The Dizzy Chronicles

The average, healthy individual can jump up from the couch with no problem to answer the phone, the door, or go chasing after someone. The average person can also walk in a (fairly) straight line, stand on one foot, suddenly turn around to look a someone who might have called their name, and walk down the stairs of a house, building, or shuttle bus. Now, try getting a bat, put your forehead on one end and the other on the ground and spin yourself around in circles (you know, you used to do it as a kid) and then try doing all of the aforementioned easily accomplished tasks…not so easy now, is it? That, since February 19, 2010, has been my life…the never-ending spinning, dizziness, and awkward balance of a once beloved childhood game, has now become my everyday existence.

Remember drinking slurpees or pounding down ice cream cones as a child and getting a “frozen headache”? You know, you drink or eat something cold too fast and it gives you the gnarliest headache for about 30 seconds and then you continue on enjoying your treat. Well, imagine having that pain in your head constantly, for hours and sometimes days, with little to no reprieve. It’s enough to drive someone insane!

Now, to the fun part. The stomach flu, at any age is horrible, but it seems to be even more acute when you’re a child. You don’t fully understand everything that’s going on, you just know that your tummy hurts and it leaves you running to the bathroom to expel your tummy’s contents. Well, I don’t have the stomach flu, but I do have a stomach that is in revolt to any and every thing that is put down my pie hole. It could be water, medication, or food, it doesn’t matter…up it comes. Even medication designed to eliminate the nausea and vomiting has stopped working.

In order to describe my present state, you must grab the worst element of each paragraph: dizziness, headaches, and vomiting; and that makes up the Christine that you are currently seeing (or reading about). I do the best that I can to put on a happy face despite how poorly I am feeling, but, if you watch closely enough, you will see through the veneer. My balance is atrocious, leaving me quite wobbly and prone to falling backward, even with the aid of my cane there’s no guarantee that someone might need to holler “timber!” so that people will get out from behind me. Standing on a perfectly flat, nonmoving surface often feels as though it is rocking back and forth or moving like the moving sidewalks at some airports. The headaches can sometimes be a constant for several days with no reprieve to ones that only crop up now and again, but wreak havoc on my brain. If you speak with me when I am having one of my headaches (or loaded on all of my medication), I tend to mumble and slur my words, not to mention I don’t always make a lot of sense. The vomiting really speaks for itself, but today was my first upchuck free day in almost two weeks thanks to my new medication…well, it’s not new medication, just the method of taking it is different, but it’s supposed to be more fast acting this way.

This illness has definitely been one for the medical books. My symptoms have presented strangely, I pass tests one day, but fail the same exact ones the next day, it’s all just been incredibly weird. I sincerely appreciate all of the praying that people have been doing on my behalf, there are not enough words to express my appreciation for you doing that for me. I would love company sometimes…I know people are busy and I live in Tin Buk Tu, but it would be awesome to get a visit every now and again. I promise that I won’t barf on you, I’m a big girl now, and I can make it to the bathroom in time!