Long Week

 

The week started out innocently enough with Monday coming and going with no issues.

Tuesday was spent seeing Dr. Paparella in Minneapolis to have my ear checked out. We started with a hearing test where I found out I am almost deaf in my right ear. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize it was that bad. They also did a pressure test which came out normal.  They  took an x-ray to rule out any tumors. I guess there must not have been any because he never mentioned seeing anything unusual.

I met with the doctor and he confirmed what I already knew, that I have Meneires, that it’s getting worse not better, and then he told me of this surgery he thought I should have. He invented the surgery, even made the instruments used in the surgery. He gave me the percentages of successes for the various issues I have (90% experience no more vertigo, 50% have improved tinnitus and around 20% of the people see improvement in their hearing) He thought I needed it and basically stood in front of me waiting for me to say yes or no!

I was a wee bit shocked, to say the least. This was my first real appointment where my vertigo is concerned and I guess I expected medications, possibly more testing….. not surgery. He gave me an appointment card to stop out at the desk and make appointments for three more tests.

We side swiped that area and left. I knew the testing was in preparation for the surgery and I just wasn’t ready to commit to that. We left and met my parents in Bloomington for lunch. They were buying a new car and we stopped to see it. Little did I know we would be driving a new car home too! Mike has been researching trading in his Impala for something more fuel efficient. We test drove the new Malibu and loved it. We did some haggling and ta-da…a new car for the Budachs. We love it. It’s super comfortable and fun to drive. We take it everywhere, which makes my husband happy as the Yukon is such a gas guzzler.

Tuesday night at around 1:00 AM Noah started throwing up. Can I just state for the record that he is THE WORST puker in history? He never makes it to the toilet, never hits the bowl or garbage can, and is so dramatic through the whole thing. After replacing bedding, throwing in a load of blankets and sheets into the washing machine, and cleaning the carpets (yes, he decided to bolt to the bathroom while spewing everywhere), we went back to bed. Thank God I have a husband that helps with this stuff because it literally took two people to clean up after this event.

2:00 AM round two of the puking. This time he just got the side of his bed. However, Connor decided to join in the fun and proceeded to puke at the same time.

Are you kidding me?

So, both puked every hour on the hour for about 4 hours. I finally got up around 5 and went into work to make lesson plans. I would have gone in earlier but I am too chicken to go into school in the middle of the night. Freaks me out! Plus, it’s out in the middle of nowhere and I am scared someone will be lurking by the back door!

I stayed home with the pukers and bisseled the carpets (which didn’t help and we had to rent a rug doctor to get the smell out of the carpet), did load after load of laundry, and tended to the sick tots. Did I mention Noah puked all over the cloth recliner too? Yeah, that was just wonderful. Like I said, he’s the worst. Connor on the other hand is a rock star at puking. He always hits the bucket and you would never know he’s even doing it. Rock Star.

While home Tuesday I was able to find a couple people to email about the surgery. One person even had it done with the same doctor I saw, Paparella. She highly encouraged me to have it done. She informed me it’s a 4 week recovery, which would not be easy for me. She also said I HAD to quit caffeine. I had cut caffeine out years ago to see if it would help and never noticed a difference so I went back to drinking it. But, following her advice, I will give it another try. To not have my coffee in the morning is the saddest thing ever. I am going to try to trick my body and have decaf tomorrow.

I also found out that everyone ends up having the surgery redone due to clogging. For some it’s not for years (this woman had gone 7 years before noticing symptoms come back) and for some people it’s weeks (that would be me. I have luck like that).So, who knows. I am going to continue to research and see what happens with my ear. I haven’t had an episode in a month. Keep your fingers crossed. And toes.

This weekend we took the new car up to Southdale and saw Rango. I was so excited to see this with the kids as it got great reviews and we hadn’t seen a kid movie in awhile. Unfortunately, we didn’t like it! Connor kept asking when it would be over. I would give it a 4 out of 10. It just wasn’t enough to hold your interest. There were funny parts, but nothing I even laughed out loud at.

Now we are hunkering down for the night. I bought a new steamer so I will make cheeseburger chicken and steamed veggies. I worked a ton on schoolwork this morning so I am done and ready to enjoy a lazy night.

Hope your weekend went well!

LB