I haven't had a stressful week like this in a while.
You know what I didn't have for a while? Migraine headaches, for two months...
You know what I haven't had in a very long while? Vertigo. It's been a year since I went on that ride. I would have some dizziness, actually some debilitating dizziness--but not vertigo.
Last night Geoff fell asleep at 10 o'clock and I wasn't quite tired. I got up and played guitar for a little bit then decided to check email. I got very drowsy all of a sudden and shut the computer down. And then it happened, a warning. That feeling I would get before the vertigo occurred. I decided it was just because I was tired (after shock, worry, fear of last year returning will full vengeance plagued me for a few seconds) and I went to bed without a problem.
I woke up at 1:45 am (or so) with Madeline sitting next to me, throwing up on my bed. I woke up Geoff, handed her to him and he went into the bathroom with her. (For some reason he directs them to throw up in the sink...I never knew people did that...that's upper class vomiting conditions!)
I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and cleaned up my bed and laid towels down and then it happened: vertigo. At first I thought it was just my getting up from the bed and having a little dizziness. Then I walked into the girls room to get new pajamas for Madeline and I started walking from side to side as if I were on a ship. I knew it was there so I went to the bathroom, now grateful that Madeline was throwing up in the sink so I could have the toilet.
I sat down in front of the toilet and the swirling in my head came to full force, going clockwise, and then after throwing up a bit, it starting going counterclockwise.
What is nice is that the vertigo was not forcing me in to laying on the floor thinking I'm falling. I would say it was a light case. I was able to hold on to the toilet enough to feel like I was going to be okay. Before I had no choice but to cling to the floor--though laying on the floor never made me feel like I wasn't still falling. Actually it reminds me of my very first case of vertigo last year on the first day these migraines started.
What is funny (yes, even throwing up at the toilet, in my mind, I found humor) is that little Madeline is throwing up in the sink and Mama, who doesn't have a flu bug like her, is throwing up in the toilet. I remember hearing Geoff soothing Madeline, "It's okay sweetheart, you're going to be okay." In my (self-absorbed) head I was answering, "yeah, I know. It's just hard....oh, of course, Madeline, my poor baby. I wish I could be helping." I really thought that this scene was a bit funny; even while it was happening, with my hair, head and neck drenched with cold sweat.
Just so you know: it wasn't the smell of vomit that caused this. I don't mind that so much...sometimes I might dry heave or something, but it doesn't make me ill. No...Geoff and I talked about it for a while after Madeline went to sleep. It's the stress of the week, my not exercising due to the business of the week, and my not doing my shoulder exercises. It staved it away a while by going to sleep but the sudden stress of Madeline being sick was the catalyst.
I took my migraine nasal spray right after the vertigo subsided (maybe 10 minutes or so) and this morning I just have some slight pain at the base of my neck on one side and my head feels slight pressure. It did the job for me. After some anxiety last night about it, and talking to Geoff, and saying a prayer: it's not going to be like last year. I don't have to wait for doctors to tell me that it's not an ear infection, or a tumor. I know it's my aura to a migraine and my neurologist is fantastic with treatment plans for me. He's going to be in charge of worrying for me. That's a load off.
Poor little Madeline threw up a little bit this morning but I think that is because she had water, and that is really hard on the stomach without sugar coating. With a stomach ache, the best thing is pop. The sugar gives the stomach a coating and allows for digestion. I didn't know that until this last year.
I'm so ready for the excitement to end.
Sorry this post is a little self-serving. But, hey, aren't all posts?
3 comments:
Oh man! Talk about the pits- a sick kid and vertigo to boot! I'm glad you can find humor in it. Next time the ground starts swaying, just pretend that you are on a cruise ship in some exotic land- maybe that will help :) But seriously, I hope that it was just a fluke and it doesn't return.
You need to stop doing that. I too, hope that it doesn't come back and it was a fluke. That doesn't sound like fun at all. I don't think I've ever experienced vertigo. But from your description, I'm kind of glad I haven't. But it sucks that you have to. Poor Maddie, too. Get better. We love you.
Oh...and by the way...I'm glad you referred to 'pop' as such. People think we're crazy for calling it pop, they say soda here. Seriously, they look at you like you've grown horns if you say pop. Some people won't respond, and they we have to say, oh sorry, a soda, or a drink. People.
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