Late Stage Meniere's Disease

Image there is a guy with a leaf blower going full blast in front of you.  That's what it feels like to me in a crowd of people all talking at once.  Now imagine that, on the other side of the leaf blower, there is a person trying to communicate with you one-on-one.  You can hear the words only if you strain your brain and concentrate.  But as the crowd gets louder so does the "leaf blower."  So you find yourself just wanting to escape to a quiet place.

This is my world.  My Meniere's disease has settled into constant tinnitus, sometimes worse than others.  It seems like an oxymoron to have half my hearing gone but my biggest problem is noise.  It exhausts my body and my brain on a daily basis.

On the other hand, the vertigo and other symptoms have quieted down.

I have chosen this situation rather than one last highly invasive procedure - that may or may not work.

So, how's my spirit?  It's good.  I get up every day, put on make up, comb my hair and live this one fantastic life I've been given.  It helps me immensely to be around positive, funny people,  some of whom are going through way worse things than I am.  And not a week goes by that I don't hear from a person who has vertigo.  "What should I do?"  "Get a diagnosis!  Vertigo is a symptom. "

I'm still loving my devotional, "The Sun Still Rises," by Leonor Tubbs Tisdale, professor of homiletics at Yale Divinity School.  Much of the readings are about how she dealt with her cancer diagnosis and treatment.  It's hard hitting but positive.

That's what I want to be.


***