It started May 2nd, and now in the third week, it seems to be ending. The first week, (Friday to Friday), the whole right side of my face was completely paralyzed. Nothing moved no matter how much I tried. No smiling, no blinking, difficulty eating, drinking, and talking. It was very distressing. Because I couldn’t blink my right eye, when it dried out, I had to manually close it with my fingers. This got so bothersome while trying to do my job on a computer, I ended up just taping the eye lid closed for much of the day while at work. I also had to tape it closed over night when I slept. Though my face didn’t droop very bad, it was noticeable if you looked at me straight on.

About mid-way through the second week, I noticed I could make my right cheek twitch a little. By the weekend, I could actually make it move a little. Not much, but enough to make my dimple on that side. My right eye still didn’t blink, but I was happy to be seeing some improvement.

Now, mid-way through the third week, my face is about 80% back to normal. I can blink, and work and sleep without taping. My smile is improving. To casually look at me, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with my face. Only someone familiar with my face, (me and Wifegrit, for instance) can find any remaining droop when looking straight on at my face. Although, when I laugh big, I can feel, and others can see, there’s still a little paralysis left. The right side of my face doesn’t yet grin as big as the left side.

At the rate I’m recovering, I expect by this weekend, (beginning of the fourth week), all this will be completely cleared up. I am so extremely happy this turned out to be so short-lived. I was very scared this was going to last for months. Wifegrit is convinced this quick recovery is because I immediately went to the doctor and got prednisone and antiviral meds into me within a few hours of it starting. From what we’ve read up on Bell’s palsy, this may be correct and the best way to deal with it.

When this is all 100% clear, and my face is working at 100% again, I’ll update this post with the date. If anyone finds this post while searching for info on Bell’s palsy, I want them to know it can be relatively short. It’s worrisome to have it suddenly happen, but it isn’t necessarily a terrible, long-term condition. As soon as it happens, go to a doctor, get meds, and start them immediately. Don’t worry too much. It’s annoying and troublesome, but it does go away, sometimes soon.

Update: Three weeks and two days after it started, I can happily say my Bell’s palsy condition has completely resolved. Looking at my face in the mirror, both eyes are normal, my smile is equal on both sides, (including dimples :-) and I seem to have 100% normal functionality with both sides of my face. I am officially fully relieved and happy this thing is gone.

Bullgrit

First summer with a teenager in the family.

Ah, the smell of fresh mowed grass. I’m going to enjoy this summer.

Bullgrit

This drives me crazy. Having to wait for a 3:35 minute advertisement to load and play just so I can watch a 57 second video.

Bullgrit

Calfgrit9 cannot close anything. I don’t think he even has a concept of the idea of “close.” I’m not talking about just the front door when he goes out or comes in, which is the standard/stereotype for almost all children. I mean everything and anything. If a thing has an open and a closed state, he will always leave it in the open version. I think things open for him when he just walks through the house.  It’s like he has a poltergeist following him everywhere he goes.

This is his chest-of-drawers in his bedroom.

If I close the drawers at night when I put him to bed, it’s all open again after he gets dressed in the morning. I’ve told him he’d have more room for playing in his room if he closed the drawers, but it doesn’t matter.

In the mornings, he usually goes downstairs to the kitchen on his own and makes his breakfast — either a bagel, or some microwave pancakes, or a whole bag of Goldfish if he thinks he can get away with it. And every morning when I or Wifegrit goes downstairs, we find the kitchen “open” in every way possible. Saturday morning I took a pic of the usual situation.

For me to get to the refrigerator, I had to move or close several things, or else dodge and weave through it all. The kitchen desk chair was pulled out to the middle of the floor, the desk drawer was pulled open, the pantry door was open, the dishwasher was open, and the microwave door was open, and even the package of frozen pancakes was left open on the counter. I’m sure the only reason the fridge/freezer door was closed is that it self shuts.

Yes, all these open items do drive me crazy. But I’m also concerned about safety. Like with his drawers. With them *all* open, the tall chest could tip over and hurt him. If someone had to move through the kitchen quickly, they’d run into half a dozen things in the way before putting out a fire or catching a falling glass or something. A fire marshal would totally shut down our home as a dangerous environment.

I really am a bit afraid that one day something will happen and someone will get hurt in some way because everything is left open. But aside from following my 9 year old around as he walks through the house, I don’t know how to get him to close stuff behind himself. Maybe we need an exorcist to visit and banish the spirit that seems to open everything in his wake.

Bullgrit