An Invincible Summer - A Woman's Journey

Last night, out of the blue, an old acquaintance came to visit.  It’s been two years and one day since the last big homecoming. That time, it was a long time before leaving and I lived in dread, wondering if an exit would ever take place.  The old friend? A dizzying case of vertigo. A trip to the hospital resulted in a  “go home and sleep it off”. That time I could not tell up from down and, to be honest, it seems like that case did some damage somewhere deep inside my brain. I never went back to normal, staying just a little off kilter to varying degrees. After about a month, I could drive and work again as long as I was careful.  It’s more manageable today but it is not remotely fun.  This time, I’m not borrowing trouble, fretting about how long it will last or how bad will it get. I will, for the moment, stay in the moment. Ask me tomorrow and may have a different answer but for now I’m choosing to be sort of ok. 

I have Ménière's (sounds like men ears) disease. According to Wikipedia:  Ménière's disease  is a disorder of the  inner ear  that usually affects both  hearing  and  balance . It is characterized by episodes of  vertigo  and by fluctuating or permanent  tinnitus  and  hearing loss . The condition affects people differently. It can range in intensity from being a mild annoyance to a disabling disease. It is similar to many other conditions so a  differential diagnosis  is important. [2] Mine is what I would call way more than a mild annoyance and far less than disabling. Vertigo episodes occur very few and far between and are short lived. That being said, it is a vertigo like none I had ever experience. I am not just dizzy, I simply cannot tell up from down as everything spins in front of my eyes. I would liken it to being strapped at the waist to the center point of a water wheel that just keeps spinning or...