My facial paralysis got worse, a persistent buzzing in my right ear became louder, and I became more exhausted. One morning I got out of bed and was so tired I went back to bed an hour later. For weeks, I could hardly leave my bed. People kept waking me up, trying to talk to me, and I just kept falling back to sleep. My husband tried to feed me, but I didn’t want anything. I could drink water, but I couldn't eat solid food.
After a couple of weeks, my husband Wes started to give me sweetened drinks, which put a little weight on me and gave me some energy. After several days I was able to eat a little.
Wes took me to the doctor. Clearly something was wrong, but no one knew what it was. Besides my family doctor, I saw an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, an oncologist, and a chiropractor. Everyone ran tests – blood tests, x-rays, an MRI – but found no explanation for my symptoms.
Through a series of tender mercies, I was led to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor who looked at my MRI, asked me some questions, and told me it looked like I might have an acoustic neuroma. Because he was unsure, he made an appointment for me to meet with an ENT/neurology specialist in Salt Lake.
(From my husband's journal March 8, 2008):
"Marnie has been ill now for two months and has had the problems with her face and hearing and balance for a few more months than that. We now know that she has an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor that is pinching off the 7th and 8th cranial nerves. We don’t know what is causing her total loss of appetite and fatigue. . . We have not felt that this illness is due to cancer (although that is what some of the doctors believe, except her oncologist). We don’t feel that the disease has been explained or treated at all. Perhaps we should ask for treatment of the symptoms while they are hunting for their cause."
"Thou shalt ask, and it shall be revealed unto you in mine own due time." (D&C 42:62)
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