ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Balance Issues => Topic started by: Captain Deb on August 24, 2006, 10:59:25 am
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Well, now all you Wen....er, I mean professional and mature ladies and gentlemen, now this is really AN related! People have balance issues both pre-and post-op, radio and micro, so this thread ended up here.
I was driving to the post office to mail out another batch of you-know-whats to you-know-who, and was driving on my one-lane dir curvy road and was just tottlein along and around a blind curve comes, my neighbor! Well, I may have been going a tad faster than my usual snail's pace and they had just graded the road, which makes it really skiddy for a day or two but gets rid of the gigantic potholes. I whip my head one way to wave, then whip my head the other to make sure my tires are still on the road, and screeeeeee! Starboard tires right off the road. And in a reall bad place--the road drops off about 15 feet into the bushes. Well, I stop, but my car just decided it would move sideways all on it's own until I got my port wheels pretty nearly in the air, and the you-know what's are sliding offa the seat and onto the deck. This JUST happened about 45 minutes ago and I'm still a little shaken
I can't help but think that in that millisecond that it takes for my "new" eyes to refocus, and that 10 degree list that my broken internal gyroscope failed to notice is the reason I'm out the $65 for the tow truck. My poor neighbor was way more upset than me, the poor dear. I tried to put it in 4 wheel and back out (ey, being a mountain/island girl, I've been in a few ditches) but the car slid about another foot and was reaching the roll-over limit, so I got out. Well, I was just going to the PO and didn't have my cell, so My neighbor lent me hers and I called the tow truck and she left her husband to "babysit" me while she went off to work.
The tow truck was there in 15 and I was outta the ditch in 10. I guess I learned a great $65 lesson-absolutely creep around that blind curve. You know in the Islands they blow their horns before those curves (any excuse to make some noise--it's the West Indian way) and I'm ready to start doing the same.
Beep! Beep!
Capt Deb :P
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Thank goodness everyone came out of the ordeal with nothing more than an increased heart rate and a $65.00 towing bill. :o
Hopefully you used your arm deo before heading out to the PO! ;)
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Well, see, that's why I'm not sure I'm up to trying driving yet. I do that walking now, and I'm sure it would be more pronounced driving. I also have the feeling that if an accident happened in front of me, I'd take about 30 seconds longer to figure out what to do about it, meaning I'd be joining them! I've got the list and the delayed reaction thing going.
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Hey there Gennysmom,
Boy, does that bring back a forgotten memory. To know your reaction time is off can be scary.. I was very determined to drive when I started feeling better. I went to Calloways nursery (2miles away) and pretended to be so 'normal'. Didn't work. The man at the check out kept trying to 'help' me and get me out of there. That was back when I looked exhausted after about 5 minutes of doing anything....WOW, I'm doing really good now!!
OH, I told Grace all about Jenny! Time to clean up the sunroom. She is a pig.
Pattibobatti
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Driving is a new art after AN destroys the nerve, I tell my wife I feel like a drunk driving by the police station. Im thinking of every move and staring straight ahead, i dont dare turn my head to fast (when I do its disater) luckly I have new been stopped (im not drunk officer I swear as I fall on my face walking the line), Capt Deb  be careful please lol ;D
Nate
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My driving has vastly improved since surgery. I remember that before my surgery, the second my eyes shifted away from the front - without even turning my head - I'd lose it and start swerving. People would accuse me of being a lousy driver and even laugh at me.
Even though I've always been a good driver.
If there's anything I've learned about human nature it's the propensity for others to diligently search for almost absolutely anything to get a leg up on you, so as to leverage themselves above you so as to feel better about themselves. I had people literally laughing at me even though my life was in danger from having a brain tumor - but that's another story. This dynamic has somewhat forced me to adopt Sun Tsu (The Art Of War) and Machiavelli (The Prince) as my new gospel or bible. It's like what Taylor (Charlton Heston) says to Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) in "Planet Of The Apes": "On this planet, it's easy!".
Am I completely out of the woods since healing up from surgery? NO WAY!! I still have some equilibrium issues and have to be careful!
Especially having total left side deafness which only compounds the difficulty. Things can sneak up on you that you would ordinarily hear coming toward you at a distance. We must remain extra vigilant!
with love and great disillusionment, St. Paul DeBall
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Oh, and Capt'n Deb, I glad you weren't injured in that little mishap you had today. Sometimes, when things like that happen, and nothing really bad happens, it only forces us to be more vigilant and preventative in the future. It's only natural that we let our guard down after long stretches of peace and serenity.
Paul
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Captain Deb,
You been on that ship too long, forgot how to drive a car. I haven't posted in a few days, wew! what a storm I missed. glad I wasn't interviewing for a job with all that lack of professionalism and maturity and all. Now get outa that car since you can't seem to drive it anyhow and back on the ship.
Almost 2 yrs post op, driving is always a challenge. I also live in the mountains, the curvy roads give me instant nausea/vertigo, I have to really concentrate on the driving, no distractions. God forbid my klids should have a squabble in the back seat whil I'm driving. I can't go to far either. I have mad it almost 2 hours this summer on flat interstate hwy. By the time I decided I'd had enough, My brain felt like a hamster running round and round on one of those little runner exercisers in their cages. Although being a passenger is worse than driving.
Patti UT
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Deb OH MY! I had a near miss the other day and it left me shaking and ready to cry! I've def learned to limit my driving to the pharmacy on a clear night and no long distance driving...oh and I never wave to anyone unless my car is stopped! I still laugh about the post op driving test I passed...if I had to turn my head I would have failed miserably and still would LOL The state would take my license away :o( So glad you were not hurt!
Good reminder for us all!
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Thank goodness your ok!!!
On my recent trip to Italy I drove about 700km !!! 8) Some high speed highways to curvy wine country roads, many "normal" people here at work thought I was crazy for doing so ... the secret is .. I have changed the way I drive ... I can't drink, eat, phone, or anything while I'm driving, its like my hands forgot to drive .. I used to be able to look at street signs or glance to my left or right .. I can't seem to do that anymore .. the car starts to wander off :o...very quickly .... otherwise, I'm ok! ..
I think because my sense of balance and where my hands are in relation to my body is difference now since I'm minis one ear ... in much the same way I need to look where I'm walking ... if I walking in a river fishing or something and start to look at my feet .. I get in trouble ... I need the visual frame of reference when I'm driving or walking .. and highway speeds it does not take much!!
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Capt,
 To quote Robert Earl Keen:
Sometimes I don't know what I'm doin'
'Cause sometimes all my days are filled with rain.
As I travel down life's highway, things ain't goin' my way
'Cause there's always someone swervin' in my lane.
CHORUS:
You keep a-swervin' in my lane, and it's causin' lots of danger.
I'm a-honkin' on my horn. I'm a-shootin' you the finger.
I keep a-switchin' on my bright lights, but you're just too dim to know
When you're swervin' on life's highway, you're runnin' someone off the road.
Glad you're OK. Tell your neighbor to quite swervin' in your lane.
Rob
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That was very scary, glad you are OK Deb.ÂÂ
I really miss the relaxation and enjoyment I used to get from driving. Pre-AN I drove everywhere, now I stay fairly close to home and no night driving.
Cheryl
Wonky-headed driver
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Capt. Deb, glad you are shaken, not stirred. I asked my husband for a driver and he said he didn't know I played golf! I picked out a cute one but he said absolutely not. I don't drive anymore than I absolutely have to and on the Gulf Freeway with all of the construction here in Texas, you don't have to have many excuses to stay home! Curvey roads make me homesick and dizzy errrrrrrr dizzier!
Glad you weren't hurt. Be sure to check on the neighbors heart rate!
Brendao ::)
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That sounds really scary Capt Deb- Thank god you are okay. It's been 5 weeks ago today since I had my surgery and I can't wait to drive again. I was always so independent. I wouldn't trust myself for the world to drive right now though. I am concerned about what it will be like though. I always would talk on my cell and eat on occasions. I will just have to change my habits. I have some pretty curvy roads where I live so I will think of you when I start to drive. Be careful driving ;D
Lisa
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Glad to see you are OK.... :)
Sherry
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Whew, that's scary, girl. Glad you're okay and didn't roll over...I feel better when driving, as long as I'm behind the wheel. That's a condition of MdD--motion is better--till I get out of the car.
Go slow on those curves, Capn. So glad you weren't hurt. What would we DOOOO?
love,
Nan (DD)
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Capt Deb,
I'm glad the neighbor was there to help out and you are OK. We've all had near misses, and but for the Grace Of God, I'm still here.
As for driving, I spoke to my ENT during an exam and asked why AN patients have so much trouble with driving, and balance issues. He said a normal person has to have 3 things to have a sense of where the body is in relationship to where the brain thinks it is. Good Eyesight, Good Sense of Touch, and Good Hearing Balance. If you take 1/2 your balance away from the brain due to an AN tumor, that leaves you 2 things left for the brain to compensate your location of where you are. If you take your eyes off the road, now you are left with 1 sensory for your brain to react with and that is your touch. The least of the 3 sensories the brain uses while driving is your touch. It relies mostly on your eyes and your hearing balance.
Thus, ....why I have to focus on the road or my wife slaps the every living daylights out of me when my eyes stray? I enjoy driving by myself as you can see why. Not because I don't have any daily love taps, but because I feel like I'm driving drunk and somehow getting away with it. ;D
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Pre-AN, my hubby and I used to take turns driving everywhere ('cept I made him pump the gas all the time) and now, I let him drive. In fact I don't think I've had a passenger at all in my car post-op. With my bad driving, I don't want that responsibility. Especially with the grandbabies. I used to have a little black sporty stick shift car and we bought a new SUV with the extra special safety package so hubby would feel better about me driving by myself. I turn off the Buffett in traffic and usually drive like the granny that I am!! No left turns w/o traffic light, even if I have to drive around the block a few times. Really disconcerting to hear a siren and not know what to do.
Capt Deb
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Really disconcerting to hear a siren and not know what to do.
Capt Deb
Oh yes, that brings up a point of confusion-how can one know where the siren is coming from without a passenger to tell?
Just today I again appreciated how much better my head feels when driving compared with, say, two years ago. (I'm over three years out)
But no long trips on my own yet.
Lucky you, Capt. with Dr. Love.
Peanut
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Glad you are okay, Capt. Scary situation. When I go to Seattle next month, I will either sit in the back seat or wear a blindfold, what with my "car anxiety", but I'm going anyway.....
Sue
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Hi there! I'm so glad you are okay! We would certainly miss you!!
I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me by admitting this to a group...but I've backed into 2 cars in less than one month. I was a good driver before surgery. But the first time was about 4 weeks ago in broad daylight, when my father-in-law decided to park right behind my garage door. It was in my blind spot... The second time was just this week. I was backing out of a friend's driveway in the dark, and a car was parked on the street, and almost touching the driveway... also in my blind spot. For some reason, I just want to feel normal, like this could happen to anyone.... Do you think this is normal? Is it harder to see in your blind spot after AN surgery??
But it seems now that I've had brain surgery, I have this fear that people will try to pin any mistake I make on having had brain surgery :-[... in some cases they are right... like on Sunday I was at a baby shower, and the hostess was calling for me, and in front of 15 people, I had obvious significant problems figuring out where she was. People laughed, most not knowing I had surgery. But it gave them something to talk about, and I'm sure the subject came up after I left. I just don't want to be labeled, and feeling like people are watching me for every mistake I'm making... I don't always feel this way, but I am recently. Like recently, I forgot something, and told a friend in a group, "my memory is not what it used to be." She immediately is thinking I mean b/c of brain surgery, but what I meant was just a light-hearted joke as I'm 40 now. The social stuff is just a little different now... I guess I'll have to be more careful what I say now...
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Capt Deb,'
You ever hear of divine intervention? Haha I know if something like that happened to me I would definitely think its a miracle of god.
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its a good topic to be mentioned...esp for me. I believe I am taking an on-road drivers test soon..maybe even tommorow. I did pretty well on the other tests. The one was a reactions test, which involved a floor base with 2 pedals simulating a gas and a break. You'd have to step on the gas when its green and when it turned red you would hit the break. Repeat. I also had some scenario's written on a paper with multiple choice answers. I did well on that too. I did fair on my visual exam. Its one of those eye charts with the letters that get harder as you advance in the numbers. I did so-so at first and then a little later on my therapist tells me I might want to have my eyes examed in the near future. He asked me later to read a sign on the window on the other side of the room and it read "happy haloween" and then he took me back to the eye chart and I did so much better. I know my eyes are kinda lousy at times. But I will prob get glasses in the near future.
Anyways, I must say i'm kinda nervous for my on road exam. I havent driven in like 6 months. I'm afraid it won't be like riding a bike and i'll be a little rusty. I'm just nervous about it all. I still have my license but I need cleared for driving. I guess if you fail your on-road test you get your license taken away for six months and at that time you can try again. I mean six-months? They don't even take DUI driver's license's away for that long.
Capt Deb by the way my mother (chrissmom) says hello and she's glad you are ok! Eventhough that was a long time ago, i'm just seeing