An Interesting Day

As the old Chinese proverb, sometimes called a curse, supposedly says, "May you live in interesting times." Yesterday was one of those times for me. Near the end of an ordinary working day here in the office, I turned my head to speak to someone. Suddenly, with no warning, I was overcome with vertigo. I managed to complete the conversation with him, he turned away, and Dan arrived. We were planning to walk into the bazaar for supper, the first we've managed given the number of evenings we've been out in friends' homes. I felt worse and worse, just kept my head on my desk. I managed to get up and go down to the bathroom on the main level. As I was hobbling down the stairs, holding on to the railing, our old friend Dolma, who is one of the school nurses, met me. She took one look and realized that I wasn't right. She said I should go to the Health Centre. After I got back and told Dan, I gathered my things and we headed there (fortunately, it is nearby, just below our office). They took my blood pressure, which was quite high (something I've never had). As I sat there for a while, it came down just a bit. They called a taxi and sent me over to Landour Hospital. Dan carried the two pillows, blankets, and a roll of TP they sent with me in case I was to be admitted. The emergency room there is very laid-back. My BP was still high, but a bit lower than earlier. The doctor came in and asked me some questions. He is an anesthetist, formerly an ENT, and only has been here for about ten days. He lowered my head twice in opposite directions and the vertigo went away. I was still quite nauseated, so they gave me two shots for that. The second one helped right away and I felt much better. The taxi returned to drive us back to the school. Although I was feeling better, I decided to spend the night at the Health Centre, as the walk to our house (in the dark) felt quite daunting at that point. Ruth, the nurse on duty, was very helpful. She got me some toast and herbal tea (a Trader Joe's Bedtime teabag -- I wonder where that came from!). I felt a bit better, as I'd had nothing to eat since lunch. I took off my outer clothing and crawled into the bed. I had my iPod and put my multiple Chanticleer CDs on shuffle -- the perfect thing to lie and listen to. Dolma came on duty at 8:00; I was glad to see her! I drifted off to sleep soon after 9:00 and slept quite well. This morning I feel quite all right and my BP is in a normal range. I will head down to the house later in the morning and get a shower and change. My expectations for the weekend are a lot of R&R!

A similar thing happened to me once before, in 2005. It was the first day visiting Mussoorie with our granddaughter Jasmine. I suspect that it was altitude-related. This may have been, too, as the doctor suggested, but it seems odd that it would hit nearly two weeks after arriving on the Hillside. Last time they didn't take my BP, so I've no idea if it was elevated. That time the nausea was worse, but I did manage to sleep through the night and was fine again in the morning.