When a severe case of vertigo turned Gary Vineyard’s world upside-down, he rushed to his hometown hospital to make sure he wasn’t having a stroke.
“It felt like I was spinning even when my eyes were closed,” says Gary, who got the help he needed five minutes from home at Methodist Midlothian Medical Center. “I couldn’t even walk into the ER without my wife’s help. They got me in immediately and put me under stroke protocol.”
A series of tests would follow over the coming hours, during which the Midlothian ISD school board president and mainstay of the local Lions Club began to feel like himself again.
“It was a great thing to have Methodist Midlothian so close,” Gary says. “I can’t speak highly enough about the work they did.”
The vestibular system, located inside the ear, sends signals to the brain to regulate balance.
INNER-EAR DISORDER
Turns out, it wasn’t a stroke that caused Gary’s vertigo but a rare form of involuntary eye movement known as rotary nystagmus — the result of dental surgery a few days earlier that threw off his balance.
“There was a lot of drilling involved,” he says. “That apparently dislodged some crystals in my inner ear that work to regulate balance.”
Gary would learn more about his condition under the care of Paul Abrams, MD, hospitalist and internal medicine physician on the medical staff at Methodist Midlothian.
“There are many possible causes of vertigo,” Dr. Abrams says. “In Gary’s case, it was an inner-ear disorder known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV.”
VESTIBULAR DISRUPTION
Patients with BPPV can feel like the room is spinning, Dr. Abrams explains, because of a disruption in the vestibular system, the fluid-filled canals and tiny hairs inside the ear that help our brains regulate balance and our sense of movement.
About 1 in 5 people who are evaluated for dizziness are diagnosed with BPPV, which can often be corrected with simple head exercises known as Epley maneuvers. But just because Gary’s case was benign doesn’t mean vertigo should be ignored.
“Especially in cases where there is no history of vertigo, it’s incredibly important to seek medical attention ASAP to rule out stroke,” Dr. Abrams says.
Gary didn’t suffer a stroke, but the sudden vertigo he suffered can be a warning sign of stroke.
WORRISOME HISTORY
Family history can play a role in some neurological conditions, and Gary’s late mother and grandmother were both on his mind when he visited Methodist Midlothian.
“My grandmother passed away from a stroke at 60,” he says. “My mom passed away from a brain aneurysm at 60. So this sort of thing definitely gets my family’s attention.”
Gary would spend the night at Methodist Midlothian after several exams to ensure his condition didn’t require critical neurological care.
“They kept me under their wing for the next 24 to 48 hours just to make sure nothing else was going on,” he says. “Everyone did a fabulous job, the doctors, the nurses, just checking up on me all the time.”
Gary serves as school board president in the same building where he attended L.A. Mills Elementary decades ago.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Having spent most of his life in Midlothian, Gary says that finally having a hospital so close at hand has been a godsend for the Ellis County community.
“The convenience of having Methodist here versus having to drive to Waxahachie and hope you’re not waiting all day, that’s been a very positive experience,” he says.
As a longtime volunteer and a newly appointed district governor for the Lions Club, Gary also appreciates how service-minded Methodist Midlothian and its staff have proven to be.
“The hospital is very present in the community — they’re not just waiting for people to come there,” he says. “They’re out there saying, ‘We’re here, and we’re ready for you.’ They’ve always given back.”
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