The Dizzies, Differential Diagnosis, and Why this is Funny

The last two days have brought some of the dizziness I guess I'm supposed to be feeling more often than not. Yesterday I was fine until we went in the pool with the kids for a few hours. Before getting out we were jumping around with them and with all the floaties they had on it made quite a wave pool! When I got out I was fine when moving but then stopped to help dry my niece and suddenly felt like I was still in the waves. I'm sure I had some water in my ears so that probably didn't help. After an hour or two it was much better.

Today I'm just plain tired. I'm tired a lot, but Brodie is getting a molar and was up every 1-2 hours last night so I didn't get much restful sleep. I think when I'm more tired the dizziness is worse. I don't know if that makes sense medically or not. Now that I'm aware of it, I think it may have been a problem for awhile, but I figured it was just normal for being tired. Unlike yesterday, I'm okay when still, but feel 'tipsy' while moving. Just now my foot landed half on a throw rug and half off, and I thought I was about to fall off a step. It's very weird. Hopefully after a better night's sleep it won't feel like things are gently swirling in my head.

In terms of internet research I realized I've only been looking at vestibular schwannomas, though I haven't been told 100% that a meningioma was ruled out. Last I was told, it could still be either/or, even though they were 'leaning towards' schwannoma. So anyway, I decided to look at some stuff about meningiomas. Because of the area where the tumor is located, it could be considered a cerebellopontine angle (CPA) meningioma. According to this grand rounds presentation, a vestibular schwannoma is the most common type of CPA mass, with meningioma being the second most common. It goes on to talk about the differential diagnosis with a bunch of stuff about MRIs that I don't know how to read off mine. But I have a better understanding now of the difference and have some questions to ask. It sounds like either way the surgery will be similar, except perhaps that a meningioma surgery could carry less risk of nerve damage because they aren't tumors of nerve covering, like the schwannoma. This website tells the same info about the MRI differences but with pictures and a nice chart. :)

In doing my internet searches I've come across a lot of scary and, honestly, downright whiney stories. Maybe it has something to do with these tumors primarily affecting older people (in 50s and 60s - not that that is "old", just older than me). No offense older people, but some of you all are whiney, especially about health stuff. I may sound whiney on here, but I do make a lot of fun of the whole situation, too. So it was nice to come across this video on youtube:



Okay, maybe not the best music (wasn't this the song Jessie and Rippers was always doing on Full House?) but the lyrics are pretty clever.

I was thinking the other day that I should give my tumor a name, and an image of SpongeBob SquarePants pet snail crossed my mind. So Gary it is! Hello, Gary. Pretty soon you will be homeless.

On another youtube video (which has image of the actual surgery, warning!) a guy named his tumor Kuato, after the creepy in-the-stomach baby-man from Total Recall. Pretty clever.

The fact of the matter is, the whole thing can either be pretty depressing or pretty funny if I let it. Sometimes it's both. When we were in the ER, before my CT scan, Matt was telling me in an Arnold voice "It's not a too-mah!" Then when found out it was he said, "We were wrong... It is a too-mah." Last week at Brodie's party I couldn't get a gift box open and said jokingly "Maybe someone without a brain tumor should be working on this," but no one laughed. I guess no one knows if they're supposed to or not.

It's funny! I swear! I get forgetful and stuttery and topsy turvy sometimes! What's not to laugh at?