Julianne!
I have been thinking about you and haven't seen you on the boards very much in the last few days and hope that you are doing ok. I hope you are having a good spell and are just busy doing things!!!!
Just wanted to check in with you and say hi! And that I am praying for you!!!
Blessings!
Vicki

Julianne!
I have been thinking about you and haven't seen you on the boards very much in the last few days and hope that you are doing ok. I hope you are having a good spell and are just busy doing things!!!!
Just wanted to check in with you and say hi! And that I am praying for you!!!
Blessings!
Vicki

HI Vicki,
I have been a bit busy I guess, and short on words. But I am still here. I have actually had a good day today, but it's been up and down. I was scheduled to go to the neuro-otologist on Monday but had to reschedule for the 22nd because my husband had a work conflict and couldn't drive me the 80 miles up to Denver. I could do it myself, but I don't want to, and I have the kids to deal with, so I decided to just reschedule. It's not like I have any new news for him, it's just a follow up anyway. I am anxious to discuss some things with him, but I doubt it will be all that enlightening. I suspect I will get the "well, just have to wait and see..." line.

How are you doing? Have you been having low symptoms? I hope so. Thanks for asking about me, I have been thinking of you too. Hope you are well. Are you doing anything for Christmas? We were planning a trip out east, but we scrapped it. It was just too hectic to be worth it. I'll go out east again in a few months to see family, but not right now.

Well, thanks for checking in, I hope you are well too, let me know.
Julianne

Hi, Julianne!
So nice to hear from you! Sounds like you have been keeping busy. I know for me that is a good thing. The busier I am the better it is cause I don't think about how I feel so much.
I am going to a neuro-optometrist on the 18nd. I am really hoping that he can find maybe something about my eyes that has been hindering my compensation. I am not looking forward to getting my eyes dilated and doing the eye tests for an hour and a half. It is so hard to stop and concentrate on anything. Do you have that trouble? If I stop and focus on someone for conversation or sit on the phone too long it can make me feel worse and nauseated.
I have been up and down. Today I had to go in town this morning and didn't feel like going but it landed up being a good thing cause I felt pretty good the rest of the day. For the last few days my eyes have just felt kind of jumpy and it is unsettling. But overall I am thankful to feel as good as I have.
I am reading the book by David Jeremiah and it is SOOOOOOOOO good! I cry thru almost every section. I am using it in my quiet time and really meditate on the message. It sure helps keep this thing in perspective.
I am finding that since I have been thru this suffering I have alot more compassion for others in their suffering and also when I am counseling someone in the Lord it is so much deeper in me to touch them for the Lord. I guess since I have seen Him get me thru this so far, I can really tell them now, He can help you and He loves you!!!
Probably was good that you didn't drive to Denver yourself. You all have alot of traffic!!! Denver is one of my least favorite cities to drive in. You can tell that the population has grown much faster than the size of the highways!
I get a little unnerved just driving the 8 miles to town and back. But I am doing it anyway cause I know I need to.
How is homeschool going? It is hard to believe that Christmas will soon be here. I did get the Christmas tree up for the boys. It was so worth it cause they enjoyed it so much. They are 5 and 9. Don't have big plans for Christmas. My daughter is flying in from New Mexico and I am looking forward to that. I am praying I will be able to fully enjoy her stay! I do have some Christmas cards done. We don't really have a whole lot of family to buy for. We have always kept the gifts in our own family minimal. It will be a quiet Christmas for us but that is ok right now!
Well, time for bed!
Take care! Thanks for checking in!
Blessings!
Vicki

Hi Vicki,
I am glad you are staying busy too. I guess I should tell you one of the big things that is keeping me busy and seems to be helping me with my symptoms for the most part. I have started up my pre-vestibular disorder running schedule again. I run 6 days a week, and I am increasing my times gradually, but I actually did a two hour run/hike (in the mtns which for me requires some walking!) on Sunday with my husband. I am trying to do 5 moderate days and one long day each week. This has been my third week, and I have been really consistant about it. I am not happy with my weight which is about about 13 lbs from before this mess started in June. However, there hasn't been much improvement there even though it's been 3 weeks of consistant running. I probably need to diet, but I absolutely hate too. You know how most people have at least one evil thing that sort of torments and tempts them on and off? Well, mine is food. Sometimes I feel in control, but a lot of the time I just eat too much, and the darn stuff calls to me from the pantry. When I am running consistantly I can get away with eating a little more, but when I stop, the weight creeps right up again.

In any case, the running seems to clear my head most of the time. I can feel really lightheaded and buzzy, but I force myself to run and it's like the blood circulating clears all that vestibular gunk outta there! Not really, but it feels that way. Sometimes the plan backfires, but usually it's a good thing. I was told by the doctor that exercise was really important in managing this tiresome ailment. At the time, I felt so bad I couldn't even conceive of it, but now that I am having some 80% days I find myself getting back into a routine.

The schooling is going well. I don't know if I told you I am using the sonlight curriculum. Are you familiar with it? This week was light, and so was last week with the holiday. I used this week to catch up on what we missed last week, and then I took the boys on a field trip to the local pioneer museum yesterday.

I completely understand what you are talking about with the telephone thing. If I spend too long on the phone, or sitting in front of the computer I get buzzy. I also have trouble with the cel phone. I have figured out that using the ear piece instead of holding the phone to my ear helps. I am not sure why, but it seems to filter some of those painful high tones that are like a gong being clanged against my head.

Where we are just south of Colorado Springs we don't have terrible traffic. But if I get on the freeway and head about ten miles north it starts to congest on the north side of town. And the trick with Denver is to stay as far away as possible during rush hour. Then it's not too bad.

My boys are really excited about Christmas. We weren't going to be here, but now that we are, we are getting into the decorating spirit. We will go pick a tree this weekend. I let them pick a new ornament yesterday and that made their day.

Well, good to hear from you again,
Julianne

Hi, Julianne!
Boy, do I miss my running! I have been exercising for about 11 years only to stop long enough to have a couple of babies! :) I run on my treadmill and was feeling the best I have felt in my life when this thing hit. I had my weight where I wanted it and bingo! I can't be on the treadmill right now cause the therapist told me that it sends the wrong messages to my brain about visual signal which makes sense. I am praying about what to do to get back to exercising again. Besides all this other stuff I am dealing with physically right now I am also smack dab in the middle of menopause and I KNOW that the running was keeping the depression at bay. Anyway, I can tell I have either gained some weight since I quit running or else my body is just changing shape from lack of exercise. I have always loved running. I don't really have ideal places to run where I live but may get my husband to make me a path I can begin to run on.

Being where I am in my age I have to be really careful how much I eat. Right now I am pretty disciplined, thank You, Lord! Food and weight management has always been a real struggle for me. I don't actually diet any more. I just keep track of calories and try to lose by leaving out 200 or 300 a day when I need to. I gain weight SO easy. I know it is probably a result from yo-yo dieting when I was young! My 23 year old daughter is a nutritionist and has taught me SO much about eating right. She has really helped me learn to eat better and learn how to eat in bulk things that satisfy.

I haven't heard of the sonlight curriculum. I just put my boy's curriculum together (so far) so I haven't really looked at alot of different ones. I just kind of take it one year at a time. We have a wonderful Christian bookstore called Mardels that has SO much to pick from in curriculum. Actually pretty overwhelming. But I look forward to going just to see what I can find for him.

Cell phones are awful for me, too. I have to just hold it away from my ear. When I am feeling not so good, my ears are SO sensitive to noise. Every little clang just vibrates thru my head. Can cause my whole body to react in tension. I hate it for the boys, cause it is hard for boys to be quiet. I am constantly shooing them out of the room. That is one of the main reasons I keep praying for healing cause I feel like I just can't be what the boys need mom to be right now.

I had one of the deacons from our church tell my husband that he couldn't get me off his mind one morning during his prayer time and just felt like we should practice James 5 and come and anoint me with oil and pray for me. I have had a longing for that all along but have left it up to the Lord. At this point in my illness I have seen God teach me so much that, honestly, I can say that I truly don't want to miss what He has for me. So, I am praying for the right timing. Have you had anyone from your church come to you to pray according to those verses yet? I looked at those verses today and according to the commentary that I am using right now this verse was for those who were very sick, beyond medical help and requested the prayer themselves. I have really been praying about that and trying to understand God's will in that. Where I am at now is, since my suffering in this thing, I have become more sensitive to other people's suffering and now it is like for me, why should I expect God to heal me when so many others are hurting in one way or another. I know that it probably isn't the way I should look at it, but the question is still there.

Anyway, just some thoughts I am having. I keep seeing God bigger and bigger tho' and that has been awesome. He is truly holding ALL things in His perfect hands! Something that really touched my heart and caused me to just cry is:
Are you familiar with the picture of Jesus holding the lamb on His shoulders? Well, during my quiet time I always pick three attributes of God and just meditate on them. One of the names of God I was thinking about is that He is our Shepherd. Then that picture came to mind and I just found out recently that the lamb on His shoulders is a wounded lamb. Julianne, that is us!!!!! He is carrying us on His shoulders right now!!! GLORY!

Well, better go and get on. It is so nice to talk to you! I am amazed at how attached I am to the other dizzys I have been in contact with on this board. You really do get connected. I thank the Lord for the internet. Wouldn't it be lonely in this illness without it!

Have a great day!!!

Vicki