HOW IT ALL BEGAN

I began this blog, not only to educate friends and family about my condition, but to share my experiences with others who may be in the same situation; to give them the comfort of knowing that they are not alone.  I have been too shy to share it with the world and have not actually published it.  However, I think it is time.  The blogs that I have read on the VEDA website seem so professional that I am intimidated fearing that mine will seem extremely amateurish in comparison, but I'm about to take the plunge.  For those reading it for the first time, while I encourage you to respond with your experiences and advice, I hope that you will read from the beginning and not respond until you've caught up with me on this adventure of discovery.  I am learning as I go.  

Where to start?  At the beginning.

Having been "newly re-singled" and independent, I had just reached my full social security age and was in terrific physical shape, traveling, scuba diving, bicycling, strength training...  I was working my dream retirement job; part-time at a health resort/spa.  Rather than "I have to go to work today," for the first time in my life I was saying "I GET to go to work today.

I awoke in the middle of the night with a horrific nose bleed.  I finally got it stopped, went back to sleep and woke up with the world spinning.  For what seemed like hours, any movement caused nausea.  I stumbled to the bathroom, threw up, made my way back to bed and just laid flat until it passed.  Once the world stopped spinning, I still had no footing.  I felt as though I was aboard a ship in the midst of a hurricane.

I made an appointment with my primary care and, in his absence, met with a physician's assistant who referred me to an ENT specialist.   A few days later, I was put through tests for Meniere's Disease and the typical ENG/VNG tests.  I was diagnosed with left-side balance loss with no apparent cause or known duration.  Though days had already gone by, he put me through a regime of anti-virals and steroids in case it had been a viral infection.  If it was, the damage was already done. I had an MRI and saw a neurologist who found nothing that would explain what happened.  I saw a vestibular therapist for several sessions, did daily balance exercises and seemed well, though I still had problems with sudden movements.  My job required that I conduct orientation tours of our beautiful property for first time guests which I was no longer able to perform.  I joked that I truly was a "dizzy blonde."  With therapy, I was eventually able to conduct tours again, even walking backwards while I talked to the guests.

Just as suddenly, about 3 months later, I suffered a sudden hearing loss.  I answered the phone at work and saw the caller-id display.  It was my boss but he sounded like Donald Duck; like someone on helium.  For some reason, I had the presence of mind to switch the phone to my right ear and he sounded normal.  When I hung up the phone, I turned to my co-worker and said "I just lost hearing in my left ear!"

Back to my ENT, who began a series of steroid shots directly into my left ear which resulted in no improvement.  Because Meniere's Disease is episodic and I had, so far, only one episode that didn't behave like Meniere's, he was still puzzled.  I was fitted for a digital hearing aid which required constant adjustments because my hearing kept fluctuating.

Sometime during this time frame, I had a bad fall.  Knowing that I couldn't make any sudden turns or move quickly to get out of someone's way without losing balance, I went with friends to a local ski resort during the off-season to ride the lift for the view from the top.  At the top, I asked the lift operator to stop the lift so that I could get off.  I forgot to do that on the scenic ride down, hopped off the lift, and it pushed me off into the safety net.  I suffered a very bruised glutious maximus and a very bruised ego.
The ego healed, the butt got worse before it got better.

Three years went by and I was doing well with a left-side hearing aid, fitness walking with friends, and back to fully executing the responsibilities of my job.

Stay tuned...