WHAT ARE WOBBLERS?

WOBBLERS are people who have been damaged by gentamicin.  Gentamicin is a very powerful aminoglycoside (antibiotic) than can have devastating side effects.  It can cause deafness, severe kidney damage, and can completely wipe out the vestibular system.   This is the system that you use for balance, and without it, you must learn to walk again, mainly using only visual cues.  Initially, you will stagger and reel, and struggle to remain erect.  After a while you will learn to compensate somewhat but you will probably never be able to remain erect with your eyes closed or in darkness.    Walking on uneven surfaces or in dimly lit areas is very difficult.   Please don't hesitate to get a handicap parking sticker.

Normally, the vestibular system allows the brain to cancel out head motion from the visual images we see.  Without it, all motion is seen and this causes our visual world to appear as though it were a video taken by an amateur vidiographer.  All of this causes a person to appear to be intoxicated when they walk, so I call these people WOBBLERS.

WOBBLERS ANONYMOUS is a vehicle each of us can use to help maintain some balance in our lives, buoy our self esteem, our self confidence, and find comfort in the fact that we are not alone with this condition.  When one of the bad days comes along, call another WOBBLER and you will be able to talk to someone who understands exactly what you are going through.  I have talked to many of you on your bad days, and on some of my bad days, and each time I feel better prepared to get up and get going again.  The one most important thing each of us must do is to get on with our lives.  This is the purpose of WOBBLERS ANONYMOUS.  If along the way we can also find a way to prevent this from happening to others, then we have used our adversity for something positive.

If you have been damaged by gentamicin or any other drug, you should call and report your experience to the FDA.  Their phone is 1-800-332-1088, or via the internet on the MedWatch home page at  www.fda.gov/medwatch   .  I urge you to follow through with this report.  The information could possibly prevent others being damaged.