Vertigo II

I am extremely frustrated with the state of my health. My body seems to have been taken over by aliens that are pulling me in one direction to another. First the vertigo and the unsteadiness and then the cold. Yesterday morning I woke up determined that it would be the last day of the cold. I was planning on going to Chinatown to see if I could get some Chinese medicine.

As I was sitting in front of the computer drinking a nice cup of lemon tea and reading my e-mails, the spinning started. It came on so fast that I hardly had time to react. I wobbled to the bathroom, grabbed a meclizine and made my way into the kitchen to get some water. It was like I was extremely drunk. I was holding on to the wall so as not to fall down. But it was too late.

By then my vision had gotten blurry and everything in front of me was moving from side to side. I read that when the vertigo starts the key is to sit very still, with eyes open and focus on a spot in front of you. I was looking out of the window at the big building outiside, but it was like we were having a major, slow-motion earthquake. I started feeling sweaty, my skin was tingling and then I ran to the bathroom just in time to vomit the sip of tea I'd had before it all started. Fortunately, I hadn't eaten anything or it would have been much worse.

I stayed on the bathroom floor and waited for the meclizine to take effect. Once I was able to, I got into bed and had to lie still for about 3 hours before I could get up.

The good news is that my cold is much better.

I am now determined to get healthy. I found an acupunturist on the expat website I go to from time to time. At first I was kind of excited to find this website because there are recommendations for restaurants, health practitioners, etc., but then I got tired of reading their whiny posts. It was like all of my whines about Buenos Aires x 1,000, and all being reinforced by each other. But the website is useful for finding things in this large city like acupuncturists and chiropractors. I found both and am going to make appointments for both. My neck has been stiff for the past week too (since my wonderful massage at the spa a week ago).

Today Gonzalo is coming by at 11 to put more seeds in my ear. His treatment helped a lot (until yesterday), but I don't like having these seeds in my ear. They are small, and the bandages are flesh colored (if you are beige colored), but still they are kind of visible and I think in addition to being the weird foreign student in my classes, I am now the weird foreign student with something strange in his ear. If I'm trying to make friends, I think it is better if I don't have seeds and bandages in my ear.

This is the week for me to get better. I'm going to call the chiropractor, and also set up another appointment at Aqua Vita Spa for a massage and a sauna. I think I need to relax and de-stress, since all of this bodily stuff has really gotten me worked up mentally, which just makes everything worse.

So far today I feel pretty good. I'm worn out from yesterday, but there is no spinning and my sinuses and head feel pretty clear. This is how I want to feel.

There is a beautiful pair of doves that come and sit outside of my window every day. I can see them sitting there next to each other cleaning their feathers. Perhaps they are a sign that the storm is over?