Monday, January 19, 2009

Vertigo ...

... And not the cool Alfred Hitchcock kind.

One nice thing about the blog is the sense of continuity. Back here I talk about a bout with an inner ear infection that left me incapacitated and heaving my guts out. That's about three and a half years ago.

Well, its back, though not with a vengeance, though mainly because I know what to expect this time, so I'm not dealing from ignorance.

Last night I was sleeping badly, rolled over my side, and was suddenly hit by both dizziness and a nasty feeling of deja vu. That was about 3 AM. The heaves set in quickly (we had Spanacopita (spinich pie) the previous evening for dinner, so I will spare you the gruesome details). By 4:30, and we were at the ER (the Lovely Bride driving, my eyes screwed tight to avoid watching the world around me).

Staff was polite and efficient, though I was parked on a gurney in the hallway (and here I thought that 4:30 AM would be a down time for the hospital). Toughest thing was for me to relax and trust them, a fact made easier after they were very nice and set up the valium drip. They did some basic tests and concurred with the diagnosis from years previous (The resident,a young man who gave me a "Scrubs" flashback, described being hit with is as "bad luck", indicating it is not punishment for my sinful ways, which I liked). Valium and something to calm my seething stomach, a referral for an EENT specialist, an appointment with my local GP, and I'm back home, and have spent the rest of the day sleeping in the waterbed with the cats camped out nearby, who are wondering if they can eat me if worse comes to worse.

The good news is that the Lovely Bride has been here to handle all the tough stuff (paperwork, prescriptions, etc...), and that this time I have a day job that provides health benefits. The bad news is that I really had things to finish today (though the good news is that my coworkers are smart enough to wrap them up without me). So I'm good.

And of course, I am writing this under the influence of drugs, and have the attention span of a flea, so I apologize if most of the words are spelled correctly this time.

More later,