What led to the discovery

Cruising to Hawaii - April, 2003

At wedding reception - March 15, 2008

Back to the brain tumor story. In 2002 and 2003 I had a lot of dizziness. I would go to the doctor and complain of dizziness and he would check my blood and say that everything seemed to be okay. During early 2003, I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and started the usual round of antibiotics. It went away. About a month later, the same thing happened. I went back to the doctor and it was at that time that he decided I needed to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat doc.

Around July of that year, I have my first appointment with an ENT. He thought that I needed to undergo some additional tests, so they were scheduled. Let me back up a moment and add that during the last two weeks of April, John and I had the most wonderful vacation ever and we have traveled a lot! We took a two week cruise to Hawaii. It was relaxing, romantic and just the best ever. It was after this trip that the "fun" began.

The tests were unusual. First, the hearing test. That was not unusual at all, but the tests that followed were quite an experience. (My hearing is normal, by the way.) Next, I was called into an examining room and I sat on the table facing what looked like a metal bar. The lights were turned out and one eye was covered and I was told to follow the light with my eye. First, it went up and down, then it jumped randomly about. This was done, of course, on both eyes. Next, came a really fun test. I lay down on the table and the technician says, "I'll get a trash can, just in case you throw up". I said "WHAT?" Yes, I heard her right. She says this often makes people sick, especially if they are prone to motion sickness. (I did just mention that I went on a cruise, didn't I?) What happened next was very uncomfortable. First, warm air was blown into my left ear for about 20 seconds, followed by cold air. It really makes the room spin, but I didn't get sick, just queasy. Now that you know what's going to happen, yep, you're right, it's done to the right ear. Not a good day!

Of course, I was told to make an appointment for the next week and the doctor would go over my test results with me. When I went back for that appointment, he said there were some abnormalities on the right side and he thought an MRI was in order, so he made the appointment for the MRI with contrast for the next week.

Thought for the day:

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Murphy's Law