I’m Back

ok, i’m human… I get that, but somethings just aren’t fair.

So after my pelvic rotated, my Greenville chiropractor..the wonderful Dr. Barbara Brake adjusted it and helped reduce the swelling and pain oh so gently.  L4 is the last one to reduce in tenderness.

I’m doing SO much better, but still not getting into my kayak..perhaps by mid-week

My SUP board hasn’t arrived either, so I’m pretty much grounded for a while..but on Saturday, I co-teach an SUP class with the County Park and it will be awesome fun…maybe kayak surfing on Friday too!

Everyone else is playing in the water here… summer is rockin.

So lets get back to the reason for this site… breast cancer…. research continues, and studies continue…. still no prevention or cure…. but here’s some news:

A new study conducted by French research organization INSERM, suggests late night work may fuel the risk of developing breast cancer, according to an article published in the International Journal of Cancer.

Results of the study support the possibility of a link between the disruption of the circadian rhythm (which regulates sleep patterns) and breast cancer.

The study looked at a group of 1,232 breast cancer cases—of the cases studied, 13 percent had at some point worked on a night shift.

These late shifts may increase a woman’s risk of cancer by 30 percent.

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The bottom line ladies?  GET SLEEP and no regular night shifts (yes, you nurses too!)

Yes, this is me in my Tahe marine Greenland kayak this past weekend.  We had 3 very active days of offering instruction and I even rolled, but the balance brace dizziness freaked me out, and then evening in bed was even worse.

Thank you to my dear friends and family for your responses… all good ( and nice to know people care!)

Mystery solved!

I saw my pcp today who referred me to an ENT.  We did a couple of tests that sent my dizzy factor through the roof and he diagnosed it immediately.  BPPV .  Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a disorder in which changing your head position with respect to gravity leads to sudden vertigo—a feeling that the room is spinning around. The vertigo can vary in its intensity from mild to severe, usually lasts for less than one minute, and may be accompanied by other symptoms,

BPPV is a disorder involving the vestibular system in the inner ear. It develops when calcium carbonate crystals, which are known as otoconia, shift into and become trapped within the semicircular canals (one of the vestibular organs of the inner ear—see diagram). The otoconia make up a normal part of the structure of the utricle, a vestibular organ adjacent to the semicircular canals. In the utrical, the otoconia may be loosened as a result of injury, infection, or age and they land in a sac (the utriculus), where they are naturally dissolved.

However, otoconia in the semicircular canals will not dissolve, and, as a person’s head position changes with respect to gravity, the otoconia begins to roll around and push on tiny hairs lining the semicircular canals. Those hairs act as sensors to give the brain information about balance. Vertigo develops when the hairs are stimulated by the rolling otoconia.

Movements that can trigger an episode of BPPV include rolling over or sitting up in bed, bending the head forward to look down, or tipping the head backward. In most people, only a single ear is affected, although both ears may be involved on occasion.

..and you thought this was just about breast cancer!

Anway, he said it should improve in the next few days (and to keep my head propped up at night).  woo-hoo!!  And maybe not to kayak for a few days (boo-hoo!)…

Bottom line, not cardiac and not brain tumor related…and that my dear friends and family, is HUGE and I’m so thankful for that!

 

Life is interesting, if nothing else…… just when you think you think you’re stable, something happens to remind you how fragile you are.

In my case, I’ve developed dizziness whenever I’m in a prone position and roll to one side or the other… makes getting out of bed a whole lot of fun with the room spinning!

Likely causes?  Dunno…could be inner ear, heart, parkinsons, brain tumor (what, again!?) and who knows what other possibilities… sigh…. I’ve had this for almost a week now and it doesn’t show signs of abating.  I had this before starting my meds for high blood pressure, so it isn’t med related… ya know, getting old gracefully is challenging!

Interesting, I can roll my kayak without a problem, but going into a balance brace laying on the water….not so good a feeling.

I’d love for life to just let me be well so I can enjoy it more fully, but apparently, medical issues aren’t done with me yet.

 

Life is a balancing act

Last year was a low bar…. 9 months traveling back and forth between Duke Hospital in Raleigh and our home in western NC.

This year, after a shaky start, I get to play.  And having my sister come play and learn a balance brace in a kayak …well, I just can’t stop talking about it!(yes, that is a picture of her in my Vital 166)

Of course interwoven with the fun is other ‘stuff’…. my back was a problem, and so I resorted to an extreme stretch… the back actually recovered, but I think I either tore a rotator cuff or deltoid muscle….after 1.5 months of no change, time to get medical consultation.

That said, I’m addicted to catching up on all I’ve missed in playtime.  Today we went out kayak surfing with friends… another glorious day surfing with the dolphins.  One must have gotten too close to a motor boat…we named him Snipper.

A new location for us… we surfed at the Breach Inlet on Sullivan’s Island (between Sullivans Is. & IOP)  just perfect waves to play with.   After we got back and washed our gear, I opened my rescue towbelt and re-discovered the unique shell my sister had found that I carefully stowed…except there was a stow-away in it!  Not near salt water, I drove him back to the nearest launch area so he wouldn’t suffer and die…  imagine, in that wet towbelt overnight and immersed in the water with me today as I wore it around my waist, but confined…. I guess even the smallest of us can hold on and be tenacious until we are in balance once again.