Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Program Notes

The good news: I'm alive. And, as a result of the cervical stenosis operation, I'm a half inch taller; call it 5'10".

The bad news: I still can't dunk. Plus I had a major scare last week. By the weekend of the 22nd, I started feeling motion sick. On Monday, I was dizzy and nauseated. Felt like being seasick on land--even when flat on my back, much less walking. I could count the periodicity of the waves. Monday and Tuesday, I left work by noon.

Then Wednesday, it got worse yet. Even stretched out on the floor with my eyes shut, I started slurring my words. I knew what that meant, so called my primary MD and asked "Could this be something other than a stroke?" He said, "Could be labyrinthitis, but go to ER now." So I flagged a cab.

I'll spare you the details of the next 30 hours at the hospital. Suffice it to say that (more good news) the CAT scan and MRI were negative.

My GP's quick guess turned out to be the final probable diagnosis. I'd never heard of labyrinthitis before. Yet, a friend of mine turns out to have had it last week--I haven't seen her in person; the point is that it may be "going around" right now.

I looked up the symptoms, and my case appears to have been unusually severe. Yet since then, I've heard of others with comparably severe cases. Those with worse experiences say it doesn't fully go away for three weeks.

I was back at work for half days this Monday and Tuesday. We'll see how it goes. Resuming posting here may take a while.

8 comments:

May_K said...

Hopefully the labyrinthitis is just temporarily there. Get well soon!

Bob Cosmos said...

Fortunately, Carl posted this video of his trip to the hospital.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoI57NeMwCc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

KitWistar said...

Welcome back, Carl.

I empathise, having had labrynthinitis---its like the sea voyage from hell, actually. Yea, 2+ weeks sounds about right...

OBloodyHell said...

WB. Carl, your presence has been sorely missed. Hope to see your level hand back in the mix soon.

A_Nonny_Mouse said...

Good to know you're making progress, and that you still intend to keep on posting!

Yay!

Bob Cosmos said...

Whoever bob in la is, I can't wade through his drivel. Pleeze come back soon, your effuse emit not an unpleasant odor.

Lame-R said...

dam glad it wasn't as bad as it could've been!

Anonymous said...

Roy said:
I liked bob. But glad Carl healing. Expect to see some medical metaphors, maybe something about pain or dizziness, in his political analysis.