What's Worse Than A Headache?

Not, the answer is not "Congress." Um, well, it is, but that's not what I was after--

Yesterday morning went as planned, took my headache into the shower and emerged feeling a bit better; took up the ol' neti pot and ran warm salt water through my nose (big fun! Usually helps, too). When I finished, I realized that with every movement, the room was spinning and lurching: vertigo!

It was very mild. I've had it before. The main thing is to not let it get to you; if you can keep your balance (mainly by using external references), it's like being a little tipsy without the mental blurriness. So I kept on getting ready, with the occasional sigh or giggle over missteps and Sock-Donning Adventures (and it truly is, when you're precessing like a tumbling gyroscope).

Told Tam what was going on. She was not as amused, warning, "You'd better stay home." In hindsight, not such a bad idea; but we're short-handed Fridays and I have better uses for the pooled Personal Time Off we draw both vacation and sick days from.

In I drove and it wasn't too bad. Figured things were looking up. Indeed, for the first hour or two, if I was careful how I moved, I hardly noticed.

Then it started getting worse. And worse. And worse. Started to feel like my throat was closing up, even. By the time I was working (ground crew!) with a tower-climber, my head was seriously spinning and nausea had commenced. As soon as that job was done, I checked out and drove to the nearest health-care provider.

Almost didn't make it. There were two turns at normal city speeds. My car made a 90°; my head made an 810°. But I got there, stumbled through check-in, triage (which they've finally started calling that, instead of some nice-Nancy obfuscating name), and found myself in an exam room being offered anti-nausea meds.

Didn't have to ask me twice. After bein' looked over by an M.D., I was fitted with an IV and shot up with an assortment of Modern Drugs. All of it aimed at the symptoms; the verdict was that they didn't know what was wrong but they could darned well control the effects.

It worked, too. Head still spinning, I was asleep in minutes; work up an hour later and...no spin! Weak, a bit out of it (little antihistamine in the mix) but gyros fully functional. It was such a relief I went back to sleep 'til they came back 'round a couple hours later and asked pointed questions about how maybe there was someone who could drive me home?

And here I are; Tam took me home (they promised not to tow my car) and other than a dinner break (pizza; it's loaded with nutrition, y'know), I have been asleep ever since. 16 hours? Longer.

I didn't even have a chance to tellya about the -- holy Joe McCarthy! -- spies for Cuba who showed up last week, workin' in the State Department. You'll have to come back later for that.