I went to my ENT surgeon on April 22nd and the surgeon agreed that the Endolymphatic Sac decompression would be the best option for me considering I am starting to have symptoms in my left ear as well. The type of surgery I am having is called Endolymphatic sac enhancement (ESE). ESE is the enlargement of the bony cavity that surrounds the endolymphatic sac by drilling away bone. I am so excited that I can barely stand it!! LOL I wanted the surgery at the hospital by my house but I could get the surgery sooner by going to another hospital he works out of. I would have had to wait a whole other six weeks if I chose the hospital right by my house and I want it done now! LOL

The surgeon is really cool and worked for a time at the University of Michigan and the Michigan Ear Institute so he knew everything about it and said the right things that I felt confident about him as a surgeon. I have to stop my IB 800 and herbal remedies for 2 weeks before and after so my arthritis and Meniere's symptoms will be bad but I'll swap that for my surgery any day.

My cousin, Carol got out of the hospital at 2 pm on the 22nd so we went straight from there to the surgeon's office. LOL What a pair we make. LOL She has congestive heart failure but at least it's the reversible kind. She also has a urinary tract infection. We also think she had another minor stroke due to some new weakness on her right side. I have a call in to her Neurologist to see if they can order another MRI. She is doing okay on the new meds so I am pleased about that. She should be doing a lot better by the time I have my surgery.

Thankfully other than Meniere's and my severe hearing impairment I am healthy so this surgery will give me my life back. I will still have to watch my sodium intake, manage my many allergies but all in all I will be doing so much better.

I am falling asleep so time for bed. Night everyone! Thanks for all your support!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I had a migraine so ended up spending the day in bed. It was probably due to the snow storm that came in. Yes, we had a white Christmas here. It was beautiful. My cousin made a great dinner and she's a great cook. I started to feel better after my second dose of migraine medication. I called the next day to make an appointment to get on stronger migraine meds.

I have been enjoying playing Sims 2. I can't play most of my games since the action makes my dizziness worse. Sims 2 is slow an I control the pace so I can at least play that now and then. I admit some days I make people and then torture them just to make me feel better. LOL Better in a game than in real life. LOL

My Meniere's is pretty bad. I am trying everything I know how but I am getting very little relief. It truly sucks. I can take a whole 5 mg of Diazepam but I become very out of it and Carol has lots of trouble waking me. She has taken to spraying me with a plant water sprayer. LOL It works most of the time. I just hate feeling so out of it. It appears to be kicking in so goodbye for now.

Have a safe and fun New Year's! May your New Year bring you everything you are hoping for.

We have snow on the ground and a little storm coming tomorrow and and a bigger storm on Saturday. Yippee. NOT! LOL

I am not doing very well as far as my Meniere's goes. Just very dizzy, migraines and way off balance. My allergy shots are going okay. My food allergy results came back and fortunately I am only allergic to shellfish, nuts and chocolate. I already knew about the chocolate and nuts since both give me migraines.

The news is talking about the FDA wanting to force processed foods to lower their sodium. I would be thrilled since I have to avoid processed foods especially soups, chili, hot dogs, salami, etc. because they are so high in sodium. I pray they will force the issue. People who want more salt can just add more from their salt shaker. I can't even own a salt shaker. LOL

Well, I had better catch a quick nap and ice my head to get this migraine to calm down. We really need to go get some groceries before tomorrow.

Hello my friends. I am doing about the same health-wise and have had all sort of heart tests so now I know my heart is healthy. I am happy about that. I got all my dental work done. I also got all sorts of allergy testing and am now getting allergy shots. LOL The only things I am NOT allergic to are feathers and mold so my doctor came in and told me I am allergic to the earth. LOL Now I still have to have a sleep study to prove I have sleep apnea. That should be fun! NOT!

We had a nice Thankgiving with a family in our church. There was tons of food but I had to be careful what I ate. I lasted about 3 hours before I started to get a migraine so they brought us home. We had a small precooked turkey breast here at home so we ate some last night. We are about to have some now for lunch.

If I feel up to it later I will put the outside Christmas lights. I still have my migraine so that may have to wait. I overdo the lights but I just love Christmas lights. LOL Next comes my Christmas village and train. The village lights up and the cat lays in the middle of town every year. LOL She even swats at the train now and then but mostly she leaves it alone.

I better get some lunch so we can clean since our Avon lady is coming over. LOL Bye for now and take care.

I am so freaking happy I could just dance around and scream! That would make me dizzy though so I will let my friends do the dancing around. LOL

I got on the phone and made a dentist appointment to get all my dental work done since they won't have dental next year. Then I scheduled my stress test to check for blocked arteries in my heart. This is to follow up on those abnormal spots on my brain that were most likely small strokes. Then I scheduled an appointment with my ENT! I need help with dietary changes and how to monitor my salt levels. I am tired of having constant dizziness and imbalance. The brain fog is also extremely annoying. My ENT can also do the allergy testing to find other triggers including food, plants and environmental. That will help me avoid triggers wherever possible. Once all that is done I can see if avoiding my triggers and the dietary changes help ease my symptoms or if I will be applying for Social Security Disability.

My apartment manager is going to clean our air conditioning ducts to help with the dust. Then we will have to get some air filtration systems. We already use allergen filters in the a/c unit and that use to help but when you live in a place for 20 years the air ducts need to be cleaned. Yuck! I hate to think of all that crap we've been breathing.

In other words, things are looking up for our household. Hopefully things will stay that way for a while.

The return of Ghost Whisperer, Heroes, and Jericho (which will be a mid season replacement).

I am getting so frustrated with the USA and the government that I am very close to moving to Canada! I just can't believe how long it has taken since I applied over a year and a half ago. The judge that held the pre-hearing phone conference was really nice and very angry as to why this is taking such a long time. This is a prime example of why Michael Moore did the movie "SICKO." This country is falling apart and failing it's citizens. It amazes me when this country helps out other countries after a disaster. Not that I am not sympathetic towards other countries in need but the US needs to take care of their own too! Did you know you can receive social security even if you live in Canada or Mexico? After you live in Canada 6 months you are eligible for their universal health care. That idea is sounding better and better by the day.

I joined a Meniere's Support group and have been learning a lot about my illness. I am one of the severe cases. Aren't I lucky? Everyone is great and very supportive when one of us is having a bad time of it. Most everyone is on disability and those that are working are realizing their illness is causing them to miss too much time to continue working. That is somewhat discouraging but I am not very surprised really. I have been researching this disease for months now and am aware there is no cure for it. I have already lost more of my hearing in the right ear. My left ear is starting to have a ringing in it too. My Meniere's friends tell me it is unfortunately common for Meniere's to eventually move to the other ear. Hopefully it's nothing and will go away.

Not much else going on here. My sister who was keeping me from seeing the kids and avoiding me like the plague has all of a sudden started calling me almost daily to see how I am feeling. It shocked me the first time but I was polite and didn't say anything like "who are you and what did you do with my sister?" LOL I even got to talk to some of the kids too which was fun. I really miss playing with them but my cousin usually drives and can't handle all the kids so doesn't want to go over. We do want to have a few of them over for sleep overs but my sister is still avoiding that. One thing at a time I guess.

Yet again my Medicaid hearing is being postponed. My attorney is requesting another pre-hearing phone conference. He is really ticked off that they are requesting I see doctor's who have nothing to do with Meniere's. I admit it is pretty stupid! They insisted a Neurologist is who I would see for Meniere's which s completely WRONG! Utah legal services is paying for a follow-up visit with my Ear doctor who is clearly the correct doctor. The doctor;s office thinks the Medicaid review is just stupid since they could look up Meniere's and would know what it is but they said the review board are not medically trained. That explains a whole lot about the delay! OMG! The funny thing is that they denied me because they felt I would not be disabled for a year. It's been 1 1/2 years now! So much for that theory!

I am having a 24 hour EEG on Monday. I have to wear the head wires and mini monitor for 24 hours so that should be loads of fun! They are trying to rule out any seizure activity. I am NOT leaving the house until it comes off at 1 pm on Tuesday. Then I have to run home, shampoo my hair and head over to the ear doctor's at 4:20 pm. At least then I will be done with all my appointments for the medicaid appeal! It's amazing how pathetic the USA health care system is! If you haven't seen Michael Moore's new film, "SICKO," then you REALLY should. It compares our pathetic system to health care systems throughout the world. It's VERY TRUE!

There is not much else going on here. I do have a few hours here and there when my vertigo is a bit more manageable so we run around and fit in as many errands as we can! Then I am usually down again with an attack. It's VERY frustrating!

I have found some comfort in listening to Inspirational music on a new radio station here in SLC. It's 94.5 The Oasis and it truly is and Oasis since it can take you away from real life issues for even just a little while. It also reminds me that God is never far away even if we forget sometimes. If you have broadband, you can listen to the radio station on line:

http://www.975oasis.com/

I hope some of you enjoy it as much as I do. That's all for now. Peace out.

If you won $100 this afternoon, what would you do with it? Buy my cousin a new shirt, go see the new Harry Potter movie, buy food and fill my car with gas.

Hello friends,

Sorry I wasn't around but I had a major Meniere's attack. I have learned yet another trigger for attacks ... READING! That sucks too since I love to read. I guess it's the eye movement but man did it trigger a MAJOR attack! I did get to read all of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." I LOVED THE BOOK! It was everything I had hoped for and more! It was clear that there would have to be some deaths during the final battle with Voldemort. It was sad to lose some characters but it had to happen or it wouldn't have been the most incredible battle since Book 5.

Like my new icon? That is Skeet Ulrich from CBS Jericho! Please watch it! We worked hard to bring the show back after CBS cancelled it so we need everyone watching to give it a fair shake. The show is excellent. Very serious stuff I will warn you. Go to CBS.com and watch past episodes and you'll see what I mean. It was my favorite show this season beside Heroes!

I am anxious for my hearing on August 2nd for Medicaid. I will hopefully get the medical help that I need so I can get well or at least as well as I can be. I do realize Meniere's is not cure-able but the other issues they found in the process of diagnosing my severe vertigo are cureable. I will keep you all posted.

Now for a quick nap. Later!

If you could rename yourself in real life, what would you choose, and why?

I would use my Elvish name. My mother is Joan too and I always hated being little Joan. LOL Besides Alatariel is so different and beautiful. Joan is just too plain.

Hello friends,

Life has been the usual roller coaster here. I am still busy fighting Medicaid to get health care coverage. My vertigo comes and goes but is always there to some degree. The ringing in my ears is VERY annoying but I am getting use to it. My hearing aids are still working well except for speech and certain words. I plan to take a class to try to hone that skill a little more. There are free classes at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center here. I need to take sign language as well even though I have learned some of that.

We had some company from Arizona visit for 5 days. All went okay except that the air conditioning broke for 36 hours. Finally my cousin, Carol started examining the thermostat and saw a few broken wires so I ran over to Wal-Mart and replaced it and the air came on. Woohoo! It's a good thing cause our manager never called me back so had no intention of fixing it for 3 days. Of course now we are looking for a new apartment. I am not going to have to worry about that again. Plus we really want a 3 bedroom. We found a really nice townhouse for $925 so we will check with Housing and see how much of that they will pay and see if we can afford it. It has loads of space so I really hope we can pull it off.

Oh I fell on my kneecap while walking the other day. It's this stupid vertigo thing. Thankfully I didn't break anything. My knee is just swollen, bruised and a bit sore.

Not much else new here. My Medicaid hearing is on August 2nd and by then I will have had the pysch evaluation and another neurological exam. They think a Neurologist handles Meniere's! LMAO That tells me they have no clue what the illness is so I got them each a Meniere's pamphlet. I realize I am going to have to educate them on what exactly Meniere's is. My review worker is excited to learn about it and even looked it up online. I am looking forward to making her an expert so others won't have to go through the same delays I have. I applied over a year ago so this is beyond ridiculous. Let's hope everything goes better once the examinations and hearing are over.

I won't give away any spoilers but the movie was GREAT! The special effects were amazing! The ending does not wrap things up unless you stay to watch the extra scene that airs after the credits roll! MAKE SURE YOU STAY TO WATCH THE SCENE AFTER THE CREDITS ROLL!

Orlando is wonderful as Will Turner and OMG is he ever HOT looking in this film! The previews do not do this film and his role justice. Keira does a wonderful job too! She kicks some serious arse in this movie! LOL Johnny is Johnny. Captain Jack is as crazy as ever. We will probably go see the movie again this weekend if possible.

Healthwise I am doing okay. Dizzy but able to get around a little s long as I have some support like a cane or walker. If I am up too long, then I need to rest more or my head feels like it will explode. The doctors love to say it is a headache or migraine but it is swollen and the pressure is incredible. That is not a headache or migraine. It's clearly inflammation. DUH! LOL

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I admit I was feeling a bit frustrated with our lovely system here in the USA. Of course I am being sarcastic! LMAO

We had the Medicaid pre-hearing and it went well. The head investigator for the state felt there was more than enough evidence to reconsider my application. She was shocked that it had been denied based on the records they already had. They will set a hearing date anyway in case the review board drops the ball as she said. I am hoping it is just approved soon. I am so sick of rehashing the same thing over and over. I just want to get all the testing I need for the inner ear disorder and the bonus heart issue they found in the process of testing me what little they have.

Today is not a good day for my vertigo. My head is swollen so my right eye is swollen partially closed. It's weird when that happens. It's like pressure is building in my head and it will explode. That's the only way I can describe it. The darn doctors keep trying to call it migraines but I tell them over and over that I DO NOT HAVE A HEADACHE! Doctor's can be so very clueless sometimes. It is clearly some sort of inflammatory process. It's not rocket science to figure that out ... then again maybe I am just really smart. LMAO

Other than that, things are going fairly well. Carol just got approved for housing/rental assistance and that will REALLY help us out. We may actually be able to take a few days and go to the southern Utah in the fall like we have dreamed of for many years! Imagine that ... a real vacation? It sounds like a dream because it has been for so long.

Pirates 3 opens tomorrow! WOOHOO! Carol and I can't wait to see it!

That's all for now. I hope all my friends are well.

The doctors were not responding and sending the records in a timely manner so my attorney and I felt it should be postponed so we could have everything we need to get me approved. We have enough at this point but not everything. My attorney and I made the decision to wait to apply for Social Security Disability until after I have been approved for Medicaid. He said the law forces them to have to continue with my Medicaid benefits through the approval process and even any appeals. If I apply for SSDI before I am approved they will just stall even more. Then I spoke with my Ear, Nose and Throat doctor's nurse. They finally sent out a letter with my diagnosis of Meniere's and how they diagnose it and treat it. They also explained that there is no cure but in order to get any medical treatment I need to have Medicaid. That is the main portion of our case so that was great news that the letter has been done and sent to me. I will then fax copies to my family doctor, the lawyer, and my vocational rehab counselor. This will help me get treatment much sooner.

Other than the usual red tape I am dealing with to get medical treatment, things are fairly quiet. Carol is healthy and her brain injury case worker came today. She will help us find new housing that is more handicap accessible. In the meantime Carol qualifies for rent assistance so that will help us save some money so I can pay off my dentist and doctor bills. The manager of our complex told us that her dad is working on selling the apartments as condos so we would have had to move eventually anyway. We have been here since 1987 with no rent increases so we are very lucky to have had this place. They let us paint and do anything we wanted. It will probably be different in a new place but we told her to look for a house to rent. That way we won't have to deal with neighbors above us. Of course that means getting an alarm system but it will be worth it to have more room.

My sister actually called and asked how I was doing. I nearly fainted. LOL I figure she talked to my mom and she told her all the problems I have been having with my dizziness and nausea. She had to watch all 12 kids alone the other day because some of her nannies are on vacation. LMAO She was freaking out because the kids totally take advantage of her. We did discuss having the kids for a sleepover and her concern (or so she claims) is that I will have an attack while they are here. I told her it isn't like I have seizures or thrash around on the floor or anything. LOL I just get dizzy and stumble around. The kids don't care since they have seen it before. I will talk to her tomorrow more about them coming over. I want them over night for Friday and Saturday so it's worth the gas money. :D

Our Orlando Bloom group is turning out to be pretty fun. All of the members are supportive of each other and feel comfortable enough to post anything they want without anyone giving them crap. It's a small group but we all like it that way. If any of my friends want to stop over, feel free to join.

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/ORLANDO_BLOOM_POWWOW/

Hello friends,

Nothing much going on here. I am much better as far as my throat goes but my Meniere's is a constant pain in the butt! The dizziness is VERY frustrating. Even with a walker I walk sideways. I hate feeling pukey from all the dizziness too. I really want my life back but there is no sure for Meniere's so I guess I will just have to learn to deal with it. It's going to be very difficult that's for sure!

I still haven't been approved for medicaid so I haven't been able to follow up on the spots or mini strokes that showed on my MRI. I am just taking an aspirin a day and praying I don't have a worse stroke while I wait for medical care.

I sleep a whole lot so the dizziness doesn't get te best of me but then I have no life but I am hoping balance therapy will help. I start that on April 30th. Sorry to sound so down but life kind of sucks right now.

I am doing much better now that I have been on antibiotics since Monday. I did have strep throat and then got a bronchial cough thing going on. My throat is way better but I am still coughing so that will probably take a while to go away.

My nephew, Jordan called to ask if he and Bethanie could sleep over tomorrow. I told him that would be fine as long as it was okay with his mom. I also told them to find their swimsuits so we can go use the Lions Rec Center/club pool so he said he would go pack their stuff. Then I just got a hunch to call my sister to check if this was okay with her. Of course she said no sleepovers for any of the kids right now. This is her way to keep me from spending time with them. She knows I can't spend the gas money to run back and forth just to do day trips. I am really sick of her crap especially when she is always making excuses why they can't sleep over with their favorite aunt. I can't help they like spending time with me more than her. LOL I feel the same way and would much rather spend time with the kids than with my sister. LOL I guess I will just have to wait until I can take them bowling or something. It will be a while unless I just happen to have a really good day with my Meniere's which hasn't happened in a while.

I do have good news though! Vocational Rehab has approved 6 balance therapy sessions and will approve more if needed! I am not sure how the therapy works but I was told to be sure I have a driver because I will be extremely dizzy/off balance after the sessions. Oh joy! It will be worth it if it eventually helps me have less attacks. I would love to get my life back so I can at least work part time so I can have some money to take a nice vacation and eventually do stuff with the kids.

That's all the news for now. At least there is some good news for a change. :D

My nephew, Patrick who is Down's Syndrome is not doing very well. They are fairly certain he has had a stroke but will be doing an MRI, some heart tests and such within the next few days. Due to his critical conditionm he is on a DNR so they will do nothing to stop the dying process other than to make him as comfortable as possible. If it is his time, then we will know he got as much love as any one little boy could have. I love you Patrick!

The sweet little foal has crossed over Rainbow Bridge.

Here's what I heard from Julie a few hours ago:

The splint arrived Friday and was placed. Saturday's wrap had shown
some further problems with the wound but Dr. Cody re-wrapped with more
support & protection, and the splint was adjusted, again. He decided
to let it rest Sunday and today, when we got there to pick her up the
wound was much much worse.

Without going into a ton of detail every effort was made. The splint
just couldn't account for the medial side of her knee being so much
larger than the other. Infection had now set in, the prognosis not
good at all, and we decided that it was best for Sam to let her go.

Good bye our sweet little Samantha! Run free!

My Meniere's Disease has been giving me grief. I was looking through the dietary changes I need to make to help ease the attacks and man I never realized how high the sodium content is in many of the foods most of us eat. Like 3 ounces of Albacore Tuna packed in water has 320 mg of sodium - PLAIN! One plain beef frank has 430! A 3 ounce smoked Salmon fillet has 667! Man, I am not sure what I will eat now. Thankfully fresh chicken and beef is low sodium and I have never been one to put additional salt on my food so I can work with those meats. Fresh vegetables and fruit are also good and I love those even though they cost more. For snacks I can have air popped pop corn with no salt, unsalted pretzels, dry roasted unsalted peanuts and un salted crackers. YUM-O! NOT! I guess I will get use to it just simply because the attacks are so severe that anything to lessen them is well worth anything I have to go through. Thankfully I am one of those who can feel the attacks coming on so I can prepare by resting and letting the attack run it's course. The attacks make be bedridden pretty much so I will be thankful to eventually take the balance therapy that should teach me how to deal with my Meniere's and the imbalance issues that go along with it. I have to close my eyes during the attacks mostly to avoid feeling pukey while the room spins around me. The attacks also make me sleep a whole lot. I guess it is just the body's way of coping.

On a brighter note, Carol and I won tickets to the Pirates of the Caribbean 3 Fan Event. We will get to see the original film on the big screen along with the premiere of the theatrical trailer for PotC3 trailer! There will be door prizes, lots of free giveaways, etc. If you dress as a pirate, you can win prizes for best contest and such. LOL I think I will skip that part. I will be lucky to be able to stay awake through the movie.

Our friend, Julie got some great news about her little horse rescue, Samantha. Just when they thought they would have to put her down a top Equine Orthopedic Surgeon found a similar case where the horse was cured using a Dynasplint! The Dynasplint rep is donating 100% of the brace! Plus Sam will be taking Myristol, which is a supplement highly recommended by Dr. Hendrix, CSU's Equine Orthopedic Surgeon. They have found it to works better & quicker than Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM products. So between Sam receiving a state-of-the-art splint and a top supplement, we are hoping not only will she survive but SUCCEED! This is the best news ever! This little foal has won our hearts so we want her to have the life she deserves even that means adopting her out once she has healed. I wish I could adopt her but with the small income I have it just isn't possible. I will just have to settle for helping Julie groom the horses when I am able. Now that I have my own walker I will be able to get around a little better and fall less. Just being around the horses makes me happier so it helps my depression. Maybe someday I can have my own horses to love and care for. It could happen. :D

That's all from here. My sister's kids are well now that the stomach flu has swept through their house. Of course Carol and I went no where near them so we have been safe so far. LOL I do have a sore throat though so I am not thrilled about that. I am sucking on a sore throat and cold homeopathic sucker so hopefully it will help.