Visiting the Doctor

I went to the doctor recently.  This was a major milestone for me as I really don't like going to the doctor.  I woke up one morning feeling nauseous and experiencing severe vertigo.  The vertigo seemed to be the cause of the nausea and it seemed to be isolated to particular head positions.  It was at its worst when I was lying down.  Once I sat up, the room stopped spinning.

I had a bout of positional vertigo about a decade ago that felt like this.  At the time, the doctor warned me that I may be susceptible to the condition in the future.  That morning, I figured that was what was happening.  No need to see the doctor - nothing to do but tough it out until my body adjusts.

For the next couple of days, I woke up feeling nauseous and dizzy but gradually felt better as the day wore on.  Everything was going according to plan.  Then on the third day, I woke up feeling okay.  As I lay in bed, I thought it odd that I would recover so quickly - much more quickly than the last time.  At that point I reasoned that I must have been suffering from something else, an inner ear infection, perhaps.  Whatever, I was all better.  At least, until I got out of bed.  It turns out the vertigo-inducing position had shifted.  Now, if I bowed my head slightly, the room spun out of control.

Luckily, I live in a culture where bowing is not a common occurrence.  If I had been, say, in Japan, I would have been completely incapacitated.  Instead, I went about my day, careful to keep my head up.  It was one of my best posture days ever.

I began wondering about my illness and its cause.  I made the mistake of checking an online diagnosis site.  What I found was that the causes of vertigo range from the fairly benign to the incredibly serious.  Still, I tried to convince myself that it was probably an inner ear infection.  After all, that was one of the most likely reasons.  Then again, I did whack my head pretty hard a couple of weeks ago and many of my symptoms could be attributed to a mild concussion.

After a week of okay days and bad days, I finally made the appointment to see the doctor.  I woke on the morning of the appointment feeling the best I had in more than a week.  I tried valiantly to induce a vertigo episode but with little success.  My head still felt a little fuzzy, but no spinning.  I entertained the idea of cancelling the appointment, but didn't because I'd had a couple of okay days earlier followed by bad ones.

I like my doctor, I truly do.  I only avoid seeing her because I hate to disappoint her.  The last time I saw her, she advised me to come back for some follow-up labs in about three months and to lose at least ten pounds.  I decided to wait for the follow-up until I'd lost the weight.  That was three years ago.  I hated to return now, to have her see me this way.  I hadn't lost ten pounds.  No, as if to spite her, I'd gained ten more instead.  She would not be angry, just disappointed.  I knew that she would want to draw blood, get some lab work, see how much my added fat has increased my cholesterol.  Even though they hadn't told me to, I fasted before the appointment.

I made it through the appointment.  My doctor was disappointed in my condition but it did brighten her day when she learned that I had fasted.  Like a mechanic working on an old car that hadn't been regularly serviced, she took the opportunity to address whatever issues she could.  She took blood for lab work and gave me flu and tetanus shots.  After examining me for a bit, she concurred with my diagnosis that I likely had an inner ear infection and that I was apparently almost over it.  Again, she recommended I lose ten pounds (apparently ceding me the ten I should have lost from my last visit).

I received a report from the clinic the other day with my lab results.  Most of my numbers look pretty good but my cholesterol is up a little.  My doctor had written a note on the report advising me to lose the weight, exercise more and come back for a follow-up in three to four months.  I'll go back but I think I'll wait until after I lose the weight.