Falling to the Right

It was a normal Saturday, or so it seemed. It was actually Labor Day Weekend so I was settling into a three day weekend with Damien and the kids and was getting ready for some down time. One exciting part of our weekend was going to be painting the kitchen (okay, it wasn't exciting at all but I tried to convince myself that it was!). We had prepped the whole kitchen, thrown the kids in front of the television, and were ready to go to work. When I woke up that morning, I didn't feel great. I had a giant headache and just felt kind of heavy. Regardless of how I felt- we had to get this kitchen painted so they could continue the remodel on Tuesday.

I told Damien I would trim out the kitchen (paint the corners and ceiling area) and so we each took our little jobs and started. As I got up on the chair to paint and looked up at the ceiling- I felt like I was falling! It was the strangest sensation. I fell of the chair and actually hurled my paint brush (full of paint) across the kitchen. Lucky for me- it didn't ruin the cabinets or the new appliances! I got some water and tried to relax for a moment. I tried to get back up and paint again but at the same exact moment when I moved my eyes from the floor to the ceiling- I literally felt like I was free falling. Strange. I told Damien we had to switch jobs. This crazy falling feeling happened all day long. I thought maybe I was just exhausted or something.

When I woke up the next morning, though- the sensation was still there and all day long, I fought myself from falling over to the right. Weird! By lunchtime, I was onto my symptoms and looked up vertigo online and sure enough- I had most all the side effects. I took Sudafed and tried to dry myself up but again the next morning- crazy dizziness! On Tuesday I went to the doctor and she told me I had vertigo. I asked desperately how to fix it and she said I couldn't. I just had to wait it out. Excuse me, you must not understand. I have three kids and I need a quick fix. I drive carpool, I do laundry, I carry Matthew around all day, I make meals, I shower (well- not as often as I'd like). My life doesn't stop so I need you to make the vertigo stop! Okay- I didn't say this to her but the thought was racing through my already clouded brain. "You'll just have to wait it out and I hope that you have some relief by the weekend." she said. Seven more days of this? Ahhhhhh! She gave me a prescription for anti-dizziness medication but wouldn't you know . . . it causes drowsiness. Just what I needed. I took it for two days but after realizing that it didn't take away my dizziness and just made me sleepy on top of everything else- it needed to go!

The doctor was right. My vertigo didn't lift until after day number eight. Eight days of having to go through the motions and keep up with life- because life certainly didn't stop or slow down for me. Getting sick is the hardest part of being a Mom. And to make matters worse- you don't look sick when you have vertigo. You can still look cute, still look put together, still look normal when everything you are feeling is the exact opposite of normal. I seriously suffered and it was in this moment that I told myself that the stomach flu would've been better. Not that I want the stomach flu- but you know what I mean. I survived the dreaded vertigo but am terrified of ever having it again.