While I had some dissapointing news this week, I also had a surprising sign of great recovery from my 7/14/10 surgery. My husband and I attended an evening Bar Mitzvah party last weekend - in this part of the country they can be quite elaborate. Hubby peeked into the main room during cocktail hour and thought for sure I would not make it for more than a few minutes in there. Picture this, balance challenged friends: a huge dance floor composed of giant black and white checkerboard squares; disco ball lights flashing above,AND in the front of the room, and generally dim lighting everywhere else. Also later, add in fult-tilt volume from the DJ; 50 unruly 13 year olds; and another 100 celebrating adults to the Ultimate Vestibular THerapy Challenge!!!! He made me go in to just check it out before we HAD to go in. I'll tell you - two months ago I think I would have vomited &/or fallen over from the visual stimulation - er over-stimulation. But, amazingly - once I got my bearings I did just fine. Danced alot and had a great time. We even tried swing dancing again - something we love but haven't had the chance to do since surgery. Well, we won't win any contests, but I was happy to not fall over even with a few spins. My only lesson to learn of the evening was to remember to keep my eyes open at all times. Never realized that I have the tendency to close them at times while dancing; now that has a funny effect. Luckily there were so many people drinking too much that I probably didn't seem out of place stumbling and stepping on toes.
I really felt happy knowing that I could enjoy this party fully. A few months ago I would have been skeptical of that! I know not everyone is as fortunate to have this kind of recovery - but I thought it would be helpful to others to know that it is possible.