Back in June, I was afflicted by Bell’s Palsy. Initially, my doctor told me it would take up to 6 months to recover 90%. Well, I made 90% within 4 weeks. However, there are still some lingering effects in my face. Hopefully they clear up. I look in the mirror, and I have jowls. I look like an old hound dog.
Bleh.
Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone!!!
I went to the doctor yesterday morning, for my follow-up visit.
According to the doctor, he sees a 50% improvement in my face, from last week’s visit. He said that another 10-12 days, and I will be at 90%.
It’s amazing to go from zero muscle function to being able to drink without a straw, chewing on the right side of my mouth, and being able to smile…even if it is still a little lopsided.
When this happened, I put everything in God’s hands. I DID still take the antiviral medicine, and the nasty steroid pills (Bleh). To go from being told that it would take 6 months to recover…to being told that it will take 3 weeks is truly a blessing.
D
So, after being off work for 10 days, I went back to work on Sunday night. Because of the onset of the Bells Palsy, I was having problems with my right eye all last week. My vision has deteriorated by about 20% overall. I attribute it to one half of my forehead hanging down into my field of vision, and pushing the eyeball out of shape a little bit.
The overwhelming issue is the muscles on the left side of my neck. They are pulling my head to the left side, as well as twisting my head to the right a little bit. I look strange typing at an angle, and it makes working on the computer extremely uncomfortable.
However, I have seen some progress! The right side of my mouth is starting to move a little bit when I try and smile. Hopefully I’m soon to recover the ability to close my right eye without having to use my finger to do it. That will be a major step!
Baby steps! With the Grace and Blessings of God, I will recover from this sooner than later.
D
Several people have asked “what happened” in regards to a picture I posted on Facebook from Chandler Hospital on Friday, June 16th.
Overnight on Tuesday night, I started to feel some numbness on the left side of my mouth. Almost like getting OraGel on your tongue. It was accompanied by light-headedness.
On Thursday morning, I woke up to the feeling that the left side of my face had swollen up. Ok, maybe it’s an allergic reaction to something I ate, or something I encountered on Wednesday. Benadryl should take care of it.
By Friday morning, I realized it was a problem that wasn’t going to magically go away. After a day of running errands, I ended up at the Chandler Regional Medical Center, under the assumption that it would be easier to go there and get seen, than to try to get into my doctor after the weekend, or go to Urgent Care and have them send me off to the ER for tests.
The ER doctor diagnosed me with Bells Palsy, but wanted a CT scan of my head, because of my medical history, just to be sure it wasn’t something worse.
According to the Interwebs, Bells Palsy is named after Charles Bell, the Scottish surgeon who first ascribed the problem as a neurological issue connected to the facial nerve.
Since that Friday, I’ve had a considerable change in my ability to talk, eat and see. Half of my face is dead. No muscle movement at all. It’s hard to eat, hard to drink, and hard to see through my droopy right eye. Not to mention that now I slur my words worse than any drunk you see on Live PD.
The doctor’s say it’s temporary, and should clear up in several weeks. Meanwhile, it’s something I have to deal with.
On the plus side, I have mastered the single arched eyebrow look. And I have the perfect Two-Faced costume.
Well, at least this gives me something to write about.
Yesterday afternoon, we donated several books to the Maricopa Public Library in Jerney’s memory.
Thank you to Erik Surber, Library Manager, for helping set this up on relatively short notice. Hopefully this will inspire others to consider donating to the library, as well.
https://newsofmaricopa.smugmug.com/Placer-Family-Book-Donation-65-2017/n-hDhbSP/i-b267TDd/A
FB post by Maricopa Public Library
Later on in the afternoon, after the event, the Library posted the above photo and description on their Facebook page.
https://newsofmaricopa.smugmug.com/Placer-Family-Book-Donation-65-2017/n-hDhbSP/i-rtQn7Q6/A
Thank you to Howard Waggner for taking photos of the event.
That Friday morning was another typical Arizona day. I had left the house about 6:30, with the intention of being a Lyft driver for most of the morning. I picked up my first passenger, taking her from one Phoenix suburb to another, listening to her vent about problems and issues.
Once I dropped her at her destination, I checked my phone for messages. This was waiting for me from my wife: Continue reading
I see we’re in standby mode, waiting for the next “Guess what Trump Did” video to surface. Oh boy, something else to be collectively horrified about. This man has been in the public spotlight for several years now. How come none of this was made public before?
The recent “locker room talk” media meltdown? It was recorded back in 2005…when he was a Democrat, and donated a lot of money to Democrat candidates. Apparently it wasn’t newsworthy back then.
Save your false horror. More and more of these “horrible videos/recordings” will magically surface between now and November 8th. He will be politically excoriated by the establishment on both sides of the aisle. Continue reading
On Wednesday evening, Maricopa High School held their Winter Honors program. Rather than waiting until the end of the school year, they decided to honor the First Semester recipients early!
Matthew & Isaiah, with honors!
Matthew made the Honor Roll, with a GPA of 3.0-3.8 for the semester!
Matthew collecting Honor Roll award.
And Isaiah, blooming in his first year of High School, picked up an Academic Excellence award…given for GPA of 4.0 or higher!
Isaiah collecting Academic Excellence award!
I am honored to be their parent!
Well, over the Christmas break, the Semester 1 report cards came in the mail.
Matthew: 2 A, 2 B, 1 C, and a Pass
Isaiah, All A
This is Isaiah’s freshman year in high school, and he has definite plans on what he wants to do when graduates. He is very goal focused, and wants the high grades for a better shot at secondary education after he graduates.
Matthew is a Junior this year, and is working to catch up on what he missed last year, as he did a lot of slacking while in the online school. We are really proud of how he is doing. He is also a member of the Marching Band, so that takes up a lot of this time as well.
We’re halfway through the school year, and things are still going great. Hopefully it stays that way for the rest of the year!
David
Wow, it’s time to update my webpage, and associated links.
Tomorrow.
Confusingly Simple 