CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper returned to the bench Friday after 11 games away because of vertigo.

“I’m feeling better than I did, that’s for sure,” Cooper said. “I’m not right, but I feel up to being here. I never had this before, vertigo, it’s no fun. Given the choice, I think I might go for the diverticulitis over the vertigo, especially with the first three days of the symptoms. You feel seasick, carsick, and you are not moving anywhere. I’m just sitting.”

Cooper suffered a bout of diverticulitis last season that caused him to miss three games. While Cooper said he was texting advice to coaches while out last season, this time he just enjoyed the games on TV, saying watching them was the highlight of his day. Cooper said bullpen coach Bobby Thigpen, who took over for Cooper in his absence, did a great job as the team had a nice 5-2 road trip.

“You might accuse us of a lot of things, but it’s not for a lack of effort, fight, competing,” Cooper said. “I see that happening. You get a little different perspective on TV. So there’s a lot to be happy about with our team and players.”

Cooper said he started feeling off after the July 19 home game against the Houston Astros, continually veering to the left when walking. When he woke up the next morning, a Sunday, he said his whole world started spinning and he had no idea what was wrong.

“All I knew is I felt horrible,” Cooper said. “I felt sick. Throwing up violently and spinning for three days. What I thought then was I think, I said man, I would rather have diverticulitis than this. I could go with a bad stomach. This stuff, I can’t function. It’s unmanageable. Then your mind starts to go to other places a little bit. Is it something else?”

Cooper said he knows health and family are the most important things in life, but he also started to feel guilty that he wasn’t able to do his job. Regardless, Cooper was happy to be back and glad he has people around him who could help him in his time of need.

“We went and checked everything out, it’s not life-threatening,” Cooper said. “It’s something you got to deal with. Right now, I’m dealing with what I got. I’m dealing with the best I got right now and hopefully that’s going to head to better and better.”