The update you've been waiting for!!!

Holy crap, have I waited sooo very long to say this.  I think I'm FINALLY starting to notice some improvements with my vertigo!!!  It's such a miracle and I'm so thrilled.

It started with such a small thing but has made me so much more aware of the daily symptoms that I experience, and from that, it's snowballed into my awareness of small improvements all over the place!  I was watching TV about 2 weeks ago and there was a commercial where a dude had a helmet camera and was skiing - I had to (obviously) look away but then I realized that I hadn't had to look away from the TV in a few weeks!  I know this sounds so small, but truly, looking away from shows and commercials was such a regular occurrence because so many things made me dizzy, so to notice that I hadn't had to do that in a while was HUGE!

Rob and I started talking that other small things had improved as well.  I've been able to be on the computer longer, given the day.  Today, funny enough, happens to be a dizzy day, so I'm blogging this while looking away from the screen, but a week ago I was on the computer for longer and was thrilled - it's the overall progress, for sure!  My girlfriend also pointed out that my walk/gait is so much better, she said I'm not walking so much like an old lady any more and my doctor notice I'm not so wooden when I talk (meaning, I move my head more, I'm sure I always kept it animated voice-wise, knowing me, ha!)

Anyway, I know these all seem like tiny little things but I'm incredibly thrilled because when I'm living with symptoms every single day, it's incredible to notice ANY improvements, and that makes me have so much hope for my body continuing to heal and heal!  Hopefully this is just the beginning and it'll just get better from here.

It's funny, the Ellen show is giving away a trip to Australia and I wrote an essay letting her know I would love to give that as a gift to Rob.  I know we've already been, but I firmly believe that trip was our one ray of sunshine last year, and when we came home to immediate home destruction, it added to what was already such an incredibly tough and heartbreaking year.  Yah, it's not realistic to expect to win that contest but it really got me thinking that it was so amazing to watch Rob so happy and relaxed there, and I've just been so incredibly grateful to him for all of his support, love and steadfast partnership throughout this entire process.  I cannot imagine a better partner in life, and while I would never have asked for this awful health detour, I'm so very grateful to have had Rob by my side throughout the whole ride.  I wouldn't have survived it without him.

Onward and upward!!!

The doctor still has some tricks up his sleeve, he's talked about various treatments that are still waiting in the wings and possibilities for treating my vertigo (thinking outside the box kind of treatments, cutting edge kind of stuff) such as inner-ear steroid injections and IVIG.  More on that here, if interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin
We're drawing some interesting blood work and having some good "larger picture" discussions, so I really appreciate his efforts to keep plugging away at my symptoms. 

The oral steroids have totally helped my ear injection aftermath and the ringing and pressure is soooo much better.  All good things!  I hope to be able to report more and more healing, and I hope you're enjoying all the Aussie pics!!!
I'm going to end with an amazing quote from Martha Washington that I think really sums up how I've tried to look at my 2012 - she nails it.  "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not upon our circumstances".