Delayed

 Well, after being rescheduled twice now, my scans are TOMORROW.

The second delay was because the equipment was "down for repair."  Sigh.

In other news, I got that massage last Sunday, and ended up with severe vertigo.

This massage therapist works on the neck very differently from the way I did.  She does it while the client is face down, and she works upward on the whole neck, not just the BACK of the neck.  

There are vascular and lymphatic structures in the sides and toward the front of the neck, so in MY training and practice, the motion in those areas always went toward the heart.... as with the arms and legs.

I also worked on the client's neck after they turned onto their back, so that their sinuses could drain after lying face down.

Well, I figured out on Sunday why I always got a little bit of vertigo when I was on her table.  Only this time, it was not a little bit.  

It was probably exacerbated by the fact that I was already congested, and the wind was raging outside, so the air was full of multiple allergens from afar.

I sat up and instantly felt like the world was falling away from under me, and it did not pass. 

It took me quite a while to get dressed and make my way to the door of the massage room, and then she helped me to her couch, where I lay for two and a half hours, waiting for it to subside. 

Dave had gone and gotten some dramamine, which curbed the nausea a bit, but the vertigo would not go away.  

He eventually got me home, and I went straight to bed. The spinning gradually lessened, but did not completely go away.  That evening, I was very sick, which had never happened to me with vertigo before so this was, without a doubt, the worst case of it that I have ever had.

(The first time it happened, I was in my 30s, and had been to a salon for a facial.  The facial was relaxing and wonderful, but when I sat up, the world fell away and started spinning.  The girl had done lots of gentle strokes up the neck and around the face, ending all of them right in front of the ears... Yeah.)

That time, I was able to drive home eventually....but the lingering vertigo lasted for WEEKS afterward.  

In the intervening years, I have had to deal with mild cases of it intermittently (usually due to congestion in my ears caused by eating too much dairy), and lately have been having a little bit due to sinus and dairy food issues.  

It's been ages since I've had any vertigo at all, though, until recently. 

But this.... this was beyond anything I've ever experienced.

Anyway, I took some of my anti nausea medication from the oncologist, and finally got some sleep Sunday night, but was still feeling bad on Monday.

I worked for about 3 hours, then contacted my boss and told her I was ill.  I slept almost all afternoon.

All week, I have taken sudafed every 4 hours, and have been doing drainage self-massage on my neck and throat area, trying my level best to NOT move my head in such a way that causes a spin (including not washing my hair...yuck), and using sinus spray.

It has gradually gotten better, so yesterday, I tried a home therapy technique called the Epley Maneuver.  

It took me 2 hours to work up the courage, and I had Dave sit with me, and use the stopwatch on his phone to make sure I held the positions long enough.

The experience of vertigo during this maneuver was so intense that I screamed.  I thought for sure it would make me vomit again, but it did not.

Unfortunately, I felt like crap the rest of the day, with a headache, and a feeling of lightheadedness, and vague nausea.  Not a fun way to spend a Saturday.

BUT... after one more REALLY intense, but very brief spin (when I bent down to do something about 2 hours after doing the maneuver), I didn't get any more spins.  Not even when I laid down to go to sleep last night.

My hope is that it's over, and that the Epley Maneuver WORKED, because doing it once was so horrible that I vowed never to do it again, HAHA!

However, now that I know it works, AND I know what to expect, having done it before, I will keep it in my arsenal for any future issues.

In the meantime, I have chatted with the massage therapist, and she never even thought about NOT pushing the circulation and lymph TOWARD the ears without then reversing the movement with strokes back down toward the lymphatic structures in the upper chest that drain the head and neck.  

I mean...really???  She went to massage school, right?  Ugh.

So, she learned something, and I am now considering NEVER going to her again.  Not sure yet.

I kind of have a lot of anxiety now about getting a massage again in general.....this was really the most horrific episode of my life.  It might take a while before I feel comfortable again.

In other news, Dave and I went to a thrift store yesterday, and found some Corelle plates and bowls to put in the cabin camping box.  Now, the only thing we need to complete it is some silverware!  \

Not much else is going on.  I'm hoping to get some holiday decorating started today, and a friend is coming by later.

If there is any big news from the scans, I will write another post to give an update before next Sunday.

Have a good week!