I was introduced to the world of imbalance in the summer of 1992. I was admitted to the hospital for life saving colon surgery and spent seven weeks there due to complications. It was during the surgery or the countless complications that my vestibular system was compromised. Several specialists have concluded that some entity played a role in causing damage to my vestibular system, but after all these years the entity is not as important anymore as the end result..chronic imbalance.

I was only 37 years of age when this happened. I was a single mom with a then 8 year old daughter and a full and wonderful life. I had been divorced five years earlier and for the first time in years I had started to discover life and things were falling into place. I had dreams of falling in love again and of having more children. I was starting to travel both my child and on my own and I was filled with the anticipation of living a life filled with purpose and contribution. I enjoyed being both a mom and an independent woman. I loved going out to dinner with friends or enjoying a few hours of dancing on a Friday night, which was and always will be a passion of mine. Everything was right with the world when this happened.

I wasn't prepared for this journey of dizziness I don't think you can be. But once it happened the road was long and hard. I saw countless specialists in every field of medicine. I was lucky to find that most were compassionate and I lucked out in finding a wonderful primary care physician. Nothing it seemed prepared me for how this would alter my life or how incredibly lonely it would become. I would have countless people disbelieve me simply because I looked well. I lost the independence I had come to know. My dreams were shattered. I became financially independent on the government to take care of both myself and my child. I lost family members due to their inability to be compassionate. I became less and less able to perform the everyday duties of life. I was isolated in my home most of the time feeling as if I was the sole victim of this illness.

I was desperate to find others like myself and I cannot tell you in words the joy I found the first time I found the Dizziness and Vertigo board on AOL. It opened up a world I thought only I lived in. For the first time in years I felt a part of a community of understanding and kindness. From my very first post I knew that I belonged somewhere that even though the world I once knew was gone a new one was open to me. It was a gift from god.

There is not a day that goes by that I am not inspired by someone whose life is infinitely harder than mine. I feel touched by things I would have taken for granted once upon a time had I not known this illness. I lost my balance but it took the kindness of those like me to see that I could never lose my spirit that was only mine to give. I am a better person now...a better mom...a more generous soul....a kinder more spiritual human being...I guess I can thank this illness for these gifts. I still long for balance simply because I have so much left to do and see. I have my daughter to thank for giving me a reason to live a life no matter what the challenges. I am committed to living the best possible existence I can with this illness. Some days and months are worse than others but when the good days happen you enjoy them with such passion more so than you ever would have balanced. So believe me when I tell you that you can infact live with this illness not the same life but a richer one.