Tony's Disability - Para Lymph Fistula

Some have wondered what has been going on in our lives for the last 4 years. Here is a short synopsis, lol.After we lost the restaurant (2005 - 2006), we moved in with Bob's parents and I went to work for Longs Drug.We lost both houses, a boat and both trucks and our pride for about 2 seconds. After licking our wounds for 2 seconds, we forgot about the bad decisions we made and moved forward.Over the next 2 years (2006-2008), I worked at Long's while Bob worked several temp jobs, while still living with Bob's parents. I did not want to be back in retail and Bob was not having any luck getting his high paying job back with the State, due to cutbacks.Bob comes home one day and Say's let's get our Class A license and travel the country in an 18 wheeler...LOL..Picture me driving a big ass truck.So in March of 2008 we graduated from truck driving school and tested at DMV to get our federal commercial drivers licenses'. For the next 8 months we traveled the country and got paid well to do it, twas the best of both worlds and had our dog (KC) with us too.So here I am driving down the road in a cushy 18 wheeler with a 53 foot 80 thousand pound trailer behind me, cruising to Eddie Money in upper New York somewhere., when suddenly the white and the yellow line on the road come together to a point...Needless to say it scared the poop out of me. We were on our way back to California for our once a month 3 day home time, but it would be 5 more days till we got there.I figured that this was a one time vertigo experience and that would be the end of it..But no., it happened again, then again and more frequently as the days passed.As soon as we got home to California, I went to rapid care to see a doctor. Here is where the fun begins..The attending physician comes into the room and asks what my symptoms are..So I tell her what happened while I was driving..Alarmed at my symptoms she immediately does an EKG to monitor my heart...She says my heart is fine, but I need to contact my regular doctor. So I went to see my doctor the next day..My doctor tells me that I cant go back to work as a truck driver until he does more tests. So.,,,,,Bob goes back on the road 3 days later after our scheduled home time and I stay behind to get the tests done. To make a long story shorter, here is what happens. Over the next 3 months I am sent to see a Neurologist, Cardiologist, Vascular Specialist, Radiologist and have 3 more EKG's, an Ultrasound, 2 MRA's, 1 MRI cat scan, Echo cardiogram and 42 blood tests. When all the tests are complete my doctor pulls me into his office and says "You are in perfect health".This is good to know Doc., but I am still having balance problems and I cant make the world around me stop spinning. Good grief....at this point he starts to try different drugs on me., so he put me on Zoloft, Wellbuterin, and a few other anti-depressants. But doc, im not depressed, LOL. Family and friends said just see if they work, so I tried all of them...Finally disgusted with being drugged up, I stopped and demanded that my doctor send me to an Ear Specialist.2 weeks later, he finally referred me to an ENT (ear nose and throat) doctor.By this time., I had lost my health insurance and Werner (Trucking Co that I worked for) had fired me and Bob was still alone on the road.So I paid for COBRA for 1 month, to see if this ENT can help me.Well., be praised, the ENT scheduled an ENG right away, which looks at the inner ear. He also called my doctor and ripped him a new one for putting me on drugs, lol.So, I had the ENG within a week and he found the issue right away., I have a Para lymph Fistula in my inner ear, which means a slow leak.I have been on State Disability (SDI) since December of 2008 and am being considered for permanent (SSI) disability.There are a few exploratory, controversial surgeries that can be done, but the county will not pay for experimental surgeries...My ENT says even if he can find the hole, he does not know if he can repair it and I may go deaf if he tries. We have decided that it is not worth the risk, so am not opting for surgery at this time.In the mean time, I have to concentrate so hard on my balance that I get fatigued really easy, which makes it difficult to go anywhere. A simple trip to the grocery store exhausts me, so I have Bob do it.All said and done, I am fine, I am just learning to live with it and overcome...