[Mariel]

I got a virus (first one in many years which affected my balance (probably through sinus swelling, they say) and then our area of New Mexico went into severe smoke impaction from our surrounding forest fires, which may have further exacerbated the vertigo--everyone's guessing, but my PCP told me to get out of town. I hesitated and stayed inside the house, away from as much smoke as possible, but finally went to California for 11 days, at great expense. I will try to get the insurance to cover as they did in previous fire/smoke situations here, on the grounds of the doctor's strong recommendation. But we are in for a summer which may produce more fires. We have already had five or six with two still out of control, and it's still June. The smoke comes and goes, depending on the wind. Last time in 2011 it affected my eyes so that they were going into spasm and nearly blind for weeks after I came back from evac.

My vertigo is nearly gone now, just strikes briefly when I lie down sometimes.
But I was in full fledged wall-walking mode, grasping walls I veered into, even in the doctor's office, which was full of smoke that day. The severity of the infection made my hematocrit (and all blood factors) to decline, whereas usually they go the other way because of Polycythemia Vera--the docs in CA said it was due to marrow suppression.

It was a lot to do, traveling, packing, unpacking, in this condition, and all alone and ancient. I wish I could stay in CA but it's too expensive in the "clean" areas near the coast. I felt better there, even with the vertigo, which gradually subsided while I was there. My foot numbness seemed somewhat less there, although it's always present and I must walk carefully even when I don't have vertigo.