Once the clinic was open, I called my doctor to make an appointment. She informed me that I was experiencing vertigo. She said it happens to people sometimes, recommended rest and plenty of fluids, and sent me on my way. Later that night, I attempted to go to sleep. As soon as I tried to crawl into my bed, the room started to spin around me again. I couldn't lie down to go to sleep, so I propped myself up in a chair with a footrest and, for the next few months, that's how I slept.
After a while, the vertigo continued to get the best of me. So I went back to my doctor, and she recommended that I go to an ENT (ear, nose throat doctor) in the area. I made an appointment with him. After an examination, he informed me that he believed that I had a condition called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). This condition brings on vertigo when the head is placed in certain positions. For me, it was the right side. He gave me some exercises to do at home to correct the problem and sent me home.
More time passed and the exercises weren't helping. I made another appointment with the ENT. He referred me to another ENT in the Portland area. This ENT decided that he wanted to do some vestibular testing. For two hours, I was spun around, had water rushed into my ear, and did my best not to lose my lunch. All of that testing again pointed to BPPV. The Portland ENT recommended that I see a highly specialized ENT at OHSU. I desperately hoped that, after two years, he could give me some answers.
For the fourth time, I told my story of spinning. More testing. More medical imaging. More vestibular therapy. More exercises to try at home. Nothing was working. I was so done with all of this. The ENT suggested a surgical correction. At this point, I had been spinning for almost two and a half years and I was desperate to have my life back. In May of 2009, they did some work on the inner ear on my right side, plugging a canal so that crystals in my ear, which are a part of how we balance, can't move to the wrong spot and cause vertigo. It was a day surgery and I went home with high hopes that I was finally cured.
The recovery was a little rough, but I made it through. I noticed mild improvements, convincing myself that it would get better as time marched on. It did get better, but there were still remnants of the spinning that just never seemed to go away.
Fast forward four years...July 2013 to be exact. I was attempting to meet with clients at work, but I could not get off the tilt-a-whirl. I left early and tried anything I could to make it stop, but it just wouldn't. I made an appointment with my doctor, who referred me to an ENT. He didn't seem sure of what to do, but he gave me some motion sickness medication to tame the nausea associated with the vertigo and sent me home, telling me to call back in a month if nothing had improved.
In that month, I was with someone who was opening a box. As they ripped the cardboard, I screamed. The sheer volume sent me into a horrendous bout of vertigo. The next day, I made another appointment with the ENT. He sent me to the best ENT my insurance could offer without an outside referral. Here we go again...
It was late fall or early winter by this point. For the seventh time, I told my story. This time...it felt different. She explained to me a two different conditions she believed I could have...Meniere's Disease or Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome. She ordered a specialized image of my head and more vestibular testing.
A few weeks after all the testing had been done, the ENT called me. She had finally received everything for review and was referring me to a specialist at OHSU. He was a neuro-otologist...someone specializing in the ear-brain connection. It took three months to get in to see him, but it seemed worth the wait.
For the eighth, and hopefully final time, I told my story. They did a thorough exam, asked me quite a few questions, and reviewed my images with me. "You have a condition called Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome." The correction...surgery. I was able to ask questions, he gave me the run down. I wanted to move forward. He explained to me that I would need to meet with the neurosurgeon to make it official and put in the referral.
As I was driving away from OHSU, my phone rang. It was the neurosurgeon's office. An appointment was scheduled and, two weeks and a full page of questions later, I was waiting to meet with the neurosurgeon. He explained the procedure and patiently answered all my questions. I knew that I was ready to be done. I knew that this was not the quality of life I was meant to have. So I scheduled the surgery.
It's still about a month and a half before the surgery, so there's obviously some anxiety, but I feel surprisingly at peace. It's time for this chapter to close. It's time for the amusement park attendant to pull the lever and tell me it's finally my time to get off the tilt-a-whirl.
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