Last night as I slept I was striken with Bell Palsy. I'm sure some if not most of you my dear friends have heard of this nuralogical event. First I need to settle your nerves .... THIS IS NOT A STROKE!!!............ok. 40.000 people are striken with this very irratating form of paralysis in the US. Its belived that the reason for this is a viral infection such as viral meningtis or the comon cold sore virus herpes simplex causes the disorder when the facial nerve swells and becomes inflamed in reaction to the infection. This is the first day for me. Within the next two days the right side of my face will become more rigid and my mouth may droop. Normaly this may last as short a period as three weeks or as long as a month or more. Now ya'll now me. I can be a stuborne man so I survived two divorces so I sure won't let this tear me up. I got the edge, first this was cought very early so I got this things number. Now there isn't a cure but there are ways to help prevent it from getting worse or lasting a lifetime. I'm taking intibiotics for the virus. Also I need to take eye drops because my right eye won't blick. I will close, but it won"t blink and because the blinking of the eye keeps it moist my drops will have to do that for me. I'll be taking a drop every hour. Next thing is to excorsize my facial mucles as often as I can. I would look into the mirror and try to make faces. Even though my face won't react to it, it will help keep the mucles active. Looks like I'll be drinking out of a straw for a while because everything dribbles out the right side of my mouth. I think I got that down but I'll tell ya eating my wonton soup was no picnic today. I really havent begun the heavy sluring of speech but I think that will come in the days ahead. My body is not effected, only my face. I guess thats it in a nutshell. The only thing I want to advise you is this. I was a perfect canadate for this paralysis, high blood pressure. diabeticis, stress. This can lead to a stroke. I was very lucky, and thankfull it wasn't worse. It started last night with a slight numbness in my tongue after dessert. I went to bed and when I awoke the right side of my face was partialy paralized. Take care of your blood pressure and keep your stress as low as possible. I'm your friend and if I can do anything for you ..... let this be it. Trust me ..... YOU DON'T WANT THIS.
