News
World in a spin
Thirty years ago, in a cafe in Orange in country NSW, our lives changed in a split-second from relaxed and happy to fearful and helpless.
Len had experienced his first symptoms of Meniere's disease.
He couldn't walk straight and his world was in a violent spin. We weaved our way back to the car and I got him into bed with a bucket just as the vomiting started. This began at 10am and continued for 10 hours.
Meanwhile, I was trying to get a doctor out. Our children (all six of them) were petrified and thought Len was going to die. A doctor did come at 6pm and declared Len "drunk".
By morning, Len's attack was over and we saw our own doctor. Thankfully, he understood about Meniere's disease and started Len on Stemetil.
Len's attacks often came weekly and would last between two and eight hours, but would put him out of action for 24 hours. I got to know it was just a matter of time before I would have to drop whatever I was doing and get Len into bed before the onset of vomiting.
Despite the Meniere's, Len continued to work as a full-time union official and had a large area to cover, often flying in small planes to attend meetings. He was well dosed up with Stemetil and when he was under pressure - with strikes, meetings and so on - he never had an attack, but once the pressure was off he would have two or three attacks.
After a few years the Meniere's had become so bad Len could not fly, so he had to drive and I had to be with him.
One trip was to Coonabarabran and as we collected the key at the motel, I just knew Len was going to have an attack. He was so bad I contacted reception, only to learn that no doctor would come to the motel but they would ring an ambulance.
At the hospital the doctor didn't know what Meniere's was and, because I told him that Len needed a Stemetil injection, the doctor decided we were on drugs and trying to get more.
By 1985, Len's hearing loss was getting worse and beginning to affect his work. Our doctor wanted him to retire, but he wouldn't entertain the idea until one day he got the court transcript from a case he was working on. The judge had asked him some questions and Len's answers were not relevant to the questions.
He retired that day at only 49 years of age and he was devastated.
Then we heard about the Meniere's Support Group and made contact with Professor Bill Gibson, who confirmed Len had Meniere's in both ears.
In 2001 it appeared the attacks were now only in the right ear, the left having reached the "burnt out" stage, so the professor agreed that Len could have an implant in the right cochlear and at the same time he would remove the labyrinth of the ear, which might stop the Meniere's.
This was carried out three years ago and we received two miracles. Len hasn't had a Meniere's attack since. And he can communicate so well and hear his grandchildren and the bellbirds and enjoy music once again. We are so lucky! Meniere's Support Group: 4861 2300.