"Vertigo" - not the movie

Mom awoke very, no, extremely, dizzy.
She tried to walk, but swayed, catching herself by leaning into the wall.  She had just been released from a two day hospital stay for a heart arrhythmia, she had mentioned "a little dizziness", but nothing to this extreme had been present in the hospital. . .I was in town to spend a few days with her after this hospitalization.  We called her doctor about the dizziness and he advised we take Mom to the minor emergency center to be checked over.  Mom was willing to go, but wanted me to help her to her bedroom before we left.  I did.  Mom knelt down in front of her bedroom dresser and stretched her arm far beneath it, pulling out a wad of folded money.  She wanted me to take it with us to the emergency center.  I assured her we wouldn't need the cash, but wondered silently why she had felt the need to have this cash hidden away in such a manner.

I helped her into the car and we were on our way.
When we got to the center we were sent back home to retrieve her insurance cards.  She refused to carry these cards in her purse for fear that someone would steal them.  We had talked about the need for keeping them with her before, but to no avail.  She kept them sealed in a baggie and tucked away in the back of a bedroom drawer. Each time we visited a doctor this was an on-going issue.

When it was her turn to see the doctor I followed along.  When the doctor asked about what was bothering her she stared blankly ahead, not knowing how to answer.  Finally she pointed to her ears, but could not verbalize that her ears hurt and she was dizzy.

It was the first time I had seen this "blank" look in Mom's eyes.  There was no embarrassment in her silence, just dead air.  I spoke for her, something Mom would NEVER have allowed in days before.

They washed out her ears and sent us home.
Two days later I took Mom to the Emergency Room for the same issues.
A CT scan showed that at some previous time Mom had experienced a couple of small strokes. She was also diagnosed as having Vertigo.  She was sent home with the proper meds this time and told she should "NOT drive" until she saw her primary care doc at a later date.

"Not Drive?"

She was devastated and sure the doctor "just wanted her money".
She was also determined she would drive again in a few days.

There was a continuing dialog about her determination to drive.  She also began to obsess about her key ring.  I had removed her car key from the ring, fearing she would make good on her threats to drive.  My sister and I discussed the driving issue.  We knew this was going to be a BIG DEAL.

Over the course of a week or so Mom's Vertigo began to subside.  The better Mom felt the more angry and determined she became to drive again.

At this point it seemed that each day spun a new behavior that seemed "off balance".  Still, there were good days and happy, reasonable conversations from time to time.  We were concerned, but hopeful that Mom could recover to a good quality of life, even if she was deemed permanently unable to drive.  Family was willing to step in to be sure that she could go to church and also have several outings a week.  We hoped this "new normal" would soon be something she could adjust to.

This was not to be the case.