Weekends, Vertigo, and Marriage

I had so many plans for this week.  We kick of baseball practice, Gracie has gymnastics, our Cub Scout den is meeting on Tuesday, my classroom is active this week – none of these things work well with vertigo.  Oy.  I’ve had vertigo for the past three days.  It’s been tolerable, but frustrating.  Vertigo can present itself in different ways for different people.  Mine happens to come in the form of feeling like you are wearing broken 3D glasses.  My eyes feel like they move about .5 seconds after my head turns.  And when they move, I can feel them tracking.

Head turn.  Tick, tick, tick, oh, yes.  We are looking left now.

Head turn.  Tick, tick, tick, oh, yes.  We are looking right now.

It’s kind of like when you are watching a movie or TV show and the sound doesn’t match up with the video.  You know how that’s the most annoying thing ever?  Well, it’s worse when it’s vertigo.  It makes me feel loopy and off-balance and like I might throw up at any moment, though I don’t.  It has come in fits and starts for the past three days, and usually would settle down if I sat down.  Closing my eyes helps with the vertigo, but it makes me sick on my stomach.

So, yeah.  I’ve been a peach.

I went to school this morning, feeling pretty good.  Yesterday afternoon wasn’t terrible and, except for some slight spinning, I wasn’t too bad.  But I guess that’s because I was sitting on my couch all afternoon.  I got to school this morning and made it right up until the bell rang and kids started filing in my classroom before realizing, “Wow!  I turn my head around a lot when I’m teaching!”

Uh, duh.

So, I called my doctor, called Chris to come drive me, and headed out to see what was going on inside this head of mine.  The last time I had vertigo for this long, I ended up in the hospital with a TIA (mini-stroke thingy – not pleasant – don’t recommend one).  Thankfully, that’s not what we are dealing with this time.  Apparently, it’s a virus in my inner ear that’s giving me the spins.  I’m all pumped up with three prescriptions and am waiting for the “tick-tick-ticking” to stop.  Hope it happens soon.

For now, take a look at these adorable pictures of my family from this past weekend that make it look like I was happy, healthy, and having a fantastic time.  Don’t you love pictures?  They can make you look PERFECT when all you really want to do is pass out or throw up.

(Teaching Bean how to flick straws. An important life skill…)

(Gracie painting giant flowers in her room “like Georgia O’Keefe.”)  (Also, I’d like an award for not losing my shit as soon as I saw her PAINTING WITHOUT SUPERVISION IN HER BEDROOM.)

(Bike riding with the kids and one of their friends on Saturday afternoon.) (Or was is Sunday?) (Either way, give Chris an award while we are at it because he was on his rollerblades with Daisy, with his life flashing before his eyes every time she saw a squirrel.)

(Breakfast at a diner downtown, where I had eggs benedict with TOMATOES on them and it blew my mind because it was so good and I DON’T EVEN LIKE TOMATOES!) (Also, Bean and Chris need haircuts, but Chris’s hair girl, who he has loyally followed all over town for seven years, has finally moved somewhere that is completely difficult to get to and he is protesting by not getting his hair cut and anytime I mention it he just says, “IT’S JILLA’S FAULT!” and sulks away. I’m getting ready to call Jilla and ask her if she’ll do a house visit. Or I’m going to cut Chris’s hair while he is sleeping. Jury’s still out.)

If I were taking a picture of my marriage right now, I would post this one (actually, I already did on Instagram!).  Isn’t it sweet.  The two of us hanging out on a Friday night in our backyard after the kids have gone to bed.  I’m laying in my hammock (FYI: Not great for vertigo.) and Chris and sitting next to me and we are talking about our days together.  So lovey dovey.

In actuality, Chris and I are horrible when I am under the weather.  I’m pissy because I am dependent on other people, and yet I still want Chris to coddle me like a little baby because I don’t feel good.  Basically, I’m like a wet cat.  Similarly, Chris wants to take care of me until I feel better, but he’s actually pretty pissy because he has to take on all the crap I can’t do with vertigo (like dishes – did you ever think about how often your head moves around when you’re doing dishes!  It’s the WORST!  Well, maybe not as bad as not being able to drive, actually…).  He’s like a wet cat, too.  So, we just walk around the house, snipping passive aggressively at each other, and snuggling.

It’s the weirdest.  We’re the weirdest.  Don’t be like us.

#downwithvertigo