Hello out there in AN world. It is a different world we live in when symptomatic. I had a roller coaster weekend, but it was a kiddie roller coaster. Saturday was the best day I had in months, and on prednisone - whoa!
I DID overdo it that night. Our family was invited to a 3 year old's birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza! He had 2 long table dedicated to him in a sea of 3 - 6 year olds also having birthday parties. Colorful lights, colorful character balloons, kids running and screaming, me trying to socialize with the really neat adults I don't know well. There was a din of off key "Happy Birthday!'s" being sung. Pizza was slung, BBQ spicy wings flew, cake and ice cream were plentiful. The room is multiple colors and shapes. Everything s packed in pretty tight and the stable visual stimulus I need so badly for balance just was not there. Instead I looked at chaos and tried to find stablility on the waves of dizziness.
Then the sounds above were unreal - I did sit near the end of the table near the edge of the room, but I was on the WRONG side. My bad almost useless ear faced the noise. I couldn't hear anything anyone said behind me. The sounds I heard in that ear were like New Years Eve noise makers being shaken, rattled and whistled in that ear...loud! I finally switched sides and could again hear with my good ear and somewhat protect my bad ear from the interference. I plan to take ear plugs for that ear so that surrounding noise doesn't distort into confusion in my head. We drove an hour each way to get there through town and an 2 hours at the party. During the drive on the way home, the long shadows on the road, the cars whizzing this way and that all became an amplified mess to my dizziness.
Soooo Sunday, I imitated a drunken slug and took it easy in our quiet restful home. I did get in some laps in the pool at last and I realize that I feel perfectly NORMAL there. I am not afraid of being dizzy, I can't fall. The water supports me beautifully.
Yesterday I stayed home and I did okay. Then we had one outing and until it got worse later I was fine. It didn't pay the toll The birthday party did and I am feeling good again today.
I was dizzy before my CK. I think it measured about 26% on that side. When the swelling hit, it worsened. After being on the prednisone it is back to the level of before. I start vestibular therapy this week, so we shall see. Most likel :-\y I will have my cochlea destroyed and use a Baha. My functional hearing is 20% and that part is hardly functional in my mind. If that is destroyed, I will have a set point to get used to the balance loss at a set point. Right now it vascilates and when I adjust to one level through exercises, it changes, just to do it again. This has been going on the last 2 months.
The other thing I notice is pain most likely where the AN is. It isn't intolerable at all, a couple of tylenol takes care of it. I do feel a little more tired, but it was only one week ago yesterday that the CK was done. I suppose if I had stayed with the 3 doses, it might have been gentler on my system, but I had no more hearing to save and wanted it over. I won't second guess that because I am functioning. I am not my old self, but I haven't been the same since the AN symptoms started about a year ago. I am still so glad I chose this way.
Take care all! You are important in my life. You do not know how very much the support helps. This is so weird to the non-AN world and it is great to have others to talk to.
Hugs!
Mary
And BIG HUGZZZZZZZZZZZ to you, Guess Who
