Not a good week for Dennis



It started Friday night at a party. Dennis said he felt like things were "just a bit off." But by the time
we got home that evening he said his vertigo from last March was back. 

By the time Monday afternoon came he asked me to make him a Dr's appt. I don't know that he's ever
asked me that before. So I did, and the next afternoon we were at Kaiser.


 The Doctor in Clovis sent us right to Fresno to see a specialist in audiology. 
I called before hand with questions, and luckily found out our appt time was wrong
....it had already passed!
Luckily I mean since we didn't drive all the way over there for nothing.

But we were also left with nothing. No help for yesterday.
Last night he got really bad. At one point I didn't think the vomiting would ever quit. 

But it did. And we made it through the night okay.
This morning I took him here:

Den pretty much takes his towel with him every where we go this week. 
Which, lately, is not very far.



  We even got to see our grandson Austin in action, since he works for Dr. Travis.



I never knew Travis would grow up to be a chiropractor, 
but I did know he would do good in this world.



So Dr Travis taught me how not only to do these maneuvers on Dennis, but he also taught me how to
use my NOTES on my iPhone. I had never even noticed this feature before.

Even though he set us up to do these manipulations at home, I'm thinking we will go back for more
appointments. Travis said it would take about a week of daily doing these for improvement to begin.

We'll take it. As long as we can know help is coming.



Yep. lots has happened to Travis and Logan since 8th grade....

(can't even remember the girl's name in this picture....but I do recognize Logan and Travis.





Lots of memories, including this one Travis of using my bedroom window in 1997 to go "on stage" with his band in our backyard....That was our largest party ever. Over 100 people. 

I hope Dr Travis doesn't see this. He may not want his patients to know he has such a past.

PS  Dennis is much better tonight. I think we may be on to something. Time will tell.

What was interesting to me, is Travis could even identify what side the vertigo is coming from. 
He showed me how Dennis' eyes would flutter when he moved his head to the left, 
thus identifying the left side and also diagnosing the vertigo. 
Apparently it's not as much of a guessing game as I thought. 

17 comments:

Karen Mortensen said...


what a week. Glad he is doing better.

Anonymous said...

Is it meniere's disease? If so, Ely has this. It's debilitating. Hope Den is much better now!
darlene

Susan Anderson said...

That sounds awful! I am praying that he feels 100% very soon.

"/

Grandma Honey said...

It is most definitely awful for him. He does better after the treatments but then it comes back again. I don't like leaving him for more than a few minutes so we are pretty much camped out here.

Grandma Honey said...

Darlene...is Meniere's and vertigo one in the same?? How did they diagnose Ely?

Heidi G. Ballas said...

Hope Dennis continues to see improvement!

I remember feeling SO COOL the night of that party, hanging out with McKay and Tyler "backstage" (in your bedroom). In actuality, I think Logan had put us to work with a some minor task in there, maybe just to keep us occupied and not under foot, lol!

grandmapeg said...

I feel bad for Dennis. My friend has that and it about knocks her out when it flares up. I remember you showing me that picture of that party and you talking about how big it was. That seems just like yesterday. Travis has done well as I'm sure all of that group of friends have done. Hope Dennis gets feeling better soon.

Anonymous said...

Meniere's is a condition that causes vertigo and ringing in the ears... sometimes deafness. For Ely it was just the feeling of spinning whenever he turned his head. And nausea. He felt like he needed to camp out in the bathroom. The chiropractor gave him a move to do to stop it that did something to the fluid in his ears, I think. (There's info on it on the Internet.) It comes back every so often.
darlene

Raven said...

Epley maneuver will only work on certain types of vertigo. I had it bad for two years, and Epley didn't work. Mine was from cellular edema throughout my body, a symptom of autoimmune disease. It's been gone for a year now from a protocol of herbal products and acupressure. Hope Dennis works it out; it's annoying.

Grandma Honey said...

Two years, Raven?! Don't think I'm going to tell him that yet, but it's good for me to know should this continue without stable relief. Then I will know to look into other avenues. Thank you!

Grandma Honey said...

That is so funny Heidi. We have lots of good memories between your family and ours. I cherish them all.

Grandma Honey said...

So I think you answered a question in my mind, Darlene. People have been telling me that if it's Meniere's he would have ringing or sounds in his ears. He doesn't at all. But it sounds like Ely didn't either but was still diagnosed with it.

Anonymous said...

I''ll check with Ely and find out. It's been about a year since he had it.
darlene

Anonymous said...

Just talked to Ely. Yes, he did have ringing and deafness (temporary). He said dramamine helped with the spinning. He was given some kind of nutritional supplements that may have helped, he's not sure. It was a couple of years ago, so he doesn't remember. He said niacin, for sure, though. They had to do with increasing circulation. He said the main thing that helped was time. Like a cold, it had to run its course.
darlene

Lisa said...

I'm a Dr. Travis fan myself. He even saves me from carpal tunnel surgery! He does this weird thing that hurts with my arms & voila! Healed until I do something I'm not supposed to & I'm back in.....

I wish I could see the pics I can just imagine! Fun thing to read but not about Dennis. He's always the picture of health and vitality and to hear that he's "down" makes my heart heavy. lovs n hugs to ya'll!

krheasley said...

Oh no!! Oh poor Dennis. I had no idea this was going on. I sure hope he is able to get some relief soon! Being camped out by the toilet is no fun!

Grandma Honey said...

Darlene...I do remember when Ely was going through all this. Good to know it does eventually go away. I could see where niacin would help. I have him on lots of Vit C, ginger, and ceyenne pepper...for the same reason, increasing circulation.

Karen....He is SO much better! But he did think of you through this and one night he said, "I really feel for Karen."

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