Vestibular therapy sucks...

I have had a few therapy sessions to address my vertigo. The exercises they perform with me is to train my brain to get used to the dizziness. Whatever! The therapy is training my brain to worsen the headaches and dizziness. By the time I leave the vitality center, I am sick to my stomach and can hardly see. Some of the exercises are simply moving your eyes either side to side or up and down without moving your head, or focusing on a fixed object and moving your head about. Those are the less troubling ones. Another is focusing on an ink pen while holding my head steady whilst the pen is moving towards or away and side to side diagonally. This is the worst one. I immediately feel sick and have almost cried at the unsettling feeling I get during therapy. As soon as the dizziness subsides, the headache starts. sometimes lasting only a few minutes, but compounded with the number of exercises. By the end of my session, I feel rough. My whole day then is ruined because of the headaches and eyestrain along with nausea. My therapist said he will refer me back to my physician if my condition shows no improvement after this week. He also mentioned seeing a neurologist if this continues. I reminded him of the MRI on my brain, however, he thinks someone specializing in neuroscience should look at it. We'll see. My leg is much better, even with continued soreness in my knee. My foot still has a bit of pain. I have about a week and a half left with my boot. Hopefully, it will be healed by then. Oh, yeah. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder sucks too. When I went for a follow up with the family doc, she said PTSD is why I feel like kicking puppies. And why I don't sleep. And why I'm a hateful jerk that flies of at the handle. God help me.

The joy of being a child

We made it to Columbus, Ohio and back.  COSI was a great visit.  Both the kids were as happy as I had hoped. 

The museum had changed a bit since I was a kid, but it still holds the attention of even my 4 year old.

Maybe just COSI

I'm not sure where we'll go now that I have this boot to wear for a month.  It is very uncomfortable and prohibits a normal gait.  Perhaps this is how it's design keeps the foot immobile, you can't walk in it.

One way or  the other, I'm getting these kids out of the house, even if i have to use a wheelchair!

I told them so!

Well, the results of my MRI are back, I've seen the doctor...My foot has "a severe bone contusion/non-displaced fracture..." The reason they can't say which it is definitively is because the injury is 8 weeks old and started to heal.  The doc said it would have to be immobilized for a month and asked if I wanted a cast or a boot.

I chose the more uncomfortable boot since it can be removed for bathing.  This thing SUCKS!  It rubs the side of my lower leg and puts pressure on the bone that was broken.  The Mrs. and I wrapped my leg with an ACE bandage in the area of the most pressure.  It has helped more than the Velcro pads that came with it do.  Hopefully this will make the next 4 weeks more bearable.

My family physician called with the results of my head and neck MRI.  My brain was 'normal" (insert haha!) and one disc in my neck was slightly protruding.  She didn't show allot of concern with that, but, she said the crystals in my ears are misaligned.  I am not making this up.  It is an actual condition that is called 'benign paroxysmal positional vertigo' BPPV.  

Here it is in a nut shell, as found here, http://www.doctorhoffman.com/wwbppv.htmThe medical term for "ear crystal" is otolith (also known as otoconia). Everyone has otoliths. They are found in two inner ear organs, the utricle and the saccule, collectively known as the otolithic organs. These organs are responsible for our ability to sense a gravitational field. In other words, even if you are in a pitch dark room, floating in a swimming pool (thus deprived of visual cues and musculoskeletal cues), you will still know which way is up, thanks to your otolithic organs. The nerve endings in the otolithic organs are embedded in a gelatinous goo known as the otolithic membrane. Embedded in this gelatinous membrane, like grapes in fruit jello, are the otoconia. They are tiny calcium carbonate/calcite crystals. Their whole purpose in life is to make that jello as heavy as possible. That way, when you tilt your head in a gravitational field, the otolithic membrane moves accordingly, thus stimulating the nerve endings underneath.  Current dogma states that otoliths may become liberated from the otolithic membranes, and are then free to float through the inner ear fluid. These free agents are capable of stimulating other parts of the inner ear. In particular, with regard to BPPV, they are thought to most commonly stimulate a structure known as the posterior semicircular canal. The semicircular canals are responsible for our sense of rotational motion. If a semicircular canal is stimulated by errant otoliths, the result is a sense of rotational vertigo.

Neat stuff, huh?  I actually start a therapy on April 6th to help alleviate the effects.  I'll post my progress...

Spring break!

It is Spring Break here.  The kids are out of school for the week.  We have been brainstorming for ideas on things to do while they are home.  My Emmy has already asked twice, "When are we going camping?".  Chip Has been pretty busy with baseball practice, but still wants to do something fun.

So, what then?  The Mrs. will take Thursday and Friday off for a long weekend.  I think we are going to surprise the clones with a couple of day trips.  One to Columbus, Ohio to visit COSI, and one to Lexington and Berea, Kentucky for a couple historic house museums and some antiquing (our kids love it, Chip always finds an old toy or book and Emmy wants to play with everything).  When we were first married, we spent allot of time in the towns around Richmond,  Kentucky visiting friends in school at Berea college (my mother's Alma mater) or University of Kentucky.  There are several point of interest in the area around there, beautiful old houses to tour, excellent restaurants, museums, antique stores and shops.  I'm getting excited thinking about it. We may have to get a room down there and make it two days!

But the first thing is to appease the kids and go to COSI.  It is an interactive science museum that is kid oriented.  I remember going on a couple of field trips as a kid in grade school and LOVED it.  There are exhibits on electricity, energy, motion, biology, space...  My Chip will be thrilled, and Emmy loves anything that Chip loves.  I expect I will be very popular around the house after this trip!

A day with the family

I spent most of the day with the family shopping.  Emm needed an Easter dress and Chip wanted a video game (which he did not get because of rating of M for mature).  My Mrs. looked in every store in two separate malls for a dress for herself, with no luck.  I received a new white button down for my birthday earlier this month...so, with a fresh shine on my brogues, I'll be good to go for Easter.  Chip has many dress shirts that he has never worn ( he's too cool to dress preppy at school)- hey that rhymes!   So, he and Dana will have to sport some old threads.

We really had a nice day together.  We ate a late lunch/early dinner...3pm.  Since we would be in Huntington, West Virginia, we decided on Red Lobster.  It is one of our favorite national chains.  One wouldn't think there would be a 20 minute wait for a table at that time of the day, but there was.  When we went in, there was nearly 30 diners already waiting and about 50 when we left.  I was amazed at the money I seen spent today.  The malls were packed.  Traffic and parking were both bad.  Consumers were out consuming.

At this rate, the economy, at least local, should be doing well.  

After all the hours we spent trying to spend, we came home with only a doggy bag and an Easter dress.  But, that is OK with me...it was a cheap date.

A bad case of the blues

I'm in the kind of mood where I could almost kick puppies.  I don't care about anything. I don't want to do anything. I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to see anyone. 

I think I'm depressed.

The toll that this wreck has had on me is overwhelming.  My whole body hurts, the kind of hurt that medicine doesn't help, heating pads don't work, I can't even sleep ( which at least I would not be focused on how bad it hurts).  Speaking of sleep, the most I've had in 5 days is about 4 hours.  I really am fatigued.

I had three MRI's today. One was for my foot, which I have been told it was just a bad sprain, even though I could swear to you it is broken. the next was on my cervical spine.  The last was my brain.

I have had an MRI before, for sinus surgery.  It was a few years back.  I don't recall having any real issue with it.  However, today was a totally different experience.  When I was place into the machine, head first with my neck immobilized, I began to panic.  

You see, I am claustrophobic.  It took two tries before they could get me in there and even then I hit the panic button three times more.  

Now that it is over, I feel foolish about it.  But the anxiety was real while I was going through the tests.

I'll speak to my family doctor on Monday and the orthopedic will see me Tuesday morning.  I sure pray they can give me treatment to correct whatever is found.