Yesterday, May 26, was the one-year anniversary of my first episode of vertigo. I still have it, but it comes and goes now, and I've stopped taking the medication the doctor gave me - by force. I ran out, and without insurance I can't really afford to go back to him for more of it. I've saved about 5 pills for emergencies and that's it.
I've been off the meds for about two weeks. I had whittled down my use to only on days that I work, so I stretched it out as long as possible. I think that also made the transition to stopping them a little easier, though it was still pretty rough for the first week and a half. I seem to be stabilized now and feel normal most of the time again.
But what I'm really glad about is that I'm confident that the vertigo will stay at bay now as long as I watch for certain triggers. I know that too much time on the computer is still an issue for me. And suddenly changing the direction of my visual focus doesn't work out too great either, although that is quite a bit better than it was. I don't like watching movies or TV shows where they spin or jiggle the camera too much, and I am still staying away from roller coasters - for now. I truly hope to be able to return to that adventure some day, but I want to be off the meds for a good long time before I risk that again. And that really sucks, since I'm right here in Orlando, theme-park central! Grrrr.
I did some additional research on vertigo and learned that massage of the neck and shoulders has been found to be helpful for some patients. Interesting discovery. And I read this about the same time that Jennifer, my former anatomy instructor - now friend, and I worked out a deal for me to get massages from her every couple of weeks in exchange for her getting them when needed. Apparently I need a lot more work than she does. :-)
I have to say there's a noticeable difference in my overall state already and I've only had the first two massages. I knew I missed getting massaged after leaving school, but holy smokes! Jennifer is a skilled deep tissue therapist and also does energy work, so she and I go very well together in a massage room. Whichever one is on the table is getting a double whammy from the other, and it works out great. She is working out stresses and use issues (like standing on cement all day and looking up at an order screen) that I knew were there but had no idea how bad they had gotten. And as always, a good therapist will find issues you didn't know you had and help those too. And she does! :-)
With my licensing exam just around the corner, I've been very stressed and nervous, trying to keep all this info in my head (and stuff some forgotten tidbits back in there), not wanting to waste the money my sister and niece were so generous to give me for the purpose. The exam is this coming Wednesday. I know I should follow the advice I just gave to my step-daughter for her school exams: Study what you need to study, rest when you need to rest, and trust your instincts. At the moment I'm having a crazy instinct to run screaming into the hills.
So, that's the news for now. Once I have the exam under my belt, and I get my license, I have my eyes on a place to apply that actually employs the MT, and offers some benefits and a salary. I've been looking at them online for a while, and I spoke to someone in the office. I was going to get a massage, to see their process from the client side, but need to wait a little longer for the funds. The first one's a good deal - $39 for an hour. Their going rate is $70, I think. They do all the advertising and equip the rooms and such - I'm responsible for my own licensing and insurance. Guess I better start looking into that - need to know how much it's going to cost me.
