Day 5: Struck by Jinn...

Day 5

One of the upsides to this all is that I can now lift one eyebrow by itself...never could do that before...the other one always lifted with it. Ha!

I used a hot water bottle last night on the side of my face, because I'd read that the heat would help circulation and nerve healing and reducing inflammation. Not sure if that was a good idea or not. One site said to "Apply moist heat. Wet a cloth in warm water and wring it out. Place it over the affected part of your face for several minutes. Repeat this application several times a day to relieve pain caused by Bell’s Palsy"  Another site recommended Heat Therapy - "Applying heat to the face may help treat Bell’s palsy. Using a heating pad set to a low setting or heated gel packs will help relieve swelling at the affected nerve and can help relieve pain. Moist heat, such as a warm, wet washcloth can also help. Some individuals experience pain behind the ear with Bell’s palsy and heat therapy can help stop this discomfort. Massaging the area after the heat may also improve circulation to the affected muscles." 

This could have been related to last night's heat therapy, but maybe not... I had throbbing pain in right eye, top right of head, behind ear and jaw most the day today. Dizzy. Foggy hearing on right. Right eye is definitely blurry. I'd wondered if it was just impaired by my sagging eyelid, but even when I lift it, I can't see well. My eyelid twitches slightly when the other one blinks, and I can slightly twitch the corner of my mouth...but I might have been able to do that from the beginning...not sure...will see if movement increases.

Stopped by my street lady friends on my way in to work today. Somehow the news already travelled to one of them. When I took off my sunglasses and showed another of them my patched eye, and explained what was wrong with my face, she immediately said I needed to go see a Moazzam (like a respected spirutual discerner in the community), because this is not something you go to a regular doctor for. I've been hit, struck in the face by a Jinn (yup, Aladdin's Genie was a demon!), and only a Moazzam can make it go away. He would have me tell him my mother's name and maybe he'd write it with some words from the Koran and put that paper into water and make a concoction for me to drink, which would give me a blessing, or impart power for healing. I was told the same thing the other day, very matter-of-factly - that I'd been struck in the face by a demon - so I've been thinking about my response to that. 

I told her that I belong to one who protects me, and if anything wants to hit me, be it a Jinn or a virus, it has to ask him first, and he only allows what he knows is best for me and for his glory. 

She said, yes, but you need to go to the Moazzam so he can fix it. 

I told her that the one I belong to has more power than the Moazzam, power over demons, and so I've asked him and he can and will remove my paralysis if that is best. 

I need to find some vocabulary from the story of Job if I'm going to keep having these conversations here about being struck with an unexplained illness!

I only worked a half day today but I'm exhausted and my head still hurts. Either it's the virus, or the steroids, or my adrenals (which already aren't fully functioning) are wiped out from dealing with all this! I tried the Egoscue structural alignment stretches again to see if that will help. My head hurts pretty bad and it's hard to fall asleep. 

I jerry-rigged an eye patch* today, so that I could slightly see through it when walking outside...it was getting treacherous trying to navigate here with only one eye. It helped some...I've been walking with my sunglasses on, as another layer of protection from the wind, and so that people don't stare at me (It's already difficult to be inconspicuous here as a foreign woman). But I realized the sunglasses strategy doesn't work so well when the sun goes down!
I cut the center of the patch out, pulled off a single layer of the napkin, cut shape out of it - just larger the the patch hole, painted the edge with acrylic gel medium (you could use glue), and glued the napkin down, Then I trimmed the outside so that it fits just around my eye and doesn't stick to my eybrow and pull hairs out. This is a child size patch, but I might try it with an adult one (that would go over my eyebrow) and gain a little more visibility. It works okay...better than a solid patch...I can see light and shadows and forms through it, so it helps not to bump into people or moving cars! It doesn't keep my eye shut, just protects it. I can't go out for too long with it because I still have to put eye drops in regularly to keep my eye from drying out. If it had wind in it though, it would dry out super fast. We never appreciate the amazing design of our bodies until they stop working! I forgot to take a picture of it on...will do that tomorrow. (*Note: Check out this later post for my far superior DIY Bell's Palsy Eye Patch innovation!)

Here's my lid, all tucked in and ready for bed. It's still horrible to tear off of the sensitive skin around my eye in the morning, but I haven't figured out anything better to do to keep it shut while I sleep. It could be really dangerous if I let it dry out! I put three layers on the lid, to keep it stiff and straight, pushing it mostly shut, and then I tape that down to my cheek. Even so, it still keeps itself open a bit, but it works well enough (I hope!). Stubborn lid! I'm still trying to find ointment to use at night instead of just the saline drops. It's the weekend and pharmacies are closed.