A week ago, I was still having severe vertigo with accompanying nausea and general malaise.
My last episode was on Wednesday the 8th, around 4 am. Terrible. If you’ve never had it, don’t.
That same morning, I had a regular chiropractic visit. I told my doctor about the vertigo as I was lying on the adjustment table. He’s been taking care of me for 30 years, and knows me well. I was on my stomach, and he asked me to raise my chin. Big ouch.
“Looks as if your neck is locked up. That can cause vertigo. We can fix that.”
And he did! I haven’t had a spell since Wednesday! I’m still being very careful when I stand up, out of habit, because for nearly two weeks it would send me into Vertigo Land. Next time, I’ll call him sooner!
I do not believe that chiropractors can heal all diseases and work miracles, but I know that mine has helped keep my tricky back in line for these many years. He is knowledgeable about so many things, a specialist in nutrition and functional medicine. And right now, if I could, I would give him a big gold star in the middle of his forehead!
Okay, I’ll just talk then. Remove the whine from my voice.
Just finally got over the nasty cold I had, feeling better, when I got hit with a wave of vertigo that has lasted for nearly a week.
It’s pretty terrible. The dizziness leads to nausea, and the victim is pretty much incapacitated for the duration.
I went to a vestibular (inner ear) therapist several years ago, and she taught me some exercises that really do help. The theory has to do with little tiny crystals that swim around in the inner ear, causing the dizziness and all that goes with it. Again, the exercises have always helped before.
This time, not as much. They do give me some relief, but the dizziness comes back after several hours or even overnight. I generally sleep on my back, and I can tell you it’s quite disconcerting to open one’s eyes in the morning only to see the ceiling swimming around overhead. Also, with this latest onset, I’m finding that all I want to do is sleep. No energy at all.
I have an appointment with my primary on Monday, and I’m hoping she can give me something to relieve the dizzy.
So there’s my Saturday Sob Story.
On a brighter note, we’ve had lovely spring weather. We have two dogwood trees in our front yard, one pink and one whitle. I think this may be the best year of all for their beauty. We also have a Kousa (Japanese) Dogwood in the back yard. It’s a little slower than the others, and is just now leafing out. Very pretty in full leaf, and it last for several weeks. Also, our azaleas are showing color, and the neighborhood is full of flowering trees. So much beauty,
Drippy, stuffy nose. Sore throat. Sneezecoughcoughcoughsneeze. No fever, just a lot of misery. I’m still not sure if it’s a cold or an allergy. Things are blooming like crazy right now. Maybe a combination of both.
The good news is that it’s better today. I haven’t sneezed, coughed, or had to blow out my sinuses today, and it’s already 10:45 a.m. A little apple cider vinegar mixed with water is still one of the best remedies for a sore throat. I think I’m going to survive 🙂
Honestly, this past couple of weeks have gone by so fast that it feels as if all I’ve done is visit Terry at the hospital, brought him home, tried to encourage him into better sleeping and eating patterns, and blow my nose 🙂
Here’s something I’m learning: Once a person is retired, it’s very easy to lose track of which day of the week it is. The lack of routine is somewhat surprising to me, because I’m a person of routine. Terry, it seems, is not. He’s up ’til all hours of the night, eating poorly because he grazes all day, not sleeping well because of erratic bedtimes. Changing these habits is not easy, but we’re working on it. His erratic sleep is compounded by his restless leg syndrome. It particularly bothers the leg he injured 12 years ago when he broke–crushed–his heel. Don’t ever do that. It’s a really terrible injury.
The good news is that his energy is better, and he’s been working on some projects he had neglected. He’s not falling asleep over his supper any more.
I got a message from a friend this morning that her husband had what looked like a stroke, but has turned out to be brain cancer in the frontal lobe. I’ve known him since he was in college. How the years have flown! He’s retired now, and looks as if he’s in a fight for his life. Please pray for him.
Another thing I’m learning is that, as believers, we don’t dread death because it only takes us into the Presence of God. Yet there is that innate will to live, to hang onto life. My mom died at age 87, and was still determined to “set up housekeeping” once she got better. She didn’t want to give up. That’s a normal, and commendable, reaction.
Well, I’m rambling this morning. I need to do some housework–one of my least-loved tasks, so I need to get going. Hoping you all have a lovely weekend!
Sometimes the plans we make get blown away by unexpected circumstances. That certainly happened to us this week! You can read about that in my post from yesterday, which you can find at the bottom of this post.
So, I’ve been thinking about how frail human life can be. Terry and I have reached the ages of almost 77 for me, 81 for him. That is a rich blessing, for which we are thankful. We’re coming up on our 55th wedding anniversary in June, another point for which we are most thankful. Of course, not every moment is full of hearts and flowers, but we really do still love and enjoy each other. The one-flesh principle gets stronger as the years go by.
But we do not take life for granted, and that was reinforced by last week’s events. If we had not gotten Terry to the hospital when we did, we could well have lost him. I firmly believe that when God says it’s time for us to go to heaven, no power on earth can keep us here. It wasn’t God’s time for Terry this past week. It was, however, a firm reminder of how fragile life can be, and a reminder for us to treasure each moment, each day.
The first few days of April were rainy. Then it cleared up a bit, but has been windy, and the temps have hovered in the low to mid-forties every day. Yesterday, there was a 4.8 magnitude earthquake near Lebanon, New Jersey that shook our house here in Quakertown. Looking at the stats, I learned that the last time this happened was in 2011. I remember. It was very similar to what happened yesterday. At first I thought it was a heavy truck using our road, but then I heard the grinding and felt the vibrations. It did move the teapots on my mantle, just a little bit.
It got me thinking about how awful it is to live in an area where such quakes are a normal part of life; where the quakes can be devastating and murderous.
This photo was published by The Atlantic following a quake in Los Angeles, CA, on Jan. 17, 1994. Such photos should help us to realize how puny mankind is compared to the power unleashed by such events. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornados, floods, whiteout blizzards—are all manifestations of the power of nature when God releases His control over what we like to think of as “Mother Nature.” How small we are, and how little we know.
I read part of an article yesterday about how someone has decided that spraying toxic chemicals to block out heat from the sun will save us from climate change. I can imagine how God shakes his head at our infinite stupidity. We really think we can control the forces that God has created!
No one has yet figured out how to stop a roaring tsunami as it races toward shore. No one has been able to plug an active volcano. We can’t even figure out how to deal with broken dams that release floodwaters that erase lives.
Even worse, as our so-called civilization becomes more godless, we can’t figure out how to deal with the raging sin in the hearts of mankind. All the oratory about gun laws hasn’t stopped mass shootings. If a criminally-minded person wants to get hold of a gun, he will have no trouble doing so, no matter how many laws we pass.
The real problem lies in the sinful nature that is more and more unrestrained in a society that has decided that God is a joke. Where there is no fear of God, there is no fear of the consequences of sin. When “every man does that which is right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25) chaos ensues.
In the history of the world, every civilization that has risen to glorious heights of power eventually falls into ruin because of the evil that lurks within the heart of mankind. I look forward to the day when Jesus rules the world!
That’s what we did last night at my son’s house. There were 50+ people crowded into the double living rooms and the kitchen area. We sang, then we ate and visited, and then we sang some more. It was an old-fashioned hymn sing, and it was wonderful.
The only program was to sing. It was relaxed, fun, enthusiastic. Many expressed a desire to do it again, and one couple has already volunteered their spacious home.
If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know how important music is to me. I grew up listening to good, solid music, including artists such as George Beverly Shea and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet, among many others. So I have a taste for good southern gospel, as well as the classic hymns we sang in church. There is such joy in good music, and we really raised the roof last night!
When you have that many people in close proximity, the harmonies come out loud and clear, and the sound fills the space. I’ve been in a couple of churches that held over 1,000 people. When we sang, it was downright goose-bumpy. All those people raising their voices in harmony is just amazing. It’s where I learned to sing when I was just a little girl, and it’s where I began to pick up on singing more than just the melody. I didn’t understand the what or the why, but my ear told me what to do, and intensified my love of the music. Singing harmony is just a pure delight!
There was lots of harmony last night, in voice and in spirit. Music unites people.
These Saturdays sure do come around fast! Do you remember when you were a kid in school, and it seemed Saturday would never come? For me, that was a VERY long time ago 🙂
Rain today, mostly all day. A good day to stay indoors and catch up with some much-needed housecleaning. Ugh. I strongly dislike housecleaning, but I don’t like a dirty house, either.
It was a busy week. Something going on almost every day, which is good. The highlight for me was on Thursday, when I went to an organ concert in Philly with my son and DIL and a good friend. It was amazing! Held in a grand old Episcopal church, it was packed out. Lots of people enjoy good music 🙂 My favorite part was the last three pieces, which come from “The Planets.” The most well-known is Jupiter, which you can listen to below if you enjoy that sort of thing. My personal favorite was Mars, full of booming kettle drums and drama.
After the concert, we found a little pizzeria that also makes the best Philly cheesesteak I’ve ever eaten. A most enjoyable evening. After the concert, we found a little pizzeria that also makes the best Philly cheesesteak I’ve ever eaten. A most enjoyable evening.
I’ve been spending intense practice time at my piano, preparing to accompany my son Mike who will be singing Behold the Man in church tomorrow morning. It’s a beautiful song, first published back in the early 1970s. It is a powerful description of Jesus as He sacrificed Himself at Calvary.
Music. It’s such an important part of my world, my life. I am thankful beyond words for good music!
Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. Set your clock forward tonight when you go to bed. If you schlep into your bedroom at 10 p.m., you need to set your clock for 11 p.m.
We get robbed of an hour of sleep. And I don’t care what anyone says, you can never get that hour back.
I dread the reset because it messes up my biological clock for several days. I decided to do a quick research on the effect of DST on the human body. Here’s a quote from one study:
We found four prominent, elevated risk clusters, including cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks), injuries, mental and behavioral disorders, and immune-related diseases such as noninfective enteritis and colitis to be significantly associated with DST shifts in the United States and Sweden.
I’ve tried all sorts of things to make this transition easier. Going to bed 10-15 minutes earlier each night for a few nights before the hammer falls. Doesn’t work. I just lie there wide awake until my usual time to sleep. I’ve developed the habit of a cup of warm milk before bed. It helps my resltess leg, and if I put in a drop or two of vanilla or almond extract, it’s actually rather pleasant. If you like milk.
My husband has the good-for-him ability to fall asleep at will. I’ve always wondered how he does it. He’s gone before his head hits the pillow. I find it highly annoying to say “goodnight” and hear a snore in return. Seriously. Me? I have a bedside light so I can read myself drowsy. And if I’m using my Kindle, I turn off the bedside light because my Kindle has its own light. Sometimes it takes only 10-15 minutes. Other times, it will be close to two hours. On my worst nights, It can be much longer.
I can just about count on tonight being difficult. And just about the time I get used to waking up to a little daylight, we’re going back to waking up in the dark. This is just wrong.
Here’s an interesting read that gives you the skinny on the why of DST. It was NOT to help farmers, as I’ve always been told. It was an effort to save electricity:
I missed two days in a row in writing my blog. “Things” just got in the way. Any time I have morning appointments, I find it hard to stay with my writing routine. Happened two days in a row this week. But I won’t bore you with the details, since NO ONE wants a minute-by-minute accounting of my last 48 hours 🙂
I’m looking at it from a longer perspective, partly because of a Facebook meme I saw this morning. It asked the question, “What would you do if you woke up and it was 1973?”
Well, for one thing I’d be upset to have to live all these years over again! I was only 26 in 1973 Baby #2 was well on his way. I was a stay-at-home mom, and I loved it.
Would I want to live all those years over again? Maybe only the parts where I behaved poorly. I’d like to think I would do better if I had a do-over. Otherwise? No. I’m content where I am, and I don’t really want a do-over.
I used to think people my age now were just old and boring waiting to die. Some were. But I learned, as I grew up, that older people had a fund of wisdom and stories about life that no one as young as I was had developed yet. I began to enjoy the company of older people, as long as I didn’t have to listen to the same stories overandoverandover. I worry now that I’m doing that to the younger folks in my life. I try not to. I hope I’m not doing that.
The thing you learn as you age, if you’re paying attention, is that life happens to all of us. The moment we’re conceived, we begin to die. I know, that sounds dismal, but look at all that happens in between! If God grants you a long life, and you have a good memory, you can store up a fund of wisdom and understanding that will help you as you reach the moment when you step into heaven and time falls away forever. Fanny Crosby, prolific songwriter, put it this way:
According to a local report, we got somewhere between 4-8 inches of snow overnight and early this morning. It’s really pretty outside. And there are patches of blue sky already. I’m looking north out my livingroom window, and there’s a big patch of blue. A few minutes ago, I was in the kitchen. Looking south and southeast, there was a huge patch of clear blue sky with smaller blue areas all around. The clouds are breaking up quickly now that they’ve dumped their cargo on us.
The wind is picky up, though, and it’s blowing clumps of snow from trees, some of them bigt enough to be the head of a small snowman 🙂
Someone posted this shot, showing the snow on top of their birdhouses and what looks like cotton balls on the tree. Snow was still falling, as you can see.
I can see pavement in our driveway, which means our neighbor has been here already with his plow. He takes good care of us, especially since Terry’s heart attack back in August. Our son will probably check in today, as well.
Several people on Facebook are lamenting the snow, wishing winter was over. Hey, it’s only mid-February! It’s not unusual at all for our biggest snow accumulation to be in February and March. I think we’ve gotten spoiled because there has been scant snowfall in the last couple of years. We’ve had above-normal temps, and even now it’s 36F outside, which in my experience isn’t all that cold. This too shall pass.
And that patch of blue sky I was talking about? Now it’s a very wide swath! There are still clouds, but they’re losing the battle. The wind is sweeping tree branches clean of huge clumps. There’s been a measurable change just since I started writing this post.
“This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Psalm 118:24.
Linda's Bible Study 