Science in Action

Just over a year ago,  July 26, 2021 to be exact, I came home from Club Sunnyside after spending 30 days in the oncology unit. I was feeling good physically, and very grateful to be back home. As I got out of the car, I felt a little funny. We had had some yard work done while I was gone, and I wanted to inspect it. As I walked out of the garage, my knees buckled and I went down. A rather inelegant version of the conquering hero returning home. 

Since that time, I have been wary of getting out of the car. This syndrome has not been evident, except for exiting the car. There has not been a repeat of the crumpled knees, but I always feel quite unsteady, and I generally have to hang onto the car for a minute or two before I feel ready to walk. Mind you, now, this was not happening after I fully recovered from the chemotherapy that ended in November. 

Well, now it's back. As I have contemplated the cause of this phenomenon, I realized that this is vertigo. So, I started paying closer attention to how it goes down, you should pardon the expression. What I noticed is that the longer the ride, the longer it takes me to gain my steadiness when I get out of the car. I began to wonder if it has something to do with the rapidly changing scenery flashing by as the car speeds along. Well, not "speeds." Jill would never do that, but the scenery does whiz by, when compared to, say, walking. 

Today it happened again on our morning run to North Lancaster for lab tests. When I got the results, it showed my platelets are down again. Darn, I was hoping they were stabilizing. Anyway, this afternoon we went back to the Skyline oncology department for another transfusion. I decided to try an experiment. On the way to Skyline, I kept my eyes shut. It was weird. I could almost tell where we were by the turns and changes in speed. When we arrived at the clinic, the outdoor temperature was at or near 100ºF. I stepped out of the car, and lo and behold, I had far less vertigo. Like 90+% less. Wow!

On the return trip, I changed up the experiment and kept my eyes closed for only about the last mile. Again, when I exited the car, I  had far less vertigo than usual. So, I conclude that the visual stimulation coupled with low platelets, or maybe the chemo, create a sensory overload that translates into vertigo. 

The experimentation will continue. I intend to gradually decrease the distance during which I deprive my eyes of over stimulation until I notice the vertigo increasing. Having determined roughly how far I need to travel in the car without visual stimulation in order to prevent the vertigo, I'll be able to enjoy riding in the car as long as I close my eyes on final approach. Don't you love science?

Wow! After proofreading the part about eyes closed on final approach, I hope no pilots are reading this post! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary. Jill has survived 21 years with me. Our marriage is old enough to drink!! In many ways, it seems like only a couple of years since our wedding day, and in other ways it seems as if we have always been us. This, I believe, is what is referred to in the fairy tales as "wedded bliss." Only, in our case, it isn't a fairy tale at all. It's just, well...wedded bliss. How I love that girl! A year ago today, I finished my induction chemotherapy at Club Sunnyside. Jill picked up German food at Gustav's, which is across the street from the hospital campus. She also picked up Bundt cakes from "Nothing Bundt Cake;" a little one for us and a big one for the oncology staff. It was as fine a celebration as we could muster under the circumstances, and one we will never forget.  Today we had a morning clinic visit. This time for Jill's blood pressure, which with the help of a new medication added to her regimen, is perfect, thank you...
Read more

A Dream Come True

Image
BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11 13-17 ^ Platelets 89 140-375 v ANC 2810 1800-8300 ^ When I was a youngster, probably about 10 years old, my dad introduced me to model making. Mainly we built models from kits, but Dad also taught me how to make a stick and paper airplane from scratch. It actually flew, with the help of a rubber band motor. But one of my favorite plastic model kits was an MG-TD sports car. You may remember this car from your youth (if you are old, like me) or from old movies, or maybe from a car show. It was a little, English two-seater with long sweeping front fenders and a vertical grille. The windshield (well, windscreen, if you are Brit...
Read more

Don' be that guy!

Remember the Mighty Casey? In Ernest Lawrence Thayer's famous poem "Casey at the Bat," he was the pride of the Mudville baseball team. We join the story in the 9th inning:  The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day: The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play, And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game. The crowd was in despair. Down two in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, they were beginning to leave the stadium. The next two batters were the bottom of the order and offered little hope, but Flynn hit a single, and Blake a double. Suddenly, there was hope for the Mudville nine, for the top of the order, none other than the mighty Casey, was coming to bat with two men in scoring position. Even a base hit would keep the game alive, and a home run, well that would end it in a glorious, ecstatic victory.  Now Casey, apparently, had embraced the hype about hi...
Read more