Next stop....California!

Off to California.....my plane left for SFO at 0645 hrs., Sunday, October 23rd, so I was up very early. After I landed, I rented another Toyota Yaris and set out for my daughter, son-in-law and grandson's house in Folsom.  On the way, I stopped at our storage locker and just took a peek to make sure everything was alright!

Folsom is a cute town near Sacramento. We all (including their roommate Nick!) went out for dinner at Fat's Restaurant. The food was good, and we got plenty of it!  It reminded me of P.F. Chang's...

 (sorry, this turned out fuzzy...)

Their kitty and dog...they're so cute!

The next morning (Monday, October 24th) I had a doctor appointment scheduled in Redwood City. This doctor said he and the therapist he recommends could help me with the dizziness I still experience since my car accident two years ago.  My appointment was at 1000hrs, so I had to leave Folsom early in the morning to beat traffic. I got there in plenty of time, so I took a nap in my car in the back parking lot!  All that driving is so exhausting for me now. I have to concentrate so hard that driving is no longer pleasurable...it's a chore and stressor. But, it gets me where I need to go, so I do it!  If I have to drive more than an hour I always end up with a headache...

The doctor I saw was Dr. Ralph Kiernan who is a Neuropsychologist specializing in treating brain injury patients with post concussion issues. Our appointment was four hours long where he conducted a lot of tests and asked a lot of questions about my symptoms. He also referred me to a therapist that he believed would be able to help with the dizziness I experience.

After seeing him, I headed over to San Rafael to see my brother and sister-in-law and nieces. It was so nice to see them and spend a few hours with them. My sister-in-law was kind enough to make a lovely dinner and we had time to visit for a bit. After dinner, I drove back up to Folsom to spend the night.

The next morning, I flew out of Sacramento Airport at 0610hrs.....to head to SoCal to see my son and my other sister-in-law in Orange. Thank goodness for Southwest Airlines...their rates are great, and they have many choices for flights!

 I spent a few hours with my sister-in-law then headed over to RSM to see my son. He still had his "rocket" car, but has since traded it in for a truck! He's going to college nearby and is loving it!  He's hoping to transfer to a University next year, after he gets all his general ed. requirements fulfilled.

My son's roommates doggie, Charlie...he's so cute and sweet!

That evening I flew back to Sacramento and spent the night with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

That Wednesday, September 26th, I had an appointment with the therapist in Monterey. On the way down I had made arrangements to have breakfast with my Blue Star Mom friends in Danville. I arrived early and took a nap in the parking lot (I do that a lot!!!). We met at The Little Pear Restaurant where we shared a nice breakfast and tried to catch up in the short amount of time we had together. It was soooo good to see them all and give them each a hug!

After breakfast, I was off to Monterey. The therapist I saw is Lynn Herbert who runs the Optimum Balance and Rehab Center. She works with brain injury patients, many of whom are military personnel. She is a certified vestibular rehab therapist. Lynn asked me a lot of questions and did some manipulations to try to alleviate some of the dizziness. She believes that part of my problem is an inner ear problem. Apparently there are crystals in your ear that get knocked into the wrong place when there is trauma and unless they are put back in place with therapy it will always be a problem. Because my brain has been working so hard just to keep balance with the crystals out of place, it makes it difficult to accomplish much more than routine things without getting dizzy. That's why, when I try to learn something new, my brain gets overloaded and I get dizzy. When I told her that was happening while trying to learn a new language and really anything new, she laughed and told me I won't be learning a new language anytime soon. I have my work cut out for me. After doing some testing and some manipulations, she sent me home with some eye exercises to do to retrain my brain. She also gave me an information sheet....some of the things she says on it:

*Seek out your vertigo, and suffer it whenever you can. This means to stimulate it frequently.
*Only you can build the tolerance in your brain to overcome your symptoms. Consider it like building muscle strength. A muscle begins to grow in strength only when the exercise begins to hurt. The same is true of your brain-increasing its capacity increases its tolerance.
*You do this by provoking your symptoms as frequently and as long as you can, with some help from your medications.
*Remember that each spell brings you closer to the last.
*Seek out that which is hardest for you to do. Practice it, bear it, master it.

https://vestibular.org/living-vestibular-disorder

With the questions she asked and the things she told me, I felt like I finally found someone who understands the problems I'm still having!  On one of the information sheets she gave me it says:

...the result may be headache, neckache, muscle stiffness and generalized fatigue. Your energy level will decrease and you will tire easily.

After she did some manipulations to get the crystals in my right ear back in place, she gave me a neck collar to wear for 48 hours. It was a gentle reminder to not look down with my head...till the crystals had a chance to go back where they belong. I also had to sleep with 3 pillows at a 45degree angle for two nights. Afterwards, I felt slightly different. I could tell when I was driving that the lines on the road didn't seem to be rushing by quite as fast......The roller coaster ride while driving seemed to slow down a tad.

Lynn told me that she believes that with a couple of weeks of therapy, she can give me enough exercises and information to work with on my own so that I can get better. So, I am considering coming back to the States in the early spring for the therapy. In the meantime, I am working with the eye exercises. I really really don't like provoking the dizziness..it seems counterintuitive. But, if that is what will make me better, than I guess that's what I have to do. Grrrrrrr!

Lynn also told me she believes I am suffering from post concussion syndrome. I don't know exactly what that means, or if I can recover from it.....I didn't have a chance to talk with her more about it. She also recommended that I get an anti-anxiety medication. Certain things set off anxiety symptoms and she believes medication would help. I've had other therapists tell me the same thing, I just never pursued it. I've been trying to avoid taking medication. I had started doing yoga a couple of months ago, which seemed to make the dizziness worse again, but helped with the anxiety. Lynn told me yoga is a no-no, probably forever....Soooo, maybe it's time to look into the medication..........

__________
Wednesday evening I decided to spend the night in a hotel. I got a room at the Courtyard, Pleasanton. I needed some rest...and quiet. Soooooo...I drove up to Pleasanton from Monterey, got some sushi at Sozo Sushi in Pleasanton and then went to the hotel and went to sleep.  The next morning (Thursday) I had a dental appointment with Dr. Craig Sjoberg in Pleasanton at 0830hrs. I've had some sensitivity in the area where I had two root canals and a bridge replace in May. He gave me some antibiotics and Prednisone in the hopes that whatever is going on will be taken care of with that. He said I may have a cracked root, which would entail extracting the tooth and getting an implant. Hopefully, that's not the case.

After I left the dentist office I went down to San Jose and did a little shopping at Valley Fair Mall. I bought a pair of boots at Hansen's (one of the women at the dental office said her husband works there...), then headed to my old place of employment in San Jose. I visited my ex-coworkers a bit, then some of us met at a nearby restaurant (Aqui's in downtown Willow Glen) for dinner. It was great to see everyone and have some time to visit. Afterwards I made the trek back up to Folsom to spend some time with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

Friday I spent the day with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. We just "hung out" in the Folsom area. We had lunch at this cute little diner called "The Sunflower Drive-up" in Fair Oaks. It's all vegan...delicious food!  There are chickens running around all over downtown there...very cute!

That evening we walked around Folsom and got some ice cream at Snooks!

The next morning we all drove down to Pleasanton to meet my other son, his girlfriend, and other daughter. We met at Stacy's Restaurant downtown for brunch.

It was so nice to see them...and have some of my children all in the same place for a shared meal! We had stopped at Safeway for cupcakes and celebrated my son's and grandson's birthdays-their were born on the same date!  After saying our good-bye's we walked around Pleasanton for a bit....I must admit, I do miss that town!

 The Saturday Farmer's Market:

Before leaving Pleasanton, we drove by the "old house"!  They have painted it, replaced windows and put a new fence on the side yard (no more window for the dog in the fence!). It looks different, which in a way made it easier to see...

We headed down to South San Jose to see my father-in-law, who is in a Board and Care Home there. He's 89 years old and starting to show his age. He's mentally alert, his body is starting to weaken though. It was good to see him.....

We headed back up to Folsom and got back early. We celebrated my grandson's birthday that evening! He's soooooo cute...he's always trying to make us laugh! I had to say my good-bye's that night because the next morning I was heading to Dallas, TX. Saying good-bye is so hard!

The next morning (Sunday, October 30th) I drove down to SFO and headed to Dallas. My flight was at 0735hrs.