tired

tired of the ringing. the buzzing, humming, popping. tired of the noise. tired of reading lips and saying "what?" when i didn't catch it all. tired of missing out on conversations. the tv's on but i can't hear it. i turn it up but it's just noise. understanding is impossible. everything and everyone sounds like charlie brown's teacher... wagh, wagh, wagh, wagh. the fluids in my ears are heavy. sitting up. standing. turning my head. it's all a struggle but i smile. i smile through it all. everyday i put on a brave face. i want to have a good day. but eventually i can't anymore. eventually i cry. i cry. i cry. i don't want to be dizzy anymore. i want to go shopping for new fall boots. i want to go on a bicycle ride. i want to hear christmas music. i want to drink a pumpkin spice latte on the back of a hay rack ride. i want to call my sister in indiana. i want to drive again, with the windows down singing to the radio. i want to go on a walk with my dogs and not cringe every time they bark. i want to hike, and jump and play. i don't want to lie down anymore. i'm tired. tired of this struggle. tired of this life. tired.

Need Support?

I'm making this post short but sweet. After last weeks horrible couple of days of vertigo attacks I'm still feeling a bit wobbly, so I'm trying to take it easy today. But, I wanted to share something with you...


Here are some cards I created for my blog. I thought it would help to have these sitting in doctor's offices and at support group meetings for meniere's patients and caregivers. I created them awhile back but I'm just now getting a chance to share them with you. In fact, some of you may have already seen them up close and in person, since they are already sitting in my audiologist's office now. Dr. Gary McKnight has kindly agreed to give these to his patients who are suffering from Meniere's Disease and vertigo. I've already heard from a few of you who found the blog this way! Woo-hoo! Welcome to the blog! I hope you all are finding support here and know that you are not alone. Please take a look around. You might notice at the bottom of each post there are "labels" to categorize each post. For example, at the bottom of this post you will find the labels: "support", "welcome", and "meniere's" If you click on any of these labels you will be directed to a page that will bring up all of my posts that relate to that topic. So if you are looking for more information involving different topics associated with meniere's disease such as, vertigo, depression, diet, support, etc, you can find it easily with just one click. I hope this helps and I hope you will consider becoming a follower (to the right of this page) of the blog as well. Be sure to visit often and comment as well. I would also like to invite you to share "your meniere's story". The more support we have from each other the better. Thanks again for all YOUR support! I don't know how I could get through this dizzy life without YOU!

Much Love,
Shanon


PS. If you'd like any of these cards for yourself or to set in your doctor's office just let me know. I'd be happy to send you some!

Bad Attack

After yesterdays negative post (and today's not so positive one) I want to state that I really don't like being so negative on the blog. I wanted this blog to be a positive experience, a place for Meniere's sufferers to go and fell like they belong and aren't isolated because of their condition. But let's face it, Meniere's Disease is anything but positive. It can be hell at its very worst. And here's why...

A bad attack is always lurking around the corner. You never know when it's going to show its ugly face. And when its there, beating you down you never know when it will go away. It could take several minutes, hours, or even days.

As you know from yesterdays post, I started my day with a horrible 2AM wake up call. A vertigo attack woke me up from a deep sleep to let me know my world was spinning. Luckily, it didn't last long and I was able to go back to sleep...once I changed rooms away from the dogs and hubby. (Sharing a bed during a vertigo attack is not a good idea...any slight movement can set you off into a deeper attack.) So, once I was camped out on the sofa I was able to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of my Meniere's episodes for the day.

After my disturbing middle of the night wake up call, I woke up on my own at a reasonable time later that morning. I was actually feeling pretty good, especially considering I had just had a vertigo attack only a few hours earlier. So I went about my day with my morning yoga, breakfast, checking emails, etc. I was doing pretty good. I decided it would be a good day for me work in my art studio....it's the one place I can go that I feel happy and can forget about my Meniere's for a little bit. Except this time. I soon realized that I was having small dizzy episodes. While I was looking at the canvas, getting ready to paint my next stroke everything started to spin. It only lasted a couple minutes so I tried to ignore it and work through it (which is never a good idea). It wasn't long before I knew that I needed to go lie down and rest. So that's what I did. I ended up taking it easy the rest of the day, trying to prevent anymore attacks. For the most part it was a good afternoon as long as I stayed put. Later that evening I found myself having an extremely bad headache. It came up very quickly and felt horrible. The pressure and pain was so unbearable that I decided I needed to take something for it. I'm not one who usually takes medication for any reason if I can avoid it, but this was one of those times I felt it was necessary. So I got up to figure out what drug I was going to take when it hit me, a bad vertigo attack. All of the sudden the entire room was spinning. I immediately had to lie back down and curl up in the fetal position, closing my eyes and holding my head for dear life. It didn't take long for the nausea to begin and I knew I was going to be sick. I crawled to the nearest trashcan which felt like miles way but really was less than 10 feet. I made it there just in time to throw up several times. I eventually made it back to the sofa where I laid there, hugging the trashcan and praying for my world to stop spinning. Like I said before, I don't like to take meds unless I absolutely have to and at this point I knew I had to take something to get the vertigo under control. My rescue meds were already sitting out on the table next to the sofa but I was so dizzy that I couldn't tell for sure which one I needed to take. I kept looking at the different bottles and baggies of pills trying to read the labels. Not getting anywhere, I decided on one and swallowed it with a gulp of water as quickly as I could so that I could lie back down. It didn't take long before I was throwing it back up. I waited for my stomach to settle down a bit and took another one, only to throw it up as well. I began to panic. How was the spinning ever going to stop if I couldn't keep the meds down?! As I was vomiting I began to cry. I was scared and I was alone. All I wanted to do was call someone to help me but I couldn't see the phone long enough to dial the correct numbers and then of course how would I be able to hear the person I called? I desperately wanted to call 911 hoping they could rescue me, give me a shot or something to make it all go away. Even if they could do this I knew it wasn't a good idea considering I didn't have health insurance anymore since I lost my job. So there I was, a slobbery, tear-filled, pukey, dizzy mess. All I could do was wait. So I waited. And waited. And waited. After about 2 hours of this nightmare I finally fell asleep.

Eventually Jeff came home from work to find me in this mess. Luckily by then my dizziness had stopped but that was not the end of my nightmare. My head was still in massive amounts of pain. It was so bad I couldn't even hold my head up. Jeff, aka my hero, helped me get cleaned up, made me a bland dinner to appease my stomach and gave me a migraine pill. Eventually the pain deteriorated enough that I was able to go back to sleep and rest through the night.

This morning I woke up felling better, but feeling like I had been run over by a truck....a really big truck. I feel quite achy, probably from being tense during the vertigo attack, and I'm still very tired even though I slept almost 12 hours straight. But I'm not dizzy. Not right now at least. I don't know when my next attack will happen. It could be weeks, days or even just minutes away. All I can do is try to enjoy every minute I have that is dizzy free, and pray that today is better than yesterday.

Much Love,
Shanon

Meniere's World has your back!

I recently came across a zazzle shop called Meniere's World created by Joe Young. The shop carries apparel and various other products that focus on Meniere's Disease and it's symptoms. They are quite humorous, even though they are unfortunate feelings that many meniere's sufferers go through. But somehow having a shirt that says, "I'm not drunk, I have Meniere's Disease!" makes it all a little better. Here are a few of my favorite items available:




Be sure to visit his shop and check out the rest! I'm sure you'll find a few of your own favorites!

In other news, today started out dizzy but it got a lot better as the day went on. I've started a new diet and supplements. We'll see how it goes...I'll keep you posted!

Much Love,
Shanon

ANOTHER round of Prednisone

Here we go again. After several weeks of MAJOR hearing loss I decided to do another round of the Prednisone steroid in hopes to reduce the inflammation in my ears and bring my hearing back up to a "good level" (for me anyways). I've taken this drug several times for this reason but unfortunately it doesn't always work, and what's even more unfortunate is that there are several short and long term side effects that can go along with taking prednisone, so I don't always like to take it to say the least. This time is no different.

As I've mentioned before I keep a daily log of my bi-lateral Meniere's symptoms. Looking back through my records I'm showing that this round of major hearing loss has been at its worse levels since about July 11th. That's OVER 3 weeks of being nearly deaf. And when I say nearly deaf I mean NEARLY DEAF. That's not being able to hear in person conversations AT ALL. I've been relying on reading lips and having people YELL at me so I can piece conversations together. Even that doesn't always work when my hearing is this bad, so out of frustration I usually just smile and nod and hope that I'm not offending anyone with my reaction... or lack there of. When my hearing loss is as bad as it's been I can't talk on the phone or watch T.V. or listen to music. Basically, I have to do a lot of things by myself...which can obviously become very lonely. So out of loneliness and pure desperation I decided to do another round of prednisone.

I started on August 4th with 30 mg a day for 3 days. Now I'm on 20 mg a day for 3 days and I'll continue tapering down from there. When I started taking it I immediately noticed my hearing getting better within that day! But the problem is those dreaded side effects I mentioned. While my hearing was getting better I also started having more dizziness. Luckily it hasn't been too bad as far as vertigo goes and it's been happening right before bed so I can just fall asleep and usually wake up fine the next day. My other problem with taking prednisone is how it effects my digestion. Trying to not get to detailed here, but I get stomach aches and other long term digestive problems from this medication. Not to mention other risks involved, such as osteoporosis, glaucoma and diabetes just to name a few. What's a person with bi-lateral meniere's disease to do? All these complications sure makes it difficult to decide on a treatment. And what's worse is that after 4 days of taking the meds, and with 4 days of better hearing, I'm now on day 5 and my hearing has dropped again! :( Frustrating to say the least. While I feel so grateful to have 4 days of decent hearing with the ability to have a conversation with my husband, talk to my friends, watch a movie and go to church. I'm back to a bad hearing day. Again I ask, what's a person with bi-lateral Meniere's to do? I guess all I can hope for now is that the prednisone kicks in again. My spirits could really use a few more good hearing days.

Much Love,
Shanon

P.S. Have you taken prednisone for your hearing loss? What kind of results did you have?

Being Prepared

It's always a good idea to be prepared. Especially if you have meniere's disease. Here are a few ways that I like to plan ahead. Feel free to add to the list in the comments section! :)

1. ALWAYS have your cell phone with you. - This can be tough at times but it's really important especially if you have a sudden drop attack and hurt yourself, or just need help getting to a more comfortable place to rest.

2. ALWAYS have your meds close by. - I don't leave the house without my medications in case of a dizzy episode. You never know when you might need them. AND be sure your meds are always filled and that you have enough on hand.

3. Prepare an emergency kit - If there is a place in your house or office that you spend a lot of time, I recommend you have an emergency kit close by. I'll have to post pictures of my soon, but basically it's a kit with meds, water, wash clothes, vomit bags, a pillow and blanket. Anything you might need in case you have an attack.

4. Prepare a food menu for the week. - It's a good idea to have meals planned out so that when you are having a bad day you don't have to think about "what's for dinner?" I also like to have meals prepared and ready to drop in the oven for the days that I don't feel well enough to make something.

5. Rest - Be sure to plan for enough sleep and rest when you need it. Not having enough sleep can really effect your condition. Usually I don't have to get up by a certain time in the mornings but when I know I will have to get up early I will go to bed early. And I ALWAYS lie down when I'm starting to feel sick. It's better to catch an attack early in its development than to let it go.

6. Allow plenty of time to get ready - One thing I've learned since my Meniere's has gotten worse in the last several months is to allow myself plenty of time to get ready to leave the house. I used to eat breakfast, shower, do my hair and makeup all in an hour or less. Now I give myself two hours. Sometimes I don't need the whole two hours and I'm ready early. But sometimes I have to rest several times while I'm getting ready which can take up the whole two hours or more.


I'm sure there is more, but that's everything I can think of right now. I hope this list will help you be prepared for your next attack and maybe lessen the anxiety and worry about when your next spell will occur. I once had a panic attack because I couldn't find my cell phone when I had to leave for work. I searched the house frantically, destroying everything in sight certain that I couldn't leave the house without my phone. It's better to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

Much Love,
Shanon

Saying "Good-Bye"

It's really difficult to say good-bye. That's no secret. But it's REALLY difficult when you REALLY don't want to.

Tonight my co-workers threw me a little farewell party. It was a wonderful gathering of people I've worked with and got to know as friends over the last 7 years. We enjoyed some yummy food, and had great conversations with lots of laughs. But in the end I had to say good-bye. Good-bye to friends. Good-bye to my job. Good-bye to being a graphic artist for a wonderful company who really cares about their employees. But, I never wanted to leave this way. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't planning on retiring there or anything. But I wanted to leave on MY terms. I wanted to leave when I was ready. I wanted to leave because I got an exciting new job, or was going to be a stay at home mom, or for some other new chapter in my life. But instead it's because I have Meniere's Disease. It's because I can't always walk down the hallway from my office to the bathroom. Or I can't hear what's going on in an important meeting. Or I can't get out of bed and make it to work because of a dizzy episode.

But while saying good-bye may be difficult, it doesn't have to be the end. I can still visit my friends at work when I'm able. And on my good days I can still draw and paint and create art from home. I didn't want to say good-bye to my job, but I refuse to let Meniere's Disease take over. I refuse to say good-bye to my life.

Much Love,
Shanon

FEEL BETTER

Yesterday I received some good news. Actually great news. I should be ecstatic and relieved by this news but instead I'm feeling quite the opposite. Yesterday I found out that my application for long term disability was approved. Finally, after all those months of paperwork and calling doctors for medical information, and forms and emails and worrying over how we'll make it without me working. All of it is over, I was approved. Like I said I should be ecstatic, but instead after I heard this wonderful news I cried. I cried my eyes out. Not tears of happiness or of joy or relief, but tears of sadness. Sad because this is my reality. Sad because I can't work anymore. Sad because I don't want to be on disability, I JUST want to FEEL BETTER.


I got my first official job when I was in Junior High School. I worked in a daycare facility taking care of children. It was a good first job especially considering I had babysat for a few years before. It was a natural fit. It was also natural for me to be working at such a young age. While all the other 13 year-old kids were goofing off and playing video games, I was working. It was important for me to have my own money and to have responsibility. This is something that my parents instilled in me at a very young age. Working is a part of life and I happily accepted it.

I worked various jobs through high school and college. As a waitress, a cashier, even a telemarketer, which doesn't fit my introverted personality at all but I was good at it. I was good at every job I've ever had because I was a good employee. No matter how much the job sucked I gave it my all and never called in sick or was late. That is until I started having Meniere's symptoms. Eventually the vertigo episodes, the headaches, hearing loss and nausea got to be too much and as much as I hated it I called in sick to work. I missed work for numerous doctors appointments and came in late because I was too dizzy to get out of bed. It was painful. I don't mean physically, although the physical pain was there, but the pain in my heart hurt more. I hated not being able to make it into work. I hated asking other people to do MY job. I hated not following through on MY responsibilities. But now I have no other choice. Now my husband tells me that my only responsibility is to feel better. So that's what I'm working on. Trying to feel better. It actually may be my most difficult job yet. On my good days it's pretty easy, but the bad days are another story. Luckily my boss isn't too strict and understands when I'm having a bad day. Hopefully, one of these days I'll start having more good days than bad and I'll become a pro at this job. And eventually "quit" this job and go back to the working world. Until then, I'll just take it one day at a time.

By the way, the picture in this post is of a gift to me from one of Jeff's high school students. I've never even met her but she cared enough to make it for me when my health and spirits were really down. It sits on a shelf in my bathroom so I can see it every day and be reminded of the kindness of a complete stranger. If you know someone who is having a tough time with meniere's or any other condition be sure to send them a card or give them a call to say hello. You have the power to make their day a good day.

Much Love,
Shanon

Good Day

Well, yesterday wasn't a good day and the evening didn't get much better. I decided not to push myself and ended up not making it to my art opening. It's so disappointing how Meniere's gets the best of me.

But, that is in the past now and like with any chronic illness, it's best to take one day at a time, and to take full advantage of the good days. It's 6:00 A.M. on Saturday morning as I write this and so far it's a good day! I'm currently outside working on a new painting. I've watched the sun rise and listened to the birds sing their morning song. It's definitely a good day.

Off to enjoy it! Hope you're having a good day too!

Much Love,
Shanon

I think I over did it...

Well, we're not exactly sure what triggered it but I had a bed vertigo attack at 3:00 AM this morning. I have a feeling it was too much salt but hubby thinks it was too much sugar. At any rate I just plain over did it yesterday. After many meds and a couple sleepless hours last night I finally dozed off around 5:00 AM and slept in til 10:00.

Now, the recovery. The morning after one of these episodes I feel like I've been run over by a truck. A REALLY big truck. I ache everywhere. My tinnitus is bad and my balance is shot. Today, I will rest.

But tonight I have plans so hopefully I will feel better soon. Every first Friday of the month there is an Artwalk in town where all the galleries stay open late to invite the public in to enjoy music, food, poetry, food and of course art. My art will be on display at one of the new galleries here in town. I really want to be there so I hope things turn around for me soon. (fingers crossed)

Here is a sample of one of my pieces that will be on display tonight:

Four Seasons - Digital Illustration

I don't want to turn this blog into a "hey, look at my art" blog but it is a part of me. It is one of the challenges that make up "My Life with Meniere's". If you'd like to see more be sure to visit my fookaDESIGNS blog. :)

Off to recover. Have a great day!

Much Love, Shanon

Short and Sweet

So today hasn't been such a good day for me so far. I woke up with my tinnitus out of control so I slept in a little. When I woke up later I started with my usual stretching and breakfast but after I ate I had a small dizzy episode. I caught it early enough in the sense that I went back to bed for a couple hours and I'm feeling better now. Hopefully it was just a fluke after a few good days. Anyways, I will be avoiding the computer as much as possible today so here is just a short post with a little fun comic to help us through the day. Have a good one!


Much Love,
Shanon

Finally, Acceptance

Here I was, after years of tests, FINALLY given my diagnosis of bi-lateral Meniere's Disease. I was relieved. Relieved not to have a tumor or some other deadly disease. I was relieved and ready for acceptance, but that's not quite how it works when going through a crisis. There are several steps between denial and acceptance that I had to go through and little did I know that I wasn't through with the first step of denial.

When I first came back from the Mayo Clinic I did pretty good at accepting my fate. I followed procedure and ate a low salt diet, although I never thought salt really affected me much, but it didn't hurt to watch it more closely. I also continued to stay away from alcohol and caffeine...no problem. My tinnitus and hearing loss continued to fluctuate in both ears, but I suffered through the bad days and enjoyed the good ones. When I had my occasional vertigo attack I would take my Dramamine and sleep it off. But the more it happened and the worse my hearing got the more denial I had. On top of it, I started to develop other symptoms like neck aches and poor circulation. I couldn't wear necklaces or scarves without having facial numbness and sometimes dizziness. I started wondering if this was really Meniere's Disease. And even if it is, there's got to be a way to fix it...there's GOT TO BE a cure (despite every medical professional telling me otherwise). I can't live like this! I was determined to find a long lost cure to whatever I was going through. I started searching the internet and seeing every doctor imaginable. I visited chiropracters, homeopathic doctors, neurologists, and many other specialists. I tried massages, accupuncture, NAET treatments, and countless supplements. I was told to eat low salt diets, no sugar, no carbs, no dairy, no gluten, etc. I was being pulled in every direction but I tried anything that I could think of that might fix my symptoms. My symptoms that I were certain were not Meniere's symptoms anymore. Unfortunately, nothing really worked. But the more I searched for an answer the more stressed I became and the worse my health got. My neck was constantly stiff and my dizziness was happening almost daily. I was developing numbness in my limbs and tingling down my back. I was finding it difficult to move, work or even get out of bed. I was starting to get really scared. I soon found myself bouncing around between the first four stages of grief. I was still denying that this was Meniere's Disease. I was angry that this was happening to me. What did I do to deserve this? When the bargaining set in I kept making promises that were impossible to follow through with. If someone could just tell me why this was happening I'll do whatever it takes to stop it. I'll stop eating sugar. I'll cut out the gluten from my diet. I'll stay away from salt. All of these things that I had tried before (without much success) but I wanted someone to make a deal with me. I wanted someone to say with certainty if I cut "X" out of my diet I would feel good again. But no one could make these "deals" with me. The more I came to this realization the more angry and stressed I got. Soon depression set in. And it was ugly.

I hate to go into the details here, mostly because I don't like "reliving" that horrible point in my life but in hopes to help someone reading I'll briefly talk about it. My depression was dark and lonely. I decided that there was nothing that could help me and I wanted it all to end. I wanted to end the constant buzzing, roaring in my ears. End the aches and pains. End the uncontrollable vertigo episodes. End the nausea and vomiting and headaches. I just wanted it all to end. And as far as I knew there was only one way to do that. Luckily, I never followed through with any crazy thoughts. It was a long, ugly depression, but I was lucky enough to have a husband who stood beside me through it all. He saw that this had gone far enough and he was going to do everything he could to get me better. He got me the help I needed, including counseling so I could learn to deal with the daily episodes. Once I was able to figure out that the attacks weren't the end of the world and that I could ride them out, I was able to manage them and basically shorten them. Soon I was having less episodes, and the ones I were having weren't lasting as long. I had developed tools to deal with suffering I was going through. I started doing yoga and meditating. I was feeling a little better and ready to end this never ending cycle. I soon realized that I had the tools all along to make me feel better. I was done searching for the magic cure out there. I had decided that I had seen every kind of doctor and tried every kind of pill and supplement out there. I was FINALLY ready to accept this prognosis. I have bi-lateral Meniere's Disease and I'm going to deal with it the best that I can. I can do this!

You can do this too! If you are going through a bad day, just know that there is a good day around the corner. My plan is to be able to share my tools to get through the attacks and talk about what works for me and what doesn't. I would love to hear your story too, and find out your tips. Hang in there! We'll get through this together!

Much Love,
Shanon

Dizzy Days

Yesterday I gave the "definition" of what Meniere's Disease is. Today you get to experience it.

If you actually want to know what it feels like to have a vertigo episode sit in an office chair or stand in an open space and start spinning. Keep spinning. Spin until you can't spin anymore, and then stop. The world around you is still spinning but you have not. More than likely you will fall to the ground and start feeling nauseous. While this is happening imagine that your ears are plugged so that your hearing is impaired and there is extremely loud ringing noises in your ears. Luckily for you, it will all be over soon and you will feel back to normal again after a few minutes. But imagine you didn't know when that awful feeling was going to stop. Could be minutes or it could be days.

Honestly, I really don't recommend you do the exercise above...it's not fun, and I don't wish this feeling on anyone, even if you do it to yourself. If you try it, I am not responsible for the outcome. Please don't cry to me if you've fallen and can't get up! Instead, I recommend you watch this short video. It is a great interpretation of what a day in the life of a Meniere's patient can feel like.

By the way, yesterday I had audiologist appointment and my hearing is still SLOWLY coming back up in my right ear! Not so much in my left though...still nearly deaf on that side. Some exciting news though! I've talked to him about starting a Meniere's support group and he is on board to help me make this happen. I'm so excited! Details to come soon!

So, what IS Meniere's disease?

Some of you may be wondering what IS Meniere's disease anyways? Maybe you know someone who has it but you don't really understand it. Or maybe you yourself were recently diagnosed but are trying to get more information. Well, it's a tough one to explain, but here goes...

The medical field will explain it as a vestibular inner ear disorder that causes hearing loss and disrupts balance. A patient with Meniere's disease however, will explain it as hell.

Symptoms include a fullness feeling in the ear(s), tinnitus (ringing, humming, buzzing and/or roaring sound), hearing loss (usually low tones) and vertigo (spinning sensation or dizziness). These vertigo episodes, sometimes referred to as attacks, can occur without warning and can be debilitating. Along with the spinning sensation a person may develop a headache and will likely develop nausea to the extent of possibly vomiting. An episode can last anywhere from a few minutes, to several hours, to even days. And even once it's over your body feels like it's been hit by a truck probably because of all the stress and muscle tension developed to try and keep your world from spinning. Unfortunately, days later once you've FINALLY recovered there is possibly another attack just around the corner. Waiting, to go through the entire process all over again. Because these episodes usually have no warning many patients develop anxiety and fear of when the next attack will hit. Living in fear...day after day. As you may have guessed, depression often times sets in as well.

To top it all off there is no cure for the disease. Doctor's recommend a low salt diet, and to avoid alcohol and caffeine to help control the symptoms. But for some it works and for others it doesn't. Treatments can include steroids, water pills or diuretics but sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Various prescription medications can be used such as Valium or Antivert to take during a vertigo attacks, or Promethazine to help control the nausea. But again they work for some but not for others. Sometimes you just have to wait it out. Every Meniere's patient is different and every episode can be different. The one thing that's for sure is that it can be hell.

But as a person living with Meniere's disease...who's been through hell and back with every episode, I can say there's a way to deal with it. Every day is different. Some are good and some are bad but it's all about taking one day at a time. For me, the last five days were bad. But today is a good day. And that's all that matters right now.

I hope you're having a good day!

Much Love,
Shanon

Hello, and welcome!

My name is Shanon. I'm a 32 year old female living in Topeka, Kansas trying to do the best that I can, just like everyone else. I'm a wife, a mom to two furry kids, an artist and a graphic designer. I love nature and being outdoors, camping, hiking, taking pictures, reading (a new found love), cooking, baking and traveling. I have a life. But I also have Meniere's Disease. Together it can be complicated. But I take one day at a time and make it work.

If you, or someone you know has Meniere's Disease I hope you find this blog helpful. My ultimate goal in doing this to to help you, and to educate others on this condition. If you have a question, feel free to ask. If you want to share your story, please do so! One of the worst feelings Meniere's Disease can create is isolation. Not only can you feel like you're the only one out there with this condition, but there's the feeling of isolation from your friends, family and co-workers because you can't hear or because they don't understand what you're going through. It can be a lonely feeling, but it doesn't have to be. Please join me on my journey and we'll get through this thing together.

Much Love,
Shanon