Balance Tests recap
Yesterday I sat down and actually calculated how many medical appointments/tests I have had since the start of the year and it was follows:
16 Doctors appointments
6 Psychologist appointments
1 Dentist appointment (check up)
1 Optometrist appointment (check up for my peace of mind and my insurance covers a new pair of glasses every year)
1 Glucose test
1 Echocardiogram
1 Holter Monitor
1 Specialist Physio Appointment
1 MRI
1 Blood Test
1 ENT Appointment
And now today I had yet more tests!
When I saw the ENT just over 2 weeks ago he sent me off to get some inner ear tests to test my balance because he has no idea what is going on with me (yay for being a medical mystery!). I'm actually going to get a call from the ENT regarding the results instead of going in to see him.
Also for those who don't know Dyspraxia actually affects your balance and it's going to be interesting to see what these tests will show and if my Dyspraxia will have an impact on the results.
Today I got a call from the neurologist's office asking if I could come in next Thursday morning and they had put this appointment aside for me as the ENT made it seem urgent. If it weren't for this appointment I would have to wait until October to see the neurologist. I explained that I was actually having balance tests today and I was asked if I could tell the audiologist to send over the results along with the graphs so he could look at them in more detail.
The two tests I had were Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP) testing and Videonystagmography (VNG) and Caloric testing. Please don't ask me how to pronounce those names or what they mean as I have been referring to them as "balance tests" and not going into them. I was told not drink any alcohol 24 hours before the tests which wasn't a problem as I don't drink but I must admit it was tempting haha (why when you get told not to do something you want to do it) and not to wear any eye make up.
I rang up on Monday as I had no idea how much these tests were going to cost and I wanted to be prepared. The good thing was that Medicare will cover the bulk of the costs and I think I will only be out of pocket by $200 otherwise they would cost around $750. It actually gets billed to the ENTs office and they sort out the Medicare refund from their end and then I get billed the gap after so I had no costs today which was good.
As I had already audiology testing at the ENT, I went straight into the tests. I had the VEMP test first which required 3 sensors placed on me, one on my forehead and one on either side of my neck. I had to wear earbuds which played loud noises and I had to look at the opposite direction to what ear had the noise in it. This happened 3 times each time in each, the noise started loud and got softer each time it went on. Then the sensors got removed and left a nice mark on my forehead (which you might be able to see in the photo?).
Then I had the VNG and Caloric testing which kinda reminded me of the tests I had at the specialist physio as I had to wear a headset (like a VR headset) and I had to look straight ahead at a red light that would move and I had to follow it. Sometimes the headset would go dark and I would have to look to my left or to my right or up and hold it for 20 seconds. Then I had to lie down and got cold air blown into my ears one at a time which lasted 30 seconds, it was then repeated with hot air with a minute break in between. This was done while still wearing the headset but in the dark, but during the breaks I wasn't so I could refocus my eyes. It made me dizzy but it was different dizziness to what experience 24/7 and one I would describe as surface dizziness.
Now the results will get written up into a report and they will get sent to the ENT and Neurologist. I am hoping for a call from the ENT in the next few days, but I'm not too sure what I should hope for the results to be and what they are going to show.
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