so, Christmas?

today on cypress, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

This is where we, the boys and I, should have been on Christmas Day. We had it all planned - turkey dinner on Christmas Eve, snowboarding and downhill gear laid out, boards/skis waxed and ready . . . and then it all unravelled.

In the night, on a nocturnal prowl through the darkened house, I crashed into the clothes rack. Thinking nothing of it, I crept back into bed only slightly rattled.

Next morning Santa had visited! Oh the excitement and stocking gifts to unwrap. My head swirled as I sat up to my morning hugs from a very gleeful Wee Guy. I slumped semi-upright on pillows, feeling unsteady and unsure.

Then I tried to swing my legs out of bed and stand up.

Almost five years ago a flu virus chomped its way through my right auditory nerve, taking my hearing and balance in less than an hour of dizzying action. For a few weeks, the vertigo was so intense that I couldn't move without my eyes dancing around in their sockets. And I filled a lot of buckets too - I threw up every single time I moved.

On this last Christmas morning, I could hardly stand straight let alone walk. My eyes spun like crazy and I could feel the gears whirring in my head as my brain tried to work out which way was up. I knew from my last bout to try to keep moving was best, to allow my body to compensate for its sudden disequilibrium, so I staggered around as much as possible.

At lunchtime, after a few hours propped crookedly on the couch fighting back the urge to vomit, we called quits and abandoned our plans to hit the slopes. We had a quiet, lop-sided Christmas at home, and eventually my head stopped spinning.

The next morning, back to square one.

I have no idea what triggered this episode. Apart from very mild occasional dizziness, I've had no relapse since the original spell. This time, keeping moving and managing the first few days with Gravol worked well enough so we didn't have to cancel our Seattle trip the next day.

I do feel exhausted - maybe another respiratory virus has had its wicked way - but it certainly wasn't as bad as the first time. My hearing is no worse, thank goodness, and the tinnitus is at its usual hum. My balance is much better, though not completely back to normal. I still feel mild dizziness on waking up but none of the dreadful spinning.

And eventually mr ebb and I did hit the slopes with the Wee Guy - just a week later than planned.