Today started so much earlier than I ever wanted it to. I was pulled right out of sleep at five in the morning because Tofu decided it was time to stand in the hallway and scream at the top of her lungs for reasons known only to God. Naturally, I dragged myself out of bed assuming she was just starving for breakfast, so I gave her some treats to keep the peace. But right after gobbling them down, she turned around and peed directly outside her Litter Robot again. Nothing tests your morning patience quite like stepping into immediate cat drama before the sun has even come up.

Since my eyes were already wide open and falling back asleep was out of the question, I went ahead and started getting ready for my neurology appointment. The drive over was pretty rough. When you are already dealing with constant dizziness, every single bump and dip in the road feels magnified, so by the time we actually arrived, my head was spinning. We pulled into the parking garage, walked into the hospital, and rode the elevator up, only to realize we were in the wrong building. We had to turn around and cross the indoor hospital bridge to find where we actually needed to go. Thankfully, it was not too far of a walk, and because we had planned ahead, we still made it about twenty minutes earlier than our recommended check-in time.

My neurologist was absolutely wonderful. If I could give her a rating, she would easily get fifteen out of ten stars. It was our very first visit together, and she spent a solid forty-five minutes going over my entire medical history, looking through my chart, running initial tests, and carefully explaining the plan moving forward. I felt so comfortable opening up to her about everything I have been experiencing because she genuinely listened and took detailed notes on every single symptom. Before we wrapped up, her nurse checked my blood pressure in three different positions, once laying down, once sitting up, and once standing. My doctor ordered a brain MRI with contrast, prescribed medication to help manage the dizziness, and started me on a beta blocker for my headaches. After checking out, we scheduled my follow-up visit for four months from now, and I left feeling so relieved to finally have a doctor who truly hears me.

The drive home was backed up with traffic, and sure enough, a pounding headache started settling in. The second we walked through the front door, I crashed into bed for a nap to sleep it off. I woke up about an hour before we had to head back out for my counseling appointment, which gave me just enough quiet time to make something cozy. I brewed a Cinnamon Dolce Starbucks coffee pod, poured in some Italian sweet cream creamer, and treated myself to pumpkin spice mini donuts. It was so good. Pumpkin spice season brings so many delicious little treats that instantly make a hard day feel a little softer.

After finishing up with counseling, we stopped by the pharmacy on the way home to pick up my new prescriptions. In my tired haze, I completely forgot to stop by the mailbox when we got into the neighborhood, so I walked back down our street to check it. It is only about a three-minute walk, but I was so glad I went because some packages had arrived early. They were not supposed to be delivered until Monday, so finding them sitting there unexpectedly made me ridiculously happy.

Want to guess what was inside?

Tada! My new Sharpie creative markers and my happy mail order from The Coffee Monsters Co. finally arrived. Opening cute stationery on an exhausting day really is the best kind of surprise.

It has been such a long, overwhelming day, and somehow it is still not quite over because I still have to figure out dinner. The dizziness medication is really starting to kick in, and I can feel myself getting drowsy as I sit here typing this. I am definitely not looking forward to tomorrow because I have vestibular therapy scheduled, and those exercises always leave me feeling so deeply nauseous afterward. But for tonight, I am just going to take things slow, get some rest, and be gentle with myself.

Anyway, that is all for my day today!

Love, Rosie