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BillyBoy wrote on 8/3/2003, 5:08 PM
Thanks for asking. Pretty good, but not as good as I hoped by this time. :-(

For those that don't know, I developed a case of Bell's Palsy (paralysis of the facial nerve) which in most cases only effects one side of the face. What happens is the seventh cranial nerve as it exits the brain passes through a narrow tunnel in your skull. A virus, thought to be the herpes simplex virus (also responsible for common cold sores) attacks the nerve, it responds by getting inflamed and swells. Being a narrow space, no place for it to go, so the nerve degenerates. Lucky, the nerve grows back in about 85% of the cases. It takes on average from 3 weeks to 3 months. I guess I'm going to be on the long side of the curve.

Status Report

Its a little over five weeks. I'm better, but not as much as I thought I be by now, so maybe I'm more grumpy than usual. At least I can see well enough (with difficulty) to use the computer again for short periods. Its effecting the left side of my face. Its as if someone drew a line down the middle from my forehead (funny all those worry lines are gone for now)...on the left side, everything on the right side is normal. Almost everything on the left isn't.

The worse part (for me) is how it effects your eyesight. EXTREMELY painful the first couple weeks. You can't blink or close your eye so it drys out. Like bad eye strain x 50. The glare is the big thing. Even now, I can't stand the brightness of even a cloudy day. Full sun, forget it, with TWO pair of really dark sun glasses on.

Now the left eye has been tearing almostly constantly. Even in a almost totally dark room. Feels like someone is sticking their finger in your eye over and over none stop. Then you can't talk right. It sounds like I had a pretty bad stroke if I try to talk more than a few words because the muscles don't get any nerve impulses and are getting weaker. You can't smile or have any facial expressions... on the left side. Aside from the eye pain, the headaches are pretty much gone. Because it also effects your cheeks, mouth, nose, you can't really blow your nose, spit after brushing your teeth or feel food stuck between your teeth and gums and eating or trying to eat is a real bother since only half your mouth works. So I guess I AM GRUMPY. Sorry.

The pain isn't so much the issue, its how much it effects your life. The first few weeks I couldn't really do much of anything and that was driving me nuts. So I'm counting the days till this thing really shows improvement. I guess I'm about 20% recovered so far.
Dwuane wrote on 8/3/2003, 5:23 PM
I've known several people who have had this condition. Pretty scary. They all thought
that they were having strokes. Thankfully, they didn't, but they were in a fair amount
of pain and discomfort. I was a Paramedic for 10 years and have seen many things,
including Bells Palsy. Everyone that I know recovered to nearly 100%. Takes time.

Good luck. Even though I don't know you personally, my best wishes and hopes for a
speedy recovery go out to you. In time, normalcy(what ever that was), will return.

Dwuane
TorS wrote on 8/3/2003, 5:29 PM
Even at 20% you're ahead of most of us around here. So maybe you're at the longer end of the recovery statistics, but you're there. That's good. I mean that's promising.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear you miss being able to smile properly. Wasn't sure you would. :-)
Tor
XPUser2003 wrote on 8/4/2003, 12:09 AM
I've read many of your posts, BillyBoy. Yeah, you're grumpy alright, but you write well, too. I say a little prayer for your recovery. God Bless.
Grazie wrote on 8/4/2003, 12:37 AM
Grumpy? - Nah! - Leg puller and a tease - Oh yess . . . been reading your posts while you're recovering. I was gonna ask how you were getting on - didn't want to pry . . . have you got some suitable medication for that eye? Have you spoken with your optician?

Best wishes - Grazie
BillyBoy wrote on 8/4/2003, 10:00 AM
Thanks again guys. Bell's Paslsy is one of those conditions that the doctors diagnosis
by elimination. In ain't X or Y or Z, oh, you must have Bell's Palsy. My regular MD is one of those now rarer types that doesn't like to run a bunch of expensive tests and while some automatically do a MRI and PET scan to rule out a brain tumor and a few other far worse things I haven't had those tests at least not yet. I apparently lucked out in that I don't have the more severe type of Bell's Palsy where brain surgery is sometimes done to relieve the pressure. On a scale of 1 to 10, I got about a 6 or so in severity. So grateful for that much anyhow.

Being a virus there isn't a lot medical science can do. They sometimes give high doses of steriods and some specific anti-viral meds, more at best of questionable value for treating what I supposedly got. My MD referred me to a Otolaryngologist since in my case its my eye causing me the most grief. A very fancy name (with fees to match) for some MD that used to be called Eye, Nose and Throat doctor. So, yes, I'm using eye drops.

If anyone has more questions, ask away, you're not prying.
Erk wrote on 8/4/2003, 2:26 PM
Billy,

That sounds awful. Glad you're (slowly) getting better, and I hope you get to 100% soon.

In the meantime, we sure appreciate your expertise.

Greg Erken
vitalforce2 wrote on 8/4/2003, 5:47 PM
Let me add my wishes for a solid recovery. Patience is easy to suggest when it's to somebody else, but it's patience I advise. At the risk of casting a pall over the forum, even though I post as a writer and filmmaker, I am by day (sound of a mask ripping off) a defense personal injury lawyer for about 18 years. So I can tell you (as you may have already been told) that the slowest-healing tissue in the body, is nerve tissue. So a prognosis of 3 months for recovery is actually, in my experience, a little on the short side. So, if you aren't seeing a linear day-by-day recovery (as opposed to the human condition of good days and bad days), be assured that there will continue to be improvement, even after that 3-month deadline. In the meantime, a good medication for patience is, well, beer. (Jeez, I hope you're not an alcoholic.)
BillyBoy wrote on 8/4/2003, 7:05 PM
LOL! Maybe I will try your beer suggestion. You're absolutely right of course, one of those things that require patience and I don't have the personality that has much.
My problem is everything I like to do bothers my eye and doing pretty much nothing which is probably best makes me want to start climbing the walls after an hour or so.

I do see some minor progress, more of a week to week thing, than day to day. Its the little things you take for granted, like having your morning cup of coffee. I can't, because it just dribbles out and somehow drinking coffee from a straw doesn't cut it...but I'm trying to get use to it. I like my coffee. Also you do dumb things without thinking. Like a couple weeks ago I ordered a pizza. That was dumb, can't really take a bite and needed to cut into tiny pieces. I wonder how beer through a straw will taste. I 'll let you know. <wink>
rextilleon wrote on 8/4/2003, 8:51 PM
Bad news is that my mother-in-law took a year to recover from Bells Palsy. The good news is she is completely recovered and functioning normally. Wishing you the best and hope that you recover soon!
BillyBoy wrote on 8/4/2003, 9:18 PM
What's kind of surprising me is originally I thought that Bell's Palsy was rather rare, with your chances of getting it something like 40,000 to 1. Based on the number of people in the forum that have mentioned they know of someone having it and people I've talked to it seems more common.