A gift from Zeus

It is Tuesday morning and I am home from the hospital. Wednesday night I was hit by a thunderbolt that literally knocked me off my feet. And I have been suffering vertigo ever since. Unfortunately this is only partially metaphoric.

As I mentioned in my blog Wednesday morning I was going off to locate the E. Pauline Johnson memorial in Stanley Park. I intended to have a short visit with the poet “in company” with my late mom who was a writer of poetry herself and an admirer of Ms Johnson. It would, I thought, be a perfect ending to my days off before returning to work Thursday.

I located the memorial with little problem near 3rd Beach in Stanley Park. It is a large rock in a grove of Maple trees inscribed with the poet’s Christian and Native names, and a likeness of her profile carved into the rock. There is a stream of water running through and over the rock face and into a shallow basin and another larger pool at the base of it.

I ran my hands over the rock and the contours of the poet’s carved face and examined all sides of the rock to gather more detail. On the right side I noticed what appeared to be a jutting shard of rock about 6 inches long, which on closer examination proved to be the carefully carved prow of a birch bark canoe emerging from the rock, and resting inside the canoe a small paddle.

I bathed my face in the water and said a few short prayers of thanksgiving before proceeding along the newly constructed trail/walkway on the ridge above Siwash Rock. This is one of the areas that are being restored after the destructive storm 2 years ago and it is a beauty.

After this I walked home, made dinner and then went down to the beach to watch the sunset.

About 7:30 p.m. I went home to check emails. I sat down at my computer and that is when Zeus threw his thunderbolt.

Everything on the computer screen began to scroll from right to left, I could not focus and I felt that I was going to fall off my chair. At the same time I was becoming violently nauseous and knew I had to get to the washroom. The only way to do that was on my hands and knees.

In a few seconds all my beautiful home cooked dinner was down the toilet but I continued to heave for about another ½ an hour. When the heaving stopped I attempted to stand up. There was absolutely no inner co-ordination and I just toppled over to one side, like a stuffed toy.

I got back up on my hands and knees and rested my forehead on the bathroom floor. I stayed that way for about another 15 minutes and then tried to stand again. Same thing! And to make matters worse, the heaving up began again.

I knew I had to do something quickly but didn’t want to involve family members and worry them and so I called 911.

Rather than go through all the details I will just compact everything by saying I spent 5 days in Saint Paul’s, during which time I had hardly any sleep, was told I might never walk again, had numerous doctors and nurses poking and prodding me at all hours of the day and night, and was suffering severe hallucinations from the Gravol they had mainlined into my veins.

Eventually an MRI scan confirmed that I had not suffered a stroke.

The attending doctor’s prognosis was that it was an inner ear viral infection which is sometimes mistaken for a stroke.

The vertigo problem continues though. On my second day home I am still wobbling around as though I am drunk, and have to use a cane when I go outside for a walk. If the vertigo persists I will have to visit a Neuromuscular Disease specialist.

I have to go back to Saint Paul’s tomorrow for a heart ultrasound test.

When Zeus tosses a thunderbolt, he doesn’t mess around. And it can sure screw up your whole routine!