In the worst of times, when horrific headaches drive him to a darkened bedroom for days, Greg Giovanazzi struggles toward the light.
Brow knitted, eyes clenched, he wades through the pain to think of stuff that matters - family, friends and job. It helps him ride out the migraines that have hounded him for decades, said Giovanazzi, the volleyball coach at Johns Hopkins.
"Coaching motivates me to get out of bed, manage my depression and start the healing process," he said. "It gives me reason to continue. That might sound dramatic, but ... I don't want to miss time with my players. I want them to have the opportunity to be the best they can be."
Giovanazzi suffers from chronic migraines, the relentless, debilitating daily headaches that haunt 3.3 million Americans. It is a condition, experts say, for which there is no cure yet.
"Our arsenal of medications against migraines is fairly primitive," said Dr. Jason Rosenberg, head of the Johns Hopkins Headache Center. "Most people have annoying tension headaches. They take Tylenol and get on with their lives. About 12 percent of the U.S. adult population - 20 million people - suffer from migraines, mostly intermittent.
"But 2 percent of adults have chronic migraines, these smoldering headaches that [routinely] become full-blown and disabling. These people are scattered out there and suffering miserably from pain, nausea and depression. Imagine having a horrible hangover every single day."
Imagine? Giovanazzi lives that life. Once he was laid up for a week, shades drawn. Another time, the migraines triggered nausea so intense that he vomited 23 times in 12 hours. Keeping count took his mind off the pain.
Seeking help, he has run gantlets of tests. He has been poked and prodded, X-rayed and CT-scanned. He has seen neurologists and therapists, hypnotists and herbalists. He takes six medications daily but is never pain-free. Fifty times, he has gone to the emergency room. The headaches keep coming.
Giovanazzi, 50, soldiers on, leading Hopkins to a 19-5 mark entering today's match at McDaniel College. Victories there and against Ursinus on Saturday would put Hopkins in a three-way tie for the Centennial Conference championship.
"It [the disability] is part of my every day, but I'm not dying from it," he said. "I'm doing what I can do, when I can do it."
Though their coach has missed some practices, the Blue Jays say his absence is trifling compared to his stellar credentials and the savvy he imparts to a Division III team.
