Bell's Palsy

I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy a week ago.

I woke up from a nap with J tuesday afternoon, and my face felt a little weird but since I had fallen asleep on his arm, I quickly attributed the odd sensation to a kink in my neck. I remember trying to eat some cereal, and as I slid the spoon out of my mouth, I felt the milk dribble out from between my lips, but I thought nothing of it.

On wednesday, my face still felt odd, I remember glancing in the mirror, but I failed notice anything disconcerting. Still certain I had a kink in my neck, I headed off to kick-boxing with the hope of loosening up all my joints and muscles. When I arrived home however, J noticed that my face looked a little "wonky".

I seemed to be sneering instead of smiling, the entire left side of my face was pretty much maintaining the status quo rather than participating in emotions and expressions.

And so, thursday morning brought me to the doctors office. Bell's Palsy is a partial and (usually) temporary paralysis of the face that is caused by a virus (they don't know which virus however) that attacks the nerves in the face. They think that it is associated with stress or a weakened immune system, but there is no real hard facts about where it comes from or why people get it. Since it is a viral issue, the remedy includes not leaving the house and taking large doses or steroids (to minimize swelling around the nerve).

The first few days were very upsetting and fairly devastating. I didn't want to look at myself and I didn't want anyone looking at me, and yet I didn't fully want to be alone. Thankfully there is no shortage of people, whom I love so much, who dropped in and out to give me hugs and love and comfort.

I have been feeling my mood increase over the last few days, and yesterday, I noticed some cheek bone movement on the left side of my face when I smiled. This is especially encouraging as my doctor told me she has never seen the condition degenerate, once it has begun to improve.

I'm still scheduled for another week and a half of recovery, surely I'll be stir-crazy by then, but so long as my face works, I promise not to complain...