tilt

314:365

I got up at 3:15 am to go to the bathroom, which isn't unusual, but I careened around the room and into the hall like I was highly intoxicated, which is. I figured I just got up too fast, but when I almost fell off the potty I realized something was wrong.

Remember when you were a kid and you'd spin and spin until the whole room turned when you stopped? That's exactly what it felt like. I tried walking up and down the hallway, and kept listing to the right, running into the wall. It freaked me out.

I tried to go back to sleep, but I kept feeling like I was slipping off the bed. My right arm and leg tingled like they were asleep, but it wasn't getting any better. A quick check of my pupils in the mirror gave me hope that I wasn't having a stroke, but I was still pretty weirded out.

I called M, waiting to board his plane in Boston, and let him know what was going on. He freaked and called his folks, who rushed over. My MIL stayed with Zoe, while my FIL drove me to the hospital.

We walked into a quiet ER and I told the woman at the admitting desk my symptoms. Before I was even done she calmly picked up the phone and called a team to Triage 1, and stuffed me into a wheelchair and took me there herself. Once there, people swarmed all over me and I hadn't so much as produced a form of ID or my medical insurance card yet. In fact, I had barely given my name. No wonder my blood pressure was high in that first reading!

Hours later, after an IV, CAT scan, some meds, and admittance, and an MRI, plus multiple in-room stroke checks, my hospitalist decided I have some sort of inner ear problem that's causing the balance issues. I was given a script for meclizine and sent home. Been sleeping much of the day since, and am ready to go back to bed now.

We did make it to our weekly meeting with the GC and the architect, where I sat in a chair when I felt woozy but otherwise made it through ok.

That's where I snapped today's photograph. Our brick layers brought their own patio furniture, I guess for breaks. The listing chair looks like how I felt.