1000 Smiles, huh?

Well, it's been a while since I blogged. I decided this morning that now is as good a time as ever. And, as I thought about why I wanted to start blogging again - I remembered the name I picked out for my blog... Journey of 1000 Smiles. You see, the reason I decided to pick up my blog again today was this.

I have Bell's Palsy.

Here's a link to the 'official' definition at Wikipedia. Thankfully, Bell's Palsy is a temporary condition in most cases. They're not sure what causes it exactly - but I'll get into that a little more a bit later.

In layman's terms - it's the temporary paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face. Mine happens to be on the left side, and I'm extra grateful that it seems to be a relatively mild case. I was diagnosed with this on Saturday, January 1st, 2011... what a way to ring in the new year, right?!

So, now I'll rewind a little an let you know what lead up to this point.

It's the week following Thanksgiving. I'm winding down from having everyone at our home for the big meal, and gearing up for the Christmas holiday season (my favorite!) And I start to get a sore throat and cough - I start taking Zicam hoping to nip it in the bud before it knocks me out. I end up loosing my voice for a few days, and have a bit of a lingering cough - but nothing 'out of the ordinary' in terms of a cold goes. I never had a fever, or even a stuffy nose really. This was a little unusual for me, as I usually get head colds/sinus infections. But it went away, and I felt better for about a week. Then we were nearing Munchkin's birthday and Christmas. I was busy shopping, decorating, planning, etc. I felt another cold coming on - this time the usual, stuffy head, cough, just feeling down right crappy!

Well, this lasted for a few days and didn't seem to be letting up, and my usual arsenal of decongestants weren't doing anything either! So, I decided to go to the Walgreen's clinic - as I haven't been to my primary care dr. in probably 5 years, I figured it would just be faster to head there. I probably had a sinus infection & maybe ear infection, they'd give me antibiotics and I'd be on my way... and feeling better soon! Well, I was wrong! The "clinical nurse practitioner", which I think is the correct title, examined me and listened to my complaints. She said I had a slight upper-respiratory infection and congestion that were most likely caused by a virus. I should be feeling better in a few days, and if not, come back. So, a week went by... I felt better for a couple days, then the evening of Christmas Day my left ear plugged up, then two days later, my right. So, I called my doctor's office on Monday after Christmas. They were closed for the holiday... ugh! So, back to the clinic I go. It's the same 'nurse' there, and she examines me again. 6 days later and I have a "raging" ear-infection in my left ear, one in my right, and a sinus infection... oh, and on top of that, she's concerned that my blood pressure is high. So, she prescribes a z-pack antibiotic and sends me on my way.

So, my ears start to 'drain' and I feel a little better for a day or so, then the congestion starts to come back. Thursday, the night before our big New Year's Eve party I notice my upper lip twitching. Now, I'm familiar with the occasional facial twitch, usually my eye. But this was downright annoying! Then overnight, it went away. But, Friday morning... and throughout the day, my left eye was twitching, and more than just normal. Every time I blinked it would twitch. Then as the night wore one I noticed that the twitching went away, but it didn't feel like I could blink all the way, and I noticed that I only had half of a smile.

Needless to say, I was a little scared. But it was late, and I was tired. I had no other symptoms (balance was OK, speaking & comprehension were fine, no problems with my limbs). So we went to bed - I was hoping it'd be better in the morning. Well, at least it wasn't much worse! But it was still enough to make me head to the ER. I knew my doctors office wasn't going to be open on New Year's Day, and I was NOT going back to the clinic!

Luckily, when you present with facial paralysis they get you in pretty quick! The nurse felt pretty positive right away that she knew what it was and told me. Then I remembered my English teacher, sophomore year of high school, she had it. I don't remember how long it lasted for her - but I remember her having to wear an eye-patch to school for a couple weeks.

So, the doctor talks to me and examines me. Yep - Bell's Palsy. There's not much that can be done for it - but they do prescribe a steroid (to help any inflammation of the nerve) and an anti-viral (there's some thought that it could be caused by a strain of the herpes virus... a derivative of chicken pox.) There's also no way to know how long it will last. As I mentioned earlier - I have a pretty 'mild' case. I can blink my eye most of the way... enough to avoid wearing a patch all day long! And a small amount of movement of my mouth.

That was my New Year's Day! And, now I'm 5 days in to 2011, and really getting tired of this - which is why I decided to start blogging about it, and to help me stay sane :) I'm trying really hard not to let it get to me. But when you tell your body to do something, and it just doesn't (and makes you feel like you look crazy when you try) it gets really frustrating!

Here's some pictures of me right now and over the last few days.

January 1st - You'll notice my left eye (on the right side of the picture) doesn't close all the way.

January 3rd - that's a smile with my eyes closed.

January 5th - that's a smile... honest, it is! :)

I feel like the issue is mostly between my eyeball and my upper lip. But, today it feels like I can get a little more of a smile out of the left side of my mouth, and when I was in the shower I thought I felt my eyelids touch after they were closed for a little bit... but that might have just been the water ;)

I do have to wear a patch over my eye at night to make sure it doesn't dry out (or get scratched by the sheets). Which of course makes for many a pirate joke from the husband.

I think that's my other biggest annoyance now is really the husband. He's constantly making jokes about how I look when I smile. And, I know that it's mostly his way of dealing with a hard situation by making light of it - but it does make one self-conscious! Although, he did say something very sweet last night:

"In all seriousness, I've taken your 'pretty-ness' for granted. I hope this doesn't last too long, so that I can have my beautiful wife back again. I love you!"

So, as I'm nearing the end of my prescribed steroid and anti-viral medicines, I'm also looking into alternatives, specifically acupuncture. I'll keep you posted via this blog, and hopefully I'll be back to my full smiling self soon!