Rough Weekend
Well, things had been going pretty good until last Thursday. I had started feeling off on Wednesday, but then I was feeling more nauseous and anxious on Thursday morning but then around noon I got to feeling much worse. My dizziness seemed to be back and I felt weak, shaky and my skin was just crawling.
I stuck it out at the office until around 12:30 p.m. or so and then had to leave — I was just feeling too disoriented. It wasn’t really a constant spinning, it was just a creepy feeling and my anxiety was growing. I also called my ENT and told them that I was doing it again, and the on-call nurse said she would let the doctor know and call me back.
The drive home wasn’t too bad, certainly not as bad as some days I’ve had. I worked at home on the computer for several hours, but had to get up every 30 minutes or so to go lay down. The nurse called back and said that the doctor wanted to see me again and the appointment was set for Monday.
The next morning (Friday), I woke up and still felt pretty gross. I was still a bit dizzy and feeling weak and shaky (but still not as severe as I have felt in the past) but I knew there was some stuff that I needed to do on my dad’s place that afternoon, so I didn’t go into the office. During the day, I worked off and on on the computer but not for very long at a time.
That afternoon, I went back to my dad’s place and worked outside on the tractor for a couple of hours, moving some fill dirt around. By the time I finished that, I was feeling a little bit better, but very hot and tired. There is just something about getting up and working hard that makes it easier to either ignore or get over the dizziness, I think. But sometimes the feeling hits so hard that there is nothing to do but crash and wait for it to pass, or so it seems.
By Friday night, I was almost feeling normal. We sat down to watch a movie with the kids ("Bringing Down the House" which was very marginal) and when it was over, I was back to feeling yucky. I didn’t sleep well Friday night and woke up a couple of times with my left arm just completely dead-numb. I probably just slept on it wrong, but it didn’t help my attitude.
Saturday was better, I managed to get up and get quite a few things done around the house. We homeschool our kids and after the first week of schooling, the house had gotten to be quite a disaster area. We took most of Saturday to clean up and get things back in order. I also went back to my dad’s place, where the HVAC guys had been working installing the new system for his new house. I was able to climb into the attic and look around at what the guys had been doing and things looked pretty good!
By Saturday night, I was getting to feeling pretty good. We sat down to watch another moving with the kids ("Daredevil", which was pretty good for a big dumb summer-kind-of-movie) and after it was over, I was back to my dizzy, unsteady feelings. It was around 11 p.m. when the movie was over and we were planning on going to church Sunday so we started to gather our stuff for the next morning.
Our sheets were washing and hadn’t dried, so I got on the computer and piddled around a bit. After a couple of hours and after the sheets were put on the bed, we decided to finally go to bed.
Sunday morning (this morning) came early and I wasn’t feeling well at all. I know part of it was lack of sleep, but I was also having cramps in my hands and felt woozy and sick to my stomach. I got ready for church and was determined to go since it was the first Sunday with a new service schedule.
Penny took the girls to youth group which starts during the first service. I showered and got ready while she was gone, still not certain I would be able to make it to the service. We left around 10:25 a.m. for the 11 a.m. service.
I was driving and feeling a bit stressed and anxious about going. Once we got there, we had to drive around for about 15 minutes before we could find a spot to park. We got out of the car and walked the kids to their classes and then went on to worship. I was feeling my calves cramping as we walked, which was disconcerting but not the first time I’ve felt that.
We have been sitting in the balcony the last few times I’ve gone, because I felt like if I needed to get up I could be more discrete up there. Since we have moved from three separate service times to two, I knew that it was going to be more packed (which stressed me even more) but went finally went up and found some seats.
During the service, I went from feeling pretty good to feeling like I was going to be sick, then back again. There were times that I would just have to close my eyes and listen, because if I was looking around, it made it even worse. I found it hard to concentrate during the service, but I made it through (and it was an excellent sermon!)
As we were driving home (after a long, hot hike to the car) I felt my jaw and head beginning to hurt a bit. We were planning on going by the store on the way home, but decided instead to get on home. I noticed on the way home that when my kids would start making loud noises in the back seat, that it was like someone was striking a guitar string in my head. It was rather unpleasant.
We arrived home and, after taking off our dripping, sweaty clothes (are car’s A/C doesn’t work) I laid down for a bit. Penny left to go to the store, and I got up after about 30 minutes and ate some lunch.
So, that’s where I am now. I’m feeling a bit better, but still have occasional (albeit slight) shoots of pain in my head. I am still feeling a bit disoriented, but it comes and goes.
My next appointment with the ENT is tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. I hope he has some good ideas.
