Friday, December 19, 2008
Day in the ER
I felt an odd sensation as I slept early this morning; the right side of my face became slack. I was worried it might be a stroke! The phone rang early and sure enough, I could barely speak. I blamed it on just waking up, but it was really the loss of facial control.
I called my doctor and my ex, and consensus seemed to be that it was Bell‘s Palsy, rather than a stroke, but that I should go to the local emergency room to have it checked out. I needed to take medications, but I wasn’t sure what I could keep in my stomach, and I needed to get hydrated, so it seemed a particularly good idea.
I’ll spare the details of a day with yet more doctors, procedures, bad weather, and just getting by. The short version is that I had a CT Scan, chest x-ray, and an EKG - the usual tests - and they came to the same conclusion, that it's Bell's Palsy. Just when it seems things can’t get more complicated, they do. I certainly hope this condition is short-lived; it can be.
My ex continues to be terrific. He spent the morning in the hospital with me, and my older daughter is home with me now to help me through the weekend. I’m ready to crawl back into bed.
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2 comments:
I've heard that Bell's Palsy is common in situations like this. When my dad was really sick with a rare syndrome he developed it too. Good news is - it goes away.
Yes, it appears to be temporary, and transient throughout the day for me. I speak a little better in the morning and when I wake up, my face feels less droopy. But it's unsightly. And my speech garbles a bit when I get a big full sentence in my mouth, or talk too fast. :)
I will probably have another MRI of the base of my skull in the near future. THe last one showed no brain tumor, which of course, is great, but there seems to be something in my neck irritating that nerve. I guess there's not much rush for the MRI as I'm not sure they can do much about it at this point anyay.
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