Ménière you bastard

Hart Brachen, site author in absentia:
Hart here riding life's trolley …

So as unbelievable as it was to see the Red Sox win not one but two World Series in the past 4 years, the medical-related events the past month in my own life are equally astonishing. Click on the "Author's Notes" link below for more detail.

 

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Author's Notes

First let me say I feel weird once again turning the Soxaholix site into a personal diary. But it feels more right to do so than just going AWOL on you without an explanation.

So my wife was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon and then we went to the office of the infectious disease doctor to learn how to administer the IV antibiotics at home.

Meanwhile, earlier that morning, I'd had a couple brief bouts with a sudden onset of vertigo. Actually had one while I was typing out Friday's strip and had to grab hold of the desk to prevent myself from falling over.

However, I just chalked this up to an isolated anomaly and didn't think much more of it. I felt pretty much fine the rest of day, though "around the edges" of my head there was something not quite right, but it was minor, so didn't dwell on it.

Also on Friday, my wife's dad and stepmom came into to town to help out for the weekend. We spent Friday evening at home relaxing and talking about how great it was for my wife to be home and for everything to be proceeding so nicely at last.

On Friday night, or actually very early Saturday morning, I got up to go to the bathroom and crashed into a wall then fell down, completely unable to balance with the room just flipping around wildly in my eyes… I then began to vomit something awful.

This attack subsided and I was able to get back into bed, though if I tilted my head to the left, I heard a very loud whir/thump sound very much like the sound of getting a flat tire. And if I tilted my head to the right, it sounded like I was in a beehive.

Then, when I tried to get up around 7am the whole scene repeated. At this point my wife (who can barely walk herself) insisted that my father in law take me to the E.R.

I vomited a couple times on the way there and then that attack somewhat subsided, too.

Long story short, I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease.

It's basically a problem with a fluid imbalance in the middle ear. There is no cure. It may come and go. You may only get it once and then never again. You may be stuck with it forever until you lose your hearing in the ear with the problem.

The doc gave me an Rx for some motion sickness meds and said that most people return to normal in 3 days.

The rest of Saturday I was inert. Just couldn't move w/o getting sick, dizzy etc. We were starting to get anxious thinking how can I take care of wife if I can't even walk, let alone drive.

By Sunday, though, I was doing much better. Just some dizziness if I moved to quickly up/down or side-to-side. My wife's dad and stepmom left, but if anything went wrong with me they would return.

This morning, thankfully, day 3, I feel completely normal. Though I'm paranoid as hell that it'll come back without warning.

I'm pretty sure the onset of this middle ear problem is due to diet and stress of the past month. While my wife was in the hospital my diet definitely changed. I ate way, way more fast food, and way more takeout than I ever have in my life. Also I had many times where I just skipped meals altogether for lack of appetite. On top of that, there were nights where I drank way more than I should of. And then there was the ongoing stress.

So there you have it. At least I haven't had Bob's gout. (Knock on wood.)

Comments

[BK]

Pad your desk, cowboy up, and get back to work!

[BK]

Seriously, take it easy, and plenty of well wishes. We can patch the lineup and muddle through April/May, but will hope to have your wit and allusions back full time come September/October.

Good health to you and Mrs. HB.

[DUFF]

hang in there, hb! (and mrs.)

[soxaholicduke]

Dear HB,

Please get better! It's terrible that someone who brings so much joy to others can have so much go wrong all at once. I'm gonna have to give karma a swift kick in the pants to right this, immediately! The best to you and Mrs. HB.

[spuddybuddy]

take care man, and get better soon.
take a break from soxaholix for as long as you need.
best wishes,
mark

[Shox NZ]

I'm working to operate my very own website yet I believe its as well standard and I would like to concentrate much more on smaller tips. Becoming all items to all most people is not really all that its crumbled as much as be.