SIERNS AND THE ER

August 13, 2012

The morning of my scheduled 2 PM flight home I awoke vomiting and dizziness at 7 am. By 1 pm my son was taking me to the doctors since I was getting dehydrated and could not stop vomiting. He also cancelled my flight. Next thing I remember was a ride in an ambulance and getting stuck with IV's as we raced to the emergency room at a very popular beach resort. In the ER I noticed all the hospital gurneys around the nurses' station where parking spaces were numbered. I was amazed since it was a Wednesday afternoon. I asked one of the nurses what was going on. His response was it is always this crazy.

About 10 pm I was admitted to the hospital. I had been administered anti-nausea and anti-vertigo medicine so I just slept the first 24 hours. It took a couple of days to get my appetite back. I was glad I did because the food tasted really good, especially the seafood. After being seen by three different doctors the diagnosis was vertigo. There are different types of vertigo. I have a vestibular neuritis. This is an inflammation of the inner ear. I also had a Migraine Associated Vertigo. Since I had not really had a migraine since I was divorced I asked why! I rarely get the "sick" headache where I need a cold cloth or low light level room. According to the ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor even a history of migraines can be an under lying trigger. About 35% of migraine patients have some vestibular syndrome at one time or another.

Vestibular dysfunction and migraine headaches can be caused by the same environmental and food triggers, hormonal fluctuations and weather changes (biometric pressure) can exacerbate both conditions. Symptoms of vertigo that I experienced included dizziness involving room spinning, intolerance of movement around you (people, television) sensitivity to light and noise. I was in a room by myself across from the nurses' station. I was grateful for the earplugs someone brought. Medication controlled the nausea and vomiting.

Balance was a real issue so I had to use a walker. Another issue was brain fog. I was not having any headaches but my brain felt like it had blown up like a balloon.

My son brought me a lovely bouquet of flowers and my grandchild a sweet get well card. After three and ½ days in the hospital I was transferred to a rehab center. About this time my grandchild became ill with similar symptoms of nausea, vomiting, dizziness and sensitivity to light. My son decided that we both had the same thing----- a viral infection.

All I know was that it took me another 3-4 days before I could tolerate light or watch TV and not feel nauseous all the time. Plus I was at least 12 hours from home and my car was at my brother's house. Then I had another 2 ½ hour drive home.

I was treated well and worked hard in Physical Therapy because being couped up in a room 24 hours per day sucked. My bed was next to a window and I could see some grass and a pine tree. But there was no air conditioner in the room. My roommate was 97 years old and would talk your ear off. She had some deafness so she would blast the TV. The aids got her to turn it down. I quickly discovered she talked in her sleep. I lost one of the ear plugs during the transfer from the hospital. Rehab did not have any so I stuck the ear plug in one ear and my pillow in the other ear. My son brought me some clean clothes and my favorite grapes.

By the third day in rehab I was being pressed by my son to get out of the place. He said I didn't belong there. The day before he had told me to make a list of things I needed and he would bring them to me. Then my son determined I did not have migraine associated vertigo but a virus. Since my grandchild was better I should be better. He told me I just wanted to stay in the Rehab center and have someone take care of me.