2019 Got Off To A Fantastic Start……Until It Didn’t.

I started out 2018 with a horrible case of influenza. I was so sick I was hardly even aware it was New Year’s Eve. Needless to say, I did not celebrate in any way.

This year we were on a family cruse on New Year’s Eve, and we had the most wonderful evening. Just before midnight, the captain stopped the ship across from a Mexican island that is known for its New Year’s Eve fireworks display. We crowded the deck rail, the music was thumping from the pool party behind us, the countdown began, and at the stroke of midnight, the fireworks started, the ship’s deep horn blared for a good thirty seconds, and we popped champagne. It was a fantastic moment.

As I stood on the ship’s deck, I took a minute to be grateful for how much better this year was than last. What a difference a year makes.

Then this happened.

I should back up for a moment.

I am very prone to motion sickness, and have vomited over the side of many boats (my husband is a big boater, so water is an inevitable part of my life). I am also extremely sensitive to medication, so I cannot tolerate any of of the sea sickness medications. I have tried all the natural stuff — the wrist bands, ginger tea, acupuncture, acupressure, essential oils etc. I even tried this thing called a Relief Band, and it actually made me seasick when I tested it on land!

Given the above, a cruise might seem an odd choice, but we’ve been on two before and I did not get seasick either time, as those ships are large and relatively stable. But for whatever reason, the third time was not the charm. Quite the opposite, actually.

I had intermittent seasickness throughout the cruise. But the situation was exacerbated when we made a stop in Cozumel. We wanted to escape the tourist trap of the port, so we took a ferry across to Playa Del Carmen. I have taken this ferry ride twice without incident. But once again, the third time was not the charm.

By the time we got to Playa I was so nauseated I had to lay down on a bench for a while. I recovered enough to walk about around and hit our favorite spots in Playa, but the ferry ride back to the port was in the back of my mind the whole time. I told myself the seas would be more calm by the time we went back.

Wrong. They were worse.

The boat was seriously rocking, water was rushing in and people were screaming. I did my best to just focus on the horizon and but pressure on the acupuncture point for nausea, but to no avail. I was a wreck by the time we got back to the ship, and thank goodness there were still several hours in port before we sailed again, and the stillness gave me time to recover and enjoy the rest of the evening.

The story gets better before it gets worse again. On the better front, I only had mild motion sickness issues for the rest of the trip, and we really and truly had a fantastic time. One of the best vacations ever, even with the motion sickness.

On the worse front, things went dramatically downhill once we got off the ship. That’s right. When we got off. I’ve had that experience before. When my husband and I are on our boat for an extended period, I get “land sick” when we get off. It’s usually no big deal. I just feel like I’m rocking for a few days, and then it’s over.

This was entirely different. I became increasingly nauseated with every passing moment of being off the ship. By the time we got to our gate at the airport, I basically couldn’t move. I just slumped in a chair with my eyes closed until it was time to board. The flights home were basically a nightmare. I either slept or just stared straight ahead. No looking out the window. No reading. Way too nauseated for that.

I figured it was just a more severe case of my usual “land sickness” and expected it to pass in a few days. I was wrong about that. I spent the first few days home more or less unable to move, read, or look at my phone or computer. Anything that engaged my eyes made me feel even more nauseated.

This is pretty much how I passed the time.

Each day, I kept thinking this is the day I’ll feel better. When the nausea didn’t pass in a week, I finally went to the doctor and he confirmed what I was afraid of — Vertigo.

I had Vertigo once before. You can read about it here.

Vertigo is unpleasant. I am nauseated from the time I get out of bed in the morning until the time I return in the evening. The severity of the nausea comes and goes. Sometimes I can semi-function. Sometimes I have to sit with my eyes closed. Today is a half way decent day, as I’m able to look at my computer, and type. I can’t always do that.

This is definitely not how I planned to start my new year. Pre-vertigo, I was focused on a year of health and healing, and this was not on the agenda. But it’s a wonderful reminder that much of what happens in life is not on our agenda. Sometimes the off-agenda things are unexpected happy events, and sometimes they are struggles.

But I can almost always find the upside in a struggle, and I’ll find it in this one too. For starters, I’m reminded how blessed I am to have the kind of life where I’m able to drop off the radar for a week or a month or however long this takes (there is no telling with Vertigo). Also, this little tangle with Vertigo helps me keep the rest of my struggles in perspective. I’ve learned to “power through” just about anything — stomach aches, fatigue, brain fog, even anxiety. But Vertigo cannot be powered through, as any type of motion makes it worse. So, I have renewed gratitude that most of my health issues are power through-able when necessary. And I’m grateful for the reminder that things could always be worse.

I used to be a runner before I was sick. When I was setting out for a long run, I’d get into a certain mindset. I’d tell myself to just settle in and not think about when it will be over because it’s not going to be over for a long time.

It’s that way with Vertigo. I’m not thinking about when it will be over. There is literally no telling. Instead, I’m settling in as if preparing for a long run. I’m letting go of to do lists and expectations for how I had planned to kick off my new year. Instead, I’m going to listen to my body and fall back on a strategy that has been immeasurably helpful to me over the years. Each morning, I’m going to ask myself a simple question. What’s possible for me today? Some days the answer will be a lot. Some days the answer will be a little. Some days the answer will be not much.

And I’m going to try to be ok with the answer. Whatever it is.

Happy New Year.