SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

Y’all. I swear I must have been some kind of awful person in a past life or else we built our house on an ancient burieal ground or some shit. I know y’all aren’t used to me cussing a lot but my speech therapist told me cussing decreases frustration and helps me find th word I’m looking for.

On August 5 I fell. I was getting in the bed and i missed. If that isn’t the stupidest thing ever… well, actually it’s not even the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. But it’s way up there. Anyway, my bed is high. I fell about 4 feet, landed on my well padded ass and smacked the back of my head on the wall. Laughed it off. Played "find the bruise" all week. Then I fell again last Sunday. Just bad vertigo that hit and JM made me go to Urgent Care. They did a CT that showed nothing, gave me some fioricet and sent me home. Over the next 3 days I developed worst vertigo I’ve ever had, headache since August 5 that would not quit, emotional lability that has me just bursting into tears for no reason at all. Then double vision and my favorite "fun feature" is that when I’m talking, I’ll just suddenly draw a blank and can’t think of the word I want. I can talk around it but the damn word won’t come.

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve fallen, how many bruisers. I have a lovely shiner on my left eye.

So I’m out of work now indefinitely. I can’t drive because the whole
Double vision thing is apparently very dangerous. I’m driving along, I see 2 cars, one of which is in my lane and idk which one is real. I also got lost going to my Dr office which is 4 miles away a.

So… here’s where I’m
At. Out of work. I have maybe 4 days of time off accrued since my surgery. ST disability is a 15 day
elimination period. Idk if that’s the damn word I need but that’s what I’m going with. We are trying to save our house from foreclosure and have exactly encough for that thanks to my FIL. But we can’t go
2 weeks without a paycheck.

Y’all just pray please. For my scrambled brain to unscramble. There is a MAJOR change happening with my job on October 1 and I already missed the training because of the stupid respiratory virus I had.
Maybe it’s just time to retire an let ‘em have the damn house. We can always move in with my batshit crazy mother.

I'm so sorry all of this has hit you at once. There is an end to the chaos I'm sure amd I'm praying it happens soon.

Sending big hugs.

This is a prime example of WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE.

You Definitely have a full plate!! I am so sorry you are going through all of that. Any way to get more tests done?? Sounds as if that is definitely needed.

Sending positive thoughts your way!

Oh my goodness. Sending mojo for brain unscrambling. Ugh - vertigo is awful!

My pcp has ordered an MRI With contrast. That’s important because it shows stuff the others misss.

HFSSC - I am so sorry you are dealing w/ Vertigo on top of everything else. That's just one more added fun factor. Please please, have someone do an Eply maneuver on you to see if you possibly moved the crystals in your inner ear about when you smacked your head. I suspect that you are dealing w/ 2 separate issues. As someone who deals w/ folks that have falls, concussions, and vertigo on a regular basis it certainly is not unheard of. A few sessions of vestibular training may help you bunches.
In the meantime, rest, eat healthy, drink lots of water. Be kind to you.

When is the last time you had a vision exam?

There are vision issues that can cause problems with depth perception, double vision, vertigo. If the MRI doesn’t come up with anything conclusive I recommend vision as your next step. Just make sure they do the retinal scan.

I’m sorry, it seems you just can’t catch a break.

Oh, this sucks!

And I definitely believe that it does NOT belong in the "stupid things I did" category.

I pray you will find out what is happening and can put an end to it. What a shitty last few months,eh?

I was going to suggest an MRI. Your symptoms sound like mine before I was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari in 2007. I’m glad you’re able to save the house, that’s a big relief. Take it one day at a time. The MRI will show what’s going on. I’m having my annual one Friday. Praying for both of us.

@HFSSC - what an awful series of experiences, but we all know, that doesn't make you an awful person (and I think you already know that).

I LOVED reading what your speech therapist said about cussing. Explains a lot about my own language, although I try to limit it in front of other people.

Your noggin must have been hit pretty hard to scramble it up that much. You are such a busy bee that it must be incredibly frustrating to rest, especially given the recent time you had to take off for your foot issues.

When is your MRI? I'm sure you are an excellent advocate for yourself and will do whatever is necessary to get to the bottom of it.

Just updating. Thank you all for the well wishes and suggestions.

My MRI with contrast is on Thursday. All of the other scans have been without contrast. So we'll see what that shows. I saw my ENT and eye Dr on Tuesday. My menieres disease has just gone haywire so it's hard to know what is coming from the concussion and what from the Meniere's. My left ear is constantly ringing. The last few days it has been so loud it is painful and I can basically not hear anything on that side. So the ENT put me on a diuretic and something new for the vertigo.

The eye Dr feels my brain is just overwhelmed from the concussion and visual stimuli. I was wearing mono focal contacts with my left eye for close vision and right eye for distance. So he put me in contacts just for distance and I have readers for close up. That at least has stopped all the floaters and little explody things in my peripheral vision.

I've been summoned to a "mandatory" meeting with my DON and HR because I was "making calls and expressing concerns about my options." And to discuss the "requirements for my return and expectations of my duties when I return." I have never heard of anyone else being called in like this so I'm equal parts apprehensive and pissed.

HFSSC,
Sending good mojo for next week. Enjoy this weekend and take care of yourself.

Just wanted to update in case anyone was wondering. My concussion symptoms are finally almost gone. I still am getting bad headaches once or twice a week, but all of the other stuff—vertigo, visual disturbances, word finding difficulty and agnosia has resolved. I don’t think I posted about this, but in the middle of dealing with that I had an episode of horrible abdominal pain along with diarrhea and bleeding. Ended up with an urgently scheduled colonoscopy which found a couple of polyps and resolving colitis. That’s finally better now a well. I saw my pcp yesterday and I’ll see neurologist on Tuesday with my return to work being 10/2. Yay.

Thank you all for the prayers and good thoughts. They mean a lot to me. ❤️

How did your mandatory meeting with HR go? Please don’t tell me they are considering your missing work to be nonessential.

So glad you are feeling better.
Continue to make you the priority and care for yourself. You are gonna get exhausted quickly and that will make those headaches come raging back.
Water and rest and good nutrition. Rinse repeat.