suffer from depression that every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant. My second goal is to work toward a country and a world where mental illnesses such as depression have less of a social stigma. People are not scorned and shunned by others for having a physical illness which they had no choice in developing so why should those with mental illness be any different? Which is why, with the help of the wonderful people listed at the end of this post, we've been able to raise $250 to be donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocate group for those suffering from, you guessed it: mental illness.

When I first saw this polish, it wasn't its sparkly beauty that drew me to it. It was the message and the thought of wearing it and what it would mean to me in that moment. And knowing that a portion of the money I spent was going to a good cause was an amazing feeling.

I was able to get a bottle from the second release of the polish (also reformulated). I bought this all the way back in Sept. '13 and it has been sitting on my rack waiting patiently. 

Onto the heavy stuff... I have been suffering from severe chronic migraines for the past 3 years. They have been increasing in intensity and frequency over that time, since my son was born in February 2011. In the past 6 months I can average 8-10 migraines per month. That's 2-3 A WEEK! With a toddler running around and a house to take care of, my life can sometimes be unbearable. I won't go into details, but when things are really bad and the migraines just keep coming and coming with no relief....my mind goes into such a state of depression that it's hard to come out of before the next migraine hits. Anyone with a chronic illness knows what it's like to feel like shit ALL the time. No matter what you do, it's hard to stay positive and happy, especially if there is pain involved.

I have been to many doctors, tried all types of meds and treatments, even botox. Nothing has worked. No relief.  Last summer I decided to try a totally different route when dealing with my health. I starting seeing a holistic nutritionist who helped me eat better and had me taking a bunch of supplements to support different organs, including my brain. I stopped drinking soda, eating/drinking any kind of artificial sugars and went totally gluten free.

Unfortunately, after 6 months, I didn't see ANY improvement.  Also, my doctor suspected I had Lymes Disease. On I went, trying to push forward to find an answer because I knew I couldn't continue to live like this. I found a Holistic MD in NYC that treated hundreds of people with LD.  With his new treatment of FDA approved holistic remedies, my migraines have significantly decreased. In the month of March I had 5 migraines and had a 2 week span with not one migraine. That is HUGE progress for me. The last time I went that long without a migraine was Feb. 2013!!! 

So now that I am feeling a bit better and feel like there may be an end in sight for my chronic illness, I had to wear this polish. It might seem weird to others outside the polish world, but doing my nails and sharing them with you and making friends with other bloggers and indie makers has been one of things that I have been able to do that makes me happy. I wear this particular polish that has so much meaning to Jess, the maker, and to me the wearer, that it makes me cry to wear it. I think of all the bad times and dream of all the good times to come. Wearing this polish gives me hope and makes me feel a little bit more whole again. I know everything is going to be okay. Finally! 

I want to thank my family and husband, and the few friends for being there to help WHENEVER I need it. For watching my amazing little boy when I have to go to all my doctors appointments. For being supportive of my choices in medical help, even though you were skeptical. Chronic illnesses affect everyone around you and it's not easy, ever. 

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XOXO Nail Addicted Sisters

~Erika