Goodbye

Yesterday I made my second trip to the Ear Nose Throat doctor, did a bunch more tests, and came away with news I'm not real happy with, but will eventually be okay with. I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease, which is an inner ear disease that affects the equilibrium and overall health of the inner ear. It manifests itself in the dizzy spells that have been plaguing me, and the plugged ear feeling I've had in my right ear. And, as far as I can tell, it is lifelong.

Treatment? Low sodium diet and no caffeine, as well as some daily medication. This is where the gluttonous side of me comes out. Low sodium is hard to come by. Check out the sodium content on most foods. However, I am allowed 2000 mg a day, as long as I divide them up equally throughout the day. The caffeine is a little tough to take as well, considering my love for the SB (Starbucks), because even the chocolate I get in my mochas have caffeine. Decaf vanilla lattes? I don't know.

The eerie side of it is that this was what they initially diagnosed my dad with when he had the same symptoms. They eventually switched the diagnosis to a different inner ear disease, but the treatment was the same. I remember the low sodium lifestyle. Dad was on it until he died. I think that that may be where I'm having difficulty. I've seen how this affects everything from going out to eat to going to friends houses, and I remember how horrible I felt for Dad. A friend and I were trying to figure out where to go for lunch, and finally settled on Red Robin where I had fries (no salt) and a gardenburger wrapped in lettuce. Not what I would like, but it stuck to my 300 mg per meal regimen.

So goodbye Reuben sandwiches, goodbye pickles, goodbye salad dressing, goodbye pizza, goodbye deli meats and goodbye chips. And hello fresh fruits and vegetables, no salt butter, cooking with garlic and vinegar, Mrs. Dash everything, and asking for nutritional content information at every restaurant and potluck I go to. It is a change in lifestyle certainly, but I would be silly not to realize that it is a much, much healthier change, and one that any cheating on my part would result in immediate, not fun consequences.

But with all the silly selfishness said, it is not life threatening, it is simply life altering. There were many much scarier scenarios that were possible. So forgive my present selfishness, particularly those of you going through life threatening illnesses, or those of you with family members going through them. My difficulty is not the same, or anywhere close to it.

Lord, please help me to be content with this new change in diet, and thank you for your protection of my life.