DING. A sound. An alert. A mark of imperfection. A call to action. To me, all of the above and more. Two weeks and two days ago, I woke up and my mouth didn’t work exactly as it’s supposed to. While brushing my teeth, I couldn’t spit out straight. I tried a couple times, then realized that there was unmistakably a problem. I wondered if it had anything to do with the dull headache above my ear. Or if it was related to the pain felt on that same ear over the last several days. A pain as if my glasses were too tight. I knew I was overdue to visit the Ophthalmologist and that I probably needed new glasses anyway. Turns out there was a lot to see that could not yet be seen.
Sunday, January 31, 2016 is the day that I woke up realizing something was not right. Could it be Bell’s Palsy?
I called my sister-in-law who went through this maybe ten years ago. She suggested I look around online to WebMD, Mayo Clinic, etc. And then: Run don’t walk to Urgent Care, and locate a good acupuncturist. ASAP. Catch it early, she implored. I took her advice very seriously, but I still had things I felt needed to done in the day; plus I wanted to see if maybe this situation improved on its own. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe it would right itself. No better, I drove to Urgent Care an hour before closing.
The doctor had me puff out my cheeks. Instantly, my left side, my now-weaker side, leaked air. He probably had me do other things, too, but this was the test that seemed to verify Bell’s Palsy. I hadn’t had a stroke (nor did I ever think I had). My blood pressure was definitely higher than usual for me – but the stress of the situation appeared to be revealing itself. So, the doctor declared, that he was reasonably sure I had moderate Bell’s Palsy. He commended me for coming in immediately, and said catching it early really helps. He prescribed two meds: a steroid and an antiviral drug. Bell’s Palsy comes from a virus. Who knows where or how, but it’s a virus. The meds would be done in about a week. He would not guess how long I would be afflicted. The nerves were starting to shut down in my face. The headache, the earache were both related he said. I asked about acupuncture, and he said that that was probably a good idea. Fill prescription, take with food, and try not to freak out.