vertigo…

This word didn’t mean very much to me a few weeks ago, but it has come to mean something suddenly. A week ago today I had the life scared out of me. Ron came home from a week of travel feeling a little achy…maybe a touch of the flu. Sunday morning he rose early to get Tyler to hockey for 8:30. Hunter and I were still in bed….it being ‘spring forward’ time change and all.
Suddenly, the phone rang. It was a parent from the arena calling to tell me that Ron was throwing up and dizzy and could I come pick him up and take him to the hospital. I said I would be there in 10 minutes. I quickly pulled on some clothes and told Hunter to get up and get dressed. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I called my neighbour Dan to ask if he could take the kids for me because I had to take Ron to the hospital. Then I ran for the car. As I was backing out of the garage, I saw Dan running out of his garage. He wanted to know if he could follow me to the arena to get the kids. I said sure and took off. When I arrived at the arena, a hockey parent was standing outside with Ron propped against the side of the arena, throwing up. I pulled up and we put him in the backseat. Dan pulled up behind me and took Hunter and went inside to get Tyler off the ice. I drove to the hospital and Ron threw up the whole way. I was trying to keep calm, but I had a lot of thoughts running through my head…. aneurysm??? heart attack??? I pulled up to the emerge door. Ron said he couldn’t walk, so I ran for a wheelchair. I pushed him inside and he was “triaged” fairly quickly. The doctor who came to see Ron was the only doctor I happen to know in this city. His children attend the same school as our children. I have also heard that he is an excellent doctor. He diagnosed Ron with an inner ear infection, which causes the mixed up signals to the brain, resulting in the vertigo and vomiting. So after they gave him some anti-nauseau medication, they sent us home about 3 hours later. After the medication took effect, he could at least walk and talk. I got him home and put him to bed. An inner ear infection is not something that is treated with antibiotics. It resolves itself over time with rest and reduced activity and it can take anywhere from a few days to weeks for full recovery. So Ron took the week off and he was pretty much flat on his back for 4 days. He is feeling better and is thinking of going back to work tomorrow. We are feeling very lucky and grateful that it was not something more serious. We have heard of people who are off work for 2 months with this viral infection. Later in the week, Tyler came down with a touch of the flu. So I spent the week sleeping on the sofa with very little restful sleep and the week passed by in the blink of an eye. But everyone seems on the mend now. It’s times like this that we miss having family around, but we are grateful for wonderful friends like Dan who came to help us immediately.