2 Hell n Back (2015 The Beginning)

In January of 2015 at the age of 45, I was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease. I went to my primary doctor because I had became violently sick, dizzy and just couldn’t shake what I had going on. My primary doctor referred me to a local ENT specialist where he would run tests to determine what was going on with me as they did.

I will never forget the day that my ENT Doctor read my results as I was as diagnosed with Menieres Disease. My first question for the doc was “ Am I going to die?” Doc said “No Menieres will not kill you, but about times your going to think your are dying. There is no known cure for Menieres at this time but with Medications, diet and lifestyle changes Menieres is manageable.” Wow!!! That Hit me like a ton of bricks !!! WTF!!! So then I was prescribed medications to help with the dizziness and nausea. I was given a low sodium diet plan. The do’s and don’ts of food and drink as it was believed that certain food’s especially salt caffeine and alcohol could trigger the violent attacks that comes with having Menieres. For the next months I followed all advice from my ENT doctor but was still remaining violently sick at times. It was a scary time because I’ve always been very active socially, physically and mentally, I could juggle anything life threw at me.

A few months rocked on and I was managing to have a few good days and was still working 40 hours a week. I stayed exhaust drained and was just barely getting thru. The struggle was real.

In April of 2015, my mother got the flu and turned into pneumonia and was hospitalized. My daddy and I had her transferred from a Gadsden hospital to Brookwood in Birmingham the best infectious disease hospital around our area. Daddy and I stayed in Birmingham as he wasn’t going to be that far away from my mother. We got my daddy a motel room by the hospital and I was sleeping in the CCU waiting room. The staff were so awesome to us. Sneaking me in empty rooms just to grab a shower. Sadly, within two weeks my mother had went septic and passed away. At this point, I honestly look back now, I don’t know how I managed it all. I had just lost my mother, I’m a only child, I have a 75 year old father with his own health issues that has just lost his wife of almost 50 years (they were inseparable) and my only son had just lost his Nana, a MAJOR role in his life. My mother and daddy would have gave my son the moon and did honestly. I felt the wait of the world on my shoulders. By the Grace of God I was able to plan my mothers funeral. I wanted to do my mothers hair and makeup as I did her mothers. May 2, 2023, I went to the funeral home to make my mother beautiful as she always was. I went alone. It would be mine and my mothers last time alone. Our last Mother/daughter day. I found her the prettiest blouse blue and turquoise green. Mother was never one to wear dresses. She loved beautiful blouses and slacks. I did everything Linda wanted except I just had to get my part in and I painted her nails a beautiful blue to match the blouse. Linda was a neutral color nail person and I was not. Yes there is a lil rebel in me. I’m the flashy one. 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️ The day of the funeral came. Daddy got to see mother first and he cried when he said your mother would be so proud of you that you made her look so beautiful that she just looked like she was sleeping. I come from a line of vein women so the bar was already high. Mother had a beautiful service. I played all her favorite music in the background from gospel, Elvis, Sweet home Alabama and even KidRock All summer long. Yep I had got her hooked on some KidRock lol. Mother’s service was beautiful and the Menieres was staying at bay and letting me handle what I needed to handle. (My mother was my best friend, we were more like sisters than mother and daughter. Down to the arguing that my daddy just knew to stay out of). This day was one of the hardest days in my life. I know I had to have had help from above to get thru all of this. After all, We all have been taught that God will not give us more than we can handle. And That We all have a inner strength to get us thru the hardest of times. My inner strength must have kicked it in 4-wheel drive at this point.