Smiling on the Left.. No MORE...

This is an update to my previous post: Smiling on the left... but... still smiling

(This is being written on March 16, 2012, for the benefit of those commenters who would like to know more about how I got over Bell's Palsy)

Hello there!
After the previous post was written, it has been more than a year now since Bell's Palsy injured/affected/attacked my facial nerve. All I can say is, I'm one of those people who are so lucky to have recovered so quickly. Within a month from the first time we went to the neurologist, almost all visible symptoms are gone. I am the only person who can recognize the non symmetric parts of my face of course since Im the one most familiar with it. I can smile normally, move my ears, nostrils but my eyes don't close easily. But I guess the smile and the eyes were the last to  go back to normal.

Okay so after the first visit to the neuro, we went for a lab test. Wherein they (inflict) electrical pulses via a prong on your face at varying degrees of (pain!). This is so they can assess the degree of damage on the facial nerve.

On (probably) day 14, we went to the neuro for a 2nd visit,. Prior to that, my mom and I massaged my face, followed the instructions to avoid salty food and did my best to avoid therapy because we knew that that would be expensive. I also bought eye drops for when the eye becomes dry because it cannot close without assistance. On this visit, the doctor gave me the test result which was quite good but still I needed to go to therapy 6 times (once weekly) and drink the medication she has given and continue with the facial exercises. There are so many if you search in google but i used this because it's very visual and step by step: http://www.cuh.org.uk/resources/pdf/patient_information_leaflets/PIN1435_exercises_for_facial_weakness.pdf

I videotaped myself while doing these exercises each day but they are so embarassing so I cannot post them. But im pretty sure that it would be helpful for those patients who are suffering from bell's palsy to be able to see their progress.

So I came to the hospital for therapy which consists of infrared heat/light being directed at your face, some facial massages (using fingertips) by the friendly therapist and also they will (inflict) some electric current like pulses via some prongs on the affected side of the face.This is the part I hate so much, because I get easily surprised and it's a little painful. It's like the nerves become tender again. Also, it's so similar to the painful lab test i got earlier, only milder and so again I become reminded of that day.. which I hate. In all fairness, the other aspects of the therapy are like a trip to the spa, hehe. Also, i truly commend University of Perpetual Help Hospital in Las Pinas because they are so advanced that they have both a NeuroScience department and a rehabilitation department. Also bec it felt like going to a spa hahaha. Anyway, they will teach you how to massage your face so you may be able to do this at home.

After the third therapy session (once weekly basis), i stopped going. My face I felt was as normal as it could be. Also an upside to all this was that there were LESS wrinkles and LESS drooping on the bell's palsy side compared to the unaffected side. Talk about free "botox".

I continued taking vitamins for a while until i also stopped i think at least 3 weeks prematurely than was recommended. I think everythin in my face is normal now and I am back to my old self... I am whole now.. I can smile!

Oh another thing, after the first visit to the neuro, I asked our bishop to give me a blessing. Also, I think this miracle of easy recovery wouldn't have happened if not for that and the prayers.

*****

This happened in January. On March 2011, a friend came to our house borrowing the infrared light my father bought me. He also had Bell's Palsy, probably from stress because he just came back from a religious mission and I think one of the biggest progenitors was that he cannot find a job, here, now, in the real world... Stress was still the cause. Sad for him, because it took so much longer for him to recover and he lost his confidence in himself because of the disease.

So i remembered how I felt when i had it. It's true you will lose confidence, you cannot show your face or talk without looking a little weird. It is a serious disease, luckily we can recover from it. The best thing to do is to pray, show a happy disposition, have hope and faith. This will heal. I'm sharing my story for those afflicted to know about this feeling of hope. Also so that we'll know that we should always be watchful and not let our problems, stress and unhealthy sleeping habits get the best of us. We only have one body given to us. We must take care of it.

Have a good day everyone!

Smiling on the left... but... still smiling

Bell's palsy is a neural disease we learned about as students in nursing school. The singer Frenchie Dy, is known to have acquired it and everyone thought 'what bad luck that among the hundreds of diseases out there, this rare one actually gets her'. That's what I think everyone felt. It's actually quite an issue with Frenchie since she's a performer and therefore must have a face that always looks good in front of an audience.  My sister thought this form of facial paralysis can be had when you overexpose yourself to a fan or airconditioning. She swears that two of her classmates, who always placed a fan on one side of their faces,eventually acquired paralysis on that side. My friend told me that she had a friend once, who, when her boyfriend left her, instantly got Bell's Palsy.

So much for all the theories and urban legends surrounding the very mysterious Bell's Palsy.

Why am I even blogging about it anyway? That's because I have it.

Well today is Day 11 of my recovery from Bell's Palsy. It feels normal actually. I don't feel any fever coming in nor am I suffering from an insurmountable amount of pain. Just that I noticed in the beginning of last week, my eyes were becoming very uncomfortable,a little bit painful and itchy. That's when I realized that my right eyelid does not close properly which is reason for it to feel uncomfortable and compensate by being teary-eyed. I also felt pressure at the front and back of my ear and our house was on full no-direct-contact alert because we all thought this was the highly transmissible Mumps. I am thankful it's not mumps cause that's more painful and scary. I still was able to go to work although my eyes still kept tearing up. Then the middle of the week came and suddenly my entire right face could not move.Only one eye blinks. When I try to close it, the eyelid only closes a little halfway. The right eyebrow does not rise or frown. The right nostril does not flare and that looked kind of funny. What's more obvious is the mouth part. It's really unnerving when I speak or laugh or smile, my mouth moves on one side so I tried hard not to smile during the next few days.

Day 5 photo: The dreaded palsy has struck a nerve-- my facial nerve
or cranial nerve VII. (enough with the medical jargon please!)

I was so lucky to have bosses who were also health care practitioners and easily noticed that a cause of my sudden inability to move my facial muscles could be neural in nature. I  was terrified at first because I thought anything connected to nerves is a major issue. Immediately on the day after onset, we went to a neurologist and she explained to us that a virus attacked my system and was 'eating' my facial nerve. She  confirmed this condition to be Bell's Palsy. I am thankful that my case was mild. She prescribed Prednisone/ or an anti-inflammatory agent to lessen any swelling that may also be affecting the nerve and Vitamin B complex for neural repair (amazing!). She told us that a common cause of Bell's Palsy is stress and puyat (or spending time awake during normal sleeping hours). I have a talent for pagpupuyat. I love it. And now it has now taken a toll on my body which made me realize how I should value my health more.

Our neurologist explained that this was more common that most people think. More of her Bell's Palsy cases happen around the holidays when people are more prone to stress, partying and staying up late. Well, anyway, so much for all these explanations and causes. We've all now proven wrong all the previous urban legends about Bell's.

Day 11 photo: more teeth can be seen

Well now as an update on Day 11,... my eyes, they say, blink together. I can see more of my teeth on the right side when I smile. My eyebrows are still worrisome since they still do not  frown or rise as willed. But with my family and friends' faith and prayers on my side, I am so much better. Eleven days after and I look so normal barely no one noticed the small imbalances on either side of the face. Other patients (reference: youtube) still have the major symptoms for several weeks or months on end. The end goal here is to get all muscles to return to normal at the same pace and avoid therapy. My personal goal is to get my smile back :)

I hope that what I've shared with you today would increase your insight about your health. I never would've known how much my chronic pagpupuyat could affect me and so could it affect you. Stress is a major underlying cause in many diseases today so let's all be careful about our health and lessen the abuse we inflict on our bodies.

Take care, you.

sincerely, Flor.