A Tale of Caring...
Hello, it's Trevor here. As some of you know, this blog post was supposed to have been written last weekend. Sometimes in life things happen, so I will be sharing about that and some other issues on Brenda's heart.
Brenda is now an 8½ year meningioma brain tumor survivor. Her motion issues have become worse, since having gone through this experience. One in particular, is her attacks of benign positional vertigo. Essentially it's when you have a false sense that the room is spinning and when you go back to the original position, before you experience that false sense, the room does not spin. It has something to do with the inner ear and crystals that get out of proportion. Brenda had not had an attack for quite sometime, but last Saturday that all changed.
It lasted well over 5 hours. She had her anti-nausea medicine and meclizine on hand. The trick was to get to it, without falling down. She was leaning over the toilet, with her head down and sweat dripping from her hair and down her back. Some of this is going to be unsettling to read, but we want you to get a real sense of what can happen. She begged for the room to stop spinning. She did not cry, as she knew, that would make it worse.
When she finally was able to get to her medication, she slipped her anti-nausea under her tongue, as it dissolves quickly that way. It doesn't work right away though. She ended up having to take the meclizine later, to help alleviate the nausea. Again, this did not work immediately.
This was a very scary experience for Brenda. One of her first thoughts was maybe she was having a heart attack, because of the profuse sweating. She had vertigo attacks before, so she even attempted the half somersault twice, but to no avail. She even felt like she was going to throw up, while she was attempting one. Nothing was working.
She thought about calling for help, but going to the emergency room, they would have given her the same medication, that she had on hand. The only difference is that they maybe would have done a sitting EKG, like the last time, when she was taken over in a wheelchair from the clinic, as that time, they thought maybe anxiety was involved. You think? You don't know what is going on, I'd think that being a bit anxious would be normal.
Anyway on to our tale. Brenda did end up throwing up several times, so she had to keep her wastebasket handy. She felt the best, when she could lie still in her bed, when the room would not spin. Every time she would attempt to get up, it started up again. It was not worth it. Brenda did not eat anything that day. She took her other medications, where she did not have to necessarily eat with them first.
You are so exhausted after an experience like this. She decided that she had to really start caring about herself. She was not feeling up to par on Monday, so she did not go to work. The rest of the week, she only worked 4 or 5 hours. It was better than nothing and getting back to things gradually is the best way to handle this. She did not want to risk even a small attack, as the nausea is now just starting to wear off some.
Brenda has been frustrated about a lot of aspects lately. As you know she is a fierce advocate, but she feels like she has to do everything alone. She doesn't feel that community in some groups and that is where caring comes in. From the outside looking in, there is so much competition or dissention amongst individuals, where it should be everyone working together. I'm just a dog, but it seems like common sense to me.
Several weeks ago at her place of employment, someone came up to Brenda and said; "I've just got to give you a hug." She sensed that Brenda had been struggling. That meant more than you will ever know. It doesn't have to be much. A smile can go a long way. Greeting someone in the morning, can help make their day. We do not know what another person is going through.
Yesterday, someone mentioned to Brenda that they noticed she had been gone. Brenda does not wish to make a big deal about it, but it was nice that someone actually did notice. She also has been struggling with her RA, due to our recent rainy weather.
Brenda does her part to promote other causes, that she believes in. It would be nice to see a little reciprocation. May is National Brain Tumor Awareness Month and yes, we are going to be promoting the book; Real Life Diaries: Living with a Brain Injury formerly in the Grief Diaries Anthology Series.
May is also National Arthritis Awareness Month, and also the month, that Brenda was diagnosed with RA, so we will also be promoting another book that will be published this summer; Real Life Diaries: Living with Rheumatic Disease, where she is again co-author. I am so proud of Brenda and all her accomplishments. I am sure her mother is beaming with pride from Heaven. Brenda misses her mother very much.
Brenda fights every day and I am so doggone proud of her. It broke my golden heart, to have to see her like that, last Saturday.
I think we need to try to be better people or dogs in my case. BOL It's not hard, caring encompasses a lot of things, but starting out slow, will get us there eventually.
I care about all of our readers of this blog. BOL Thanks, for letting good old Trevor, the chance to indulge you with another tale. Take care my friends. ~Trevor~
Brenda is now an 8½ year meningioma brain tumor survivor. Her motion issues have become worse, since having gone through this experience. One in particular, is her attacks of benign positional vertigo. Essentially it's when you have a false sense that the room is spinning and when you go back to the original position, before you experience that false sense, the room does not spin. It has something to do with the inner ear and crystals that get out of proportion. Brenda had not had an attack for quite sometime, but last Saturday that all changed.
It lasted well over 5 hours. She had her anti-nausea medicine and meclizine on hand. The trick was to get to it, without falling down. She was leaning over the toilet, with her head down and sweat dripping from her hair and down her back. Some of this is going to be unsettling to read, but we want you to get a real sense of what can happen. She begged for the room to stop spinning. She did not cry, as she knew, that would make it worse.
When she finally was able to get to her medication, she slipped her anti-nausea under her tongue, as it dissolves quickly that way. It doesn't work right away though. She ended up having to take the meclizine later, to help alleviate the nausea. Again, this did not work immediately.
This was a very scary experience for Brenda. One of her first thoughts was maybe she was having a heart attack, because of the profuse sweating. She had vertigo attacks before, so she even attempted the half somersault twice, but to no avail. She even felt like she was going to throw up, while she was attempting one. Nothing was working.
She thought about calling for help, but going to the emergency room, they would have given her the same medication, that she had on hand. The only difference is that they maybe would have done a sitting EKG, like the last time, when she was taken over in a wheelchair from the clinic, as that time, they thought maybe anxiety was involved. You think? You don't know what is going on, I'd think that being a bit anxious would be normal.
Anyway on to our tale. Brenda did end up throwing up several times, so she had to keep her wastebasket handy. She felt the best, when she could lie still in her bed, when the room would not spin. Every time she would attempt to get up, it started up again. It was not worth it. Brenda did not eat anything that day. She took her other medications, where she did not have to necessarily eat with them first.
You are so exhausted after an experience like this. She decided that she had to really start caring about herself. She was not feeling up to par on Monday, so she did not go to work. The rest of the week, she only worked 4 or 5 hours. It was better than nothing and getting back to things gradually is the best way to handle this. She did not want to risk even a small attack, as the nausea is now just starting to wear off some.
Brenda has been frustrated about a lot of aspects lately. As you know she is a fierce advocate, but she feels like she has to do everything alone. She doesn't feel that community in some groups and that is where caring comes in. From the outside looking in, there is so much competition or dissention amongst individuals, where it should be everyone working together. I'm just a dog, but it seems like common sense to me.
Several weeks ago at her place of employment, someone came up to Brenda and said; "I've just got to give you a hug." She sensed that Brenda had been struggling. That meant more than you will ever know. It doesn't have to be much. A smile can go a long way. Greeting someone in the morning, can help make their day. We do not know what another person is going through.
Yesterday, someone mentioned to Brenda that they noticed she had been gone. Brenda does not wish to make a big deal about it, but it was nice that someone actually did notice. She also has been struggling with her RA, due to our recent rainy weather.
Brenda does her part to promote other causes, that she believes in. It would be nice to see a little reciprocation. May is National Brain Tumor Awareness Month and yes, we are going to be promoting the book; Real Life Diaries: Living with a Brain Injury formerly in the Grief Diaries Anthology Series.
May is also National Arthritis Awareness Month, and also the month, that Brenda was diagnosed with RA, so we will also be promoting another book that will be published this summer; Real Life Diaries: Living with Rheumatic Disease, where she is again co-author. I am so proud of Brenda and all her accomplishments. I am sure her mother is beaming with pride from Heaven. Brenda misses her mother very much.
Brenda fights every day and I am so doggone proud of her. It broke my golden heart, to have to see her like that, last Saturday.
I think we need to try to be better people or dogs in my case. BOL It's not hard, caring encompasses a lot of things, but starting out slow, will get us there eventually.
I care about all of our readers of this blog. BOL Thanks, for letting good old Trevor, the chance to indulge you with another tale. Take care my friends. ~Trevor~
Comments
Post a Comment