Today was my first of three rounds of BCG. Having gone through this many times before, I was already accustomed to all the unpleasantness, but am thankful for the treatment that 'works'.
Having an early appointment, I set my alarm for 7AM. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn it on..DOH! On the bright side, I was awake at 7:08AM so I lucked out. But, the reason I was awake is the clincher.
At 5AM, I had a call from nature, but as I stood from the bed, the room was spinning. Just what I needed. Vertigo decided to make a return. I hadn't had an episode since January 2024. I bumped into walls on the way to the bathroom, then was hoping I could find a good position where the dizziness would subside. Luckily, I found one, but the anxiety of the episode and the first round of BCG kept me from falling asleep. As I lay there thinking about things, I glanced at the clock and OMG, I'm late.
I stood and was greeted with dizziness. I raised my head to a position where it was tolerable. I was able to take my meds check my blood pressure and have a cup of green tree. Each time I deviated from the 'safe' position, the spinning would start. I did manage to keep that position while driving, but as I needed to turn my head to watch for traffic and taking turns, I could feel the dizziness coming back. I was happy that I had no stopping for the train or signal issues and arrived at the Urologist's office.
By this time I knew the 'safe' positions for my head. So check in was uneventful. It wasn't too long before I heard my name being called. I was grilled for my information and brought to yet another examination room. After taking some vitals, I was told to prepare myself for the instillation.
With pants down to my ankles and my head trying to keep in the safe spot, Torri (NP) arrived. She has the best disposition. Really bubbly personality and talked through the whole thing and before I knew it I was done. She said, "By now you know about the two hour 'marination'. I'll see you next week."
The ride home was uneventful and the dizziness appeared to calm down a little. I started my two hour flip around and hoped that one of my positions wouldn't trigger the Vertigo. There were a few times when I could feel it coming back, but I managed to avoid it. I almost made the whole two hours, but nature had a delivery that was pressing on my bladder. Really uncomfortable. But I was able to empty myself completely.
Feeling kind of domestic, I paid bills online; made blueberry muffins; dropped off some recycling; did two loads of laundry and decided to finish my taxes. I guess I should have waited on that last part. H&R Block program told me there was an update. Did that. Continued. Printed out a copy for my records. Then was unsuccessful in eFiling. First it said the servers where busy. I waited then tried again. Told me that the program needed to be updated. AGAIN! I tried 5 times. (Definition of insanity is attempting the same thing expecting a different outcome.) I was in no mood. I printed everything out and I'll be mailing. So tomorrow, after my dermatology appointment, I'll be at the post office.
As the day progressed the dizziness subsided. I was all set to do the Epley Maneuver (used to move the canaliths out of the canals so they stop causing symptoms), but things calmed down.
So manged to get some things accomplished without caffeine today. I hope I sleep well tonight and remember to turn on my alarm.
As an aside, it only took about a week for my new medicare replacement card to arrive. And true to form, my old one was right where it was supposed to be, but it was stuck on the back of another card. I felt somewhat vindicated because it's not like me to lose things. Now I have two cards.
More to come!
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