As a young man I had always considered myself to be a fairly balanced individual, but at age thirty five it was officially confirmed I was anything but. Now I don't want you to assume from reading the above that I'm some sort of unbalanced maniac who at any given moment will leap through the screen and knife you, rather if you just give me a minute while I put this knife quickly away I'll try to explain.
As a child I had always been prone to headaches. At the time my headaches were dismissed as sinus and mild allergies and during my schooling I spent much of my time in the school sick bay, so much so I began to think of it as my second bedroom. As time went on I did my best to live with the headaches with varying degrees of success. Somehow I made it into adulthood and once I achieved one of my many goals by marrying my girl and starting a family the headaches had transformed themselves into full blown dizzy spells. At first I was treated for everything from inner ear infection to vertigo but my condition continued undeterred. As a last resort I was referred to a neurologist who after some tests announced I had a rare condition known as episodic ataxia type two, a neurological condition which can cause dizziness, slurred speech and on occasions black outs. Between attacks I'm perfectly alright, but when they occur it's like being on an out of control roller coaster with absolutely no way off. I simply have to sit down and wait for the ride to end, which it eventually does. Fortunately this condition is treatable and I began a course of medication which at first appeared to be working, until the side effects kicked in and I developed kidney stones. I spent the next few months in and out of hospital (I won't begin to discuss the food). I was in constant pain for almost two months waiting for surgery, and naturally my medication was stopped for fear of doing more damage to my kidneys. Once this hurdle had been the jumped the hunt was on for an alternative medication, and the attacks began once more and unfortunately much more frequently.
As I write this I am still awaiting my medication, which for various reason keeps getting delayed, in fact I now keep a journal entitled "And today's excuse is...." just to lighten the mood, but with support from my family and support base I know I can overcome this condition. I am now able to spot the warning signs when an attack is imminent, and nine times out of ten I recover straight away in order to get on with what needs to be done. One final thing; as we all know the earth is constantly spinning and due to gravity we simply don't notice. Well I and others who are unfortunate enough to have this condition know exactly what it's like, and I'm happy to say once you manage to get used to it it's really not that bad, it's not fun but it's manageable.Sharing this experience is honestly like having a massive weight lifted from my chest, and I know one day hopefully in the not too distant future my balance will be restored. Thank you for reading.
Update: Since writing this Hub I have now been placed on a steady medication. While there is no cure for my condition my medication has stabilized my attacks, so I very much live one day at a time, which isn't a bad thing. Through it all my wife has been my rock and I dedicate this article to her. Without her love and support I would never have made it this far! I'm the pen and she is definitely my paper!
Yours in writing,
Jez Cartner
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