Sometimes I Do Have Faith.
Shane missed a magician at school on Monday. Magic is his life, and had we known that there was going to be an assembly of any kind, we would have scheduled his doctor’s appointment for a different day.
But he’s been having some pretty bizarre dizzy spells, so instead, we went to the dizziness specialist.
It started back in July, or maybe August, depending on whether or not you count the headaches that were ruled out as caused by video games. Shane will be sitting there, reading a book, or relaxing on a bed, or playing hide and seek, or – well, just sitting there – and he’ll say, “Mom, I’m dizzy again.”
These are not debilitating dizzy spells. But he says he feels like he is spinning, and I’ll be looking at him, and he’s just sitting still. They only last ten seconds, or a minute, and then they subside.
After six weeks of this, I decided to find the cause. The pediatrician sent me to the neurologist, who said that if the headaches were gone, I should first see our ear doctor. The ear doctor ran a few tests, and said they had no idea what it was – but that I should go to the neurologist.
Since Dylan has a really good neurologist, we went to her – and she declared Shane fit and fine. She said he didn’t have any brain symptoms, and that it had to be an ear issue.
“He could have the aura of a migraine,” she said, writing a prescription. “If these pills work, that’s probably what it is. If not, it’s his ears.”
Well, he didn’t have any symptoms of a migraine, aura or otherwise, so we didn’t even fill the prescription. Instead, we called the ear doctor.
“We might want to check his hearing,” I told them, after days browsing “dizziness” on the internet.
That’s when they sent me to the dizziness specialist. And that’s who we saw on Monday, when Shane missed the school magician.
We were in the office for three hours, and Shane was seen by two top doctors and an audiologist. His hearing is perfect, and we were all thrilled about that.
“But if he’s dizzy,” I asked, “is that a good thing?”
“Yes,” she said. She explained that hearing loss accompanies a lot of different issues – so great hearing rules out all of those.
However, Shane was declared “positive to the left” by the doctor – meaning that when he marched in place with his eyes closed, he turned his body to the left.
No one has any idea why. They have ordered more tests. We have made more appointments.
I worry and I pray and I hope and I think and I try to have faith. And sometimes, I do have faith.
Meanwhile, my gall bladder is pounding. I have a little cough (like once every three days) and I can’t determine if it’s the change in the weather or lung cancer. I have a sharp stabbing pain in my lower left quadrant that has been with me for as long as I can remember. I just turned 50. And I don’t go to the doctor for any of it.
But for Shane, for these tiny instances of dizziness, I go.