Not much to report - still feeling tired, sick and congested (that's the most discouraging part) - still improving in facial muscle strength and obedience to my brain's commands, a tiny bit more each day! Hearing and sight and taste impairment still the same. I can almost make a sort of smile - or at least a pleasant look instead of a grimace - if I don't smile on my good side, except a tiny bit in that eye...that helps it match the weak side and gives me an expression that doesn't shout that something's wrong! Until people realize I'm not blinking!
I know that many others with Bell's Palsy have a much slower recovery, and there's no guarantee mine will continue to progress at this pace or fully recover (though from prognosis stats for early progress, I'm hopeful). Hang in there! Rest! Do everything you should, as early as possible, and that should really help!
The quote above is from an article by BBC reporter, John Sudworth, who himself had Bell's Palsy. It's a good read. He also lists the following four imperatives for your doctor:
It's a horribly large quantity of photos of my deformed face, all in one place, but I think it's a helpful and encouraging comparison!
It's interesting, you can see that on Day 3, the paralysis had not completely set in yet, so Day 9 is the best base to compare to in the future...this could go on a while, so I'll probably just put future weekly shots next to Day 9 for continued progress tracking.
I know that many others with Bell's Palsy have a much slower recovery, and there's no guarantee mine will continue to progress at this pace or fully recover (though from prognosis stats for early progress, I'm hopeful). Hang in there! Rest! Do everything you should, as early as possible, and that should really help!
The quote above is from an article by BBC reporter, John Sudworth, who himself had Bell's Palsy. It's a good read. He also lists the following four imperatives for your doctor:
- They must prescribe a course of prednisolone steroids as early as possible unless there is a good medical reason not to.
- They must not recommend forceful or unsupervised facial exercises as this may lead to abnormal facial movements after recovery.
- Patients who have not recovered fully within six weeks should be referred for further expert advice.
- The affected eye must be treated with eye drops during the day and taped shut at night to prevent serious damage.
It's a horribly large quantity of photos of my deformed face, all in one place, but I think it's a helpful and encouraging comparison!
It's interesting, you can see that on Day 3, the paralysis had not completely set in yet, so Day 9 is the best base to compare to in the future...this could go on a while, so I'll probably just put future weekly shots next to Day 9 for continued progress tracking.
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