Saturday, December 07, 2013

Vertigo

12.7.23 TRC Morrisville, mid afternoon

I decide to bury my brain thoughts and just climb.  Just relax, just climb, just follow, just breath.  

My second climb includes an under-hang.  As I place my hands on the holds things start to feel a bit surreal.  And when I get to the under-hang I experience something that might have been Vertigo. 

“Down.  Down.  Down”  These are not climbing terms.  This is Jamie.  Scared.

My tone is such that my belayer lowers me immediately and I bury my head in my shoulders to untie myself and hide the impending tears. 

My belayer gets me a Gatorade and I explain my concerns.  Then I say  ‘I’m done climbing for today.   And I think I’m going to stop running and working out for a bit too.  And, I want to go to Ruckus and order a pizza with pepperoni and pineapple and eat as much of it as I want.”  I had been trying to cut down on mindless eating this month but I wanted to rule out all factors that could contribute to dizziness.  So, I don’t care if Barb already made me lunch.  I’m having it again.

I send a text to my psychiatrist (yeah, I have one of those) because I need the judgment of someone with more medical background than me and I have this guy’s cell phone.   We talk and he advises me to take it easy for the rest of the weekend and to see a neurologist on Monday.  He also speculates on possible non-brain causes for dizziness including ear infection.  I feel much calmer having spoken with him.   And I’m excited about pizza.

No comments: