Urban life decays

Earlier today, I was enjoying some Zao, Demon Hunter, and Agony Scene music by headbanging and moshing with the air around my house like most normal people do. I was feeling 99% better beforehand, but afterwards, I felt dehydrated, nauseous, and a little dizzy. Assuming it was just because I was still a little sick, I drank some water, took some DayQuil caplets, and went off to my afternoon English class. The nausea and dizziness came and went until about 5:00, when I got back from taking my sister out to her Confirmation retreat. I sat down in front of my computer, and suddenly the back of my head started to hurt for no reason, and I almost passed out. I went upstairs, feeling dizzy and nauseous in an entirely different, non-dehydrated way, and told my mom what was going on. At this point, I was absolutely freaking out. I had no idea what was happening, and that scared the living daylights out of me.

I laid on the couch until my dad got home a few minutes later, and we debated as to whether or not I should go to urgent care. I started feeling better, but that hardly lasted before my body again threatened to pass out. At this point, I was convinced I was going to die. And no, that's not an exaggeration. I honestly thought that today was going to be my last day on earth. I figured the best-case scenario was that I'd fall into a coma until my body gave out. My parents decided urgent care probably wasn't a bad idea, so off we went. Over the next hour and a half or so, I deviated between being as calm as I could be under the circumstances, and believing that a blood vessel was going to burst in my brain at any second.

Finally, I got called back to see the doctor, and after asking me a few questions and doing a couple random tests, he told me I have Labyrinthitis. I've never heard of it either, but I am not making it up. You can look it up if you'd like. It turns out that my sinuses drained into my inner ear, which threw off my balance and caused the vertigo and nausea. The fluid probably drained in there because of my headbanging and whatnot. The doctor gave me some antibiotics that will help dry out the fluid, as well to help with the vertigo and nausea.

When I got home, I decided to look up my new found disease on Wikipedia, where I discovered that the first effect most people feel from Labyrithitis is, get this: panic attacks. I also discovered that patients who are able to deal with and/or defeat the panic attacks recover faster than those who don't. Thank God my parents and I decided to go out there tonight, or else I probably would have spent the rest of the night thinking I was going to die, which is one of the worst things I've ever felt. Vertigo + Panic Attacks + Random Headaches = Not Good Times. So, the moral of the story is... don't headbang when you have a cold... or something. You figure it out.

On a semi-related note, I found out today that Zao is posting a song from their new album each week until it comes out on June 13th. This week's song is called Physician Heal Thyself, which in retrospect, is rather fitting. www.zaoonline.com to download it and watch a video of Dan talking about what the song means. The song itself is, after 15 or so listens, looking like it might end up being one of my favorite Zao songs.

Physician heal thyself
Can you cut yourself precise and deep
As to reach in and remove whats dying inside of you

A colossus of irony

Physician heal thyself
With great intelligence and experience
Can you prescribe a way not to die alone

We are not what we are

The structure deconstructing
Arrogance and blasphemy
There are no controls
Like the unfornuate patient
The physician dies sick and alone
~"Physician Heal Thyself" by Zao