| Poetry Gives Judges a Headache! | |
"They can help build awareness of our plight."
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Why a poetry contest?
- Writing is a wonderful outlet for many people with chronic health problems. It gives us the opportunity to express feelings, and often helps us get some of the frustration out of our systems. It's a very healthy activity for many of us.
- Sharing these wonderful works of art can help express the fear, pain, and frustration of headaches/migraine in a way that some people will understand better than they would a normal conversation.
- To support each other while building awareness among "non-headachers."
- It's National Poetry Month
- Why not? :-)
The impact of headache and migraine:
- Dr. Marek Gawel, Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Migraine Association of Canada, has stated that an estimated 240 million people world-wide suffer about 1.4 billion migraines annually.
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Here are some startling U.S. statistics:
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Last year, 90% of men and 95% of women report having suffered at least one headache. (According to the American Council for Headache Education.) Every day, one out of seven people limit their activities because of headache pain.
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According to Dr. Joel Saper of The Michigan Head·Pain & Neurological Institute, headache "is a very costly illness, with impacts for impairment and disability running up to $17 billion a year nationwide."
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Over 18 million doctor's office visits are attributed to headache yearly.
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Last year, over $4 billion was spent on over-the-counter headache medications.
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58% of headache sufferers require some bed rest to overcome the headache, resulting in 112 million bedridden days per year.
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Over 1 million people in the United States suffer from cluster headaches.
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Headache and migraine don't just affect adults. Dr. Irving Fish, director of pediatric neurology at New York University Medical Center in New York, says "About 85 percent of children by the time they're 17 have had headaches severe enough to mention them to their physician ... From that, there's about 10 to 15 percent of children who have missed school."
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- Think about these
Canadian figures as well:
- 3.2 million adults suffer from migraines
- one-quarter million children suffer from migraines
- migraines cost the Canadian economy $500,000,000 annually
- absenteeism and loss of productivity resulting from migraines costs $20 every second
Now that I've given you some background on the headache/migraine community, ON TO THE CONTEST WINNERS!
This was a tough contest. All the entries were so compelling that the judges had a tough time making decisions. Below, are the titles of all the entries and the poets' names. Please click on the titles to read these masterpieces.
Congratulations and thanks to all
who entered. A special thanks to our judges, Terri Miller Burchfield
and Michael
John Coleman, MAGNUM Board Officers.
- First Place
- Rx: Honey by Sheila Carey
- Ice Pick Stabbing At My Eye by Lisa Allen
- Trust by Sherrie Pryor
- Weekend by Rosemary Clark
- A Child's Life With Migraines by Kristee
- Symphony Of Pain by Marie McCann
- Out Of The Blue by Oklahoma Rose
- Life As A Migraineur for 20 Years by Lesley
- It Stays by Ashli
- You Can't Come In by Ellen Costa
- A Way of Life by Jeannette
- Questions of a Migraine by Jaime
- The Night Was Silent by Julie Zubrycki
- On Migraine by Florence Cardinal
- Slightly Twisted by Pheeb
- Claustrophobia by Tatyanazap
- Drawing a Lasting Breath by mixer
- Headache, Headache by Tammy
- NUMBNESS AURA NAUSEA by Rosalie
- Reflection by Sage
- Travel Past the Name by Nicole
- The Battle by Ted Marcus
- The Final Kiss: Thoughts During an Attack by Ted Marcus
- The Story formerly known as The Zax by Ted Marcus
- Fireflies of Doom by Teri Robert
Next page > 1st - 3rd Place Poems > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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