I got up again just before noon, got myself ready and walked to the bus stop. Taxi's are expensive and I already have my myki all loaded up so I figured that catching the bus was the most sensible option. I certainly still didn't feel up to driving. Luckily the doctor's office is on the same bus route so it was relatively painless and I made sure to cross at the lights to minimise how much head checking I had to do while walking.
I arrived at Brandon Park a good two hours before my appointment so I had some lunch, wandered aimlessly about KMart looking at Lego and DVDs (I bought Rango). And then went to the doctor's office. This doctor's office is a bulk-billing clinic so as you would imagine they are constantly running behind. I arrived an hour early for my appointment and the receptionist exclaimed this. "Yes," I replied calmly, "but I'd like to be seen on time so I've arrived early to ensure I'm ahead of anyone who wanders in without an appointment between now and then".
I wasn't at my most polite, but I was correct! An hour later at 2:37pm I was in with the doctor. She checked my ear canals, my pulse and blood pressure, my chest and breathing, made sure I had to hearing loss or tinnitus, and checked how and when I was experiencing the dizziness and/or spinning. I was quite pleased with how thorough a job she seemed to be doing.
The diagnoses in the end was benign positional vertigo (BPV) which is tippified by spinning during sudden movements of the head. It's often caused by a viral ear infection, though there can be multiple causes, and there isn't a cure as such, but she was confident my particular case would clear up on its own and she gave me a prescription for Stemetil (prochlorperazine) to aid with the dizziness symptoms.
She said to discontinue it immediately if I noticed any of my face muscles seizing up (yikes, not so much a side-effect as it is an effect!) and to come back and see her if it wasn't cleared up by Monday. The next steps if it doesn't clear up on its own are a tilt-table test and an MRI, neither of which is to be hoped for but it's nice to know what the options are if things don't improve.
I made my way home on a bus that was swiftly crammed with bloody high school students. It wasn't all bad though, being unsteady on your feet in a moving vehicle is a lot easier when you are packed in like a sardine. No where to fall really. When I got home I ordered a part for my computer online, then settled on the couch with dinner to watch Strictly Ballroom. It had definitely been a while since I'd seen that one. It was just as sweet and funny.
I couldn't sleep again, having slept most of the morning away, and still being pretty dizzy as the Stemetil seemed to have a limited effect, so I found myself in an old chat room haunt. It was good to catch up with a few old chat friends and nice to have pleasant chatter feeding back to me. The good thing about most chat rooms is you get insta-friends and insta-sympathy. I recognise that it's not always sincere, but it can be very comforting if you are feeling rotten. I felt ready to sleep by about 2am so off I trundled to my waiting Pengi, another great comfort.
Today's food was:
- Lunch was a toasted chicken strip foccacia containing two chicken strips halved lengthways, cheese, tomato and spinach, followed by a passionfruit and white chocolate scone from Baker's Delight.
- Dinner was a Turkish burger from the Kebab Joint containing, mildly spiced mine meat with traditional herbs and spices served with caramelized onions, tomato, lettuce and tomato sauce, followed by a chocolate brownie.
Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. I'm supposed to be doing my Run for the Kids on Sunday morning but goodness knows how I'll go now. Please donate to Team Layla anyway if you would like to support the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday appeal as it is a great cause, and big thanks to those of you who have donated already.
Jess
Update: It is now Saturday morning and I am still dizzy when I move my head sharply, but otherwise things have definitely improved!
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