Shortly after my arrival to Northlandia I began to feel a numbness around my mouth, much like the sensation of novacane after a dentist's visit. It became apparent that something was wrong and I noticed I'd become paralyzed on the left side of my face. I was staying with Mark and Holly and apparently I hid it well, because they never knew what had happened. I wasn't real worried because I felt fine, but around the time I'd begun to feel the loss I'd also run around next door taking pictures, close pictures, of a plane crop dusting. Had I been sprayed? Was I going to become a mutant bug? A half-man, half weevil? The mind is a terrible thing to scare.
So far all the symptoms pointed to a stroke: paralysis, droopy features, eyelids not blinking in sync, and the inability to drink out of a can of pop, without making modifications in the process. It was also somewhat humorous. In gargling my mouthwash before bed, my inability to control my left resulted sometimes in it squirting out toward the mirror. and then spitting it out became a different kind of chore as well.
Days passed and I met the challenge of a paralyzed face and social gatherings pretty well. If anyone noticed they didn't say anything. I finally confessed to the current Mrs. Blythe as well as to Pat and that began to get the ball rolling to get a medical diagnosis. In fact a sister-in-law was dispatched to the Galva Car Show on Saturday the 9th to confirm the symptoms. And then someone came up with Bell's Palsy, and, it seemed, the mystery was solved. But first a call to the Nurse Hotline from my insurance company in hopes of finding some loophole that would allow me to avoid the ER/prompt Care/official doctor visit that I would prefer to skip. I knew it, everyone else knew it, but unless we spent untold hundreds to get it confirmed, no one but me would be satisfied. And so the medical industry took me by the hand in its gentle yet forceful way and provided an examination and backed by a CT scan to conclude what I was already sure of.
The Bell's Palsy diagnosis was confirmed along with a sinus infection. There is no cure for it other than time. Medication that has been found to improve the condition is a steroid pak that has a week's worth of tablets. A prescription for sinusitis and a comment by the doctor to start taking an aspirin a day, and I was out in the parking lot in about 2 hours, minus the hefty ER co-pay from my insurance company, bless their little hearts.
Seems everyone knows someone who had Bell's Palsy. And it is a fairly common ailment - some 20,000 people get it every year in the U.S. My sister-in-law had it a few years ago. So I'll take my meds, pay off my credit card in a few months, and eventually I won't be fun to watch talking or smiling. Till then, though, have fun, stare and enjoy the show. But remember, it's a limited engagement.
So far all the symptoms pointed to a stroke: paralysis, droopy features, eyelids not blinking in sync, and the inability to drink out of a can of pop, without making modifications in the process. It was also somewhat humorous. In gargling my mouthwash before bed, my inability to control my left resulted sometimes in it squirting out toward the mirror. and then spitting it out became a different kind of chore as well.
Days passed and I met the challenge of a paralyzed face and social gatherings pretty well. If anyone noticed they didn't say anything. I finally confessed to the current Mrs. Blythe as well as to Pat and that began to get the ball rolling to get a medical diagnosis. In fact a sister-in-law was dispatched to the Galva Car Show on Saturday the 9th to confirm the symptoms. And then someone came up with Bell's Palsy, and, it seemed, the mystery was solved. But first a call to the Nurse Hotline from my insurance company in hopes of finding some loophole that would allow me to avoid the ER/prompt Care/official doctor visit that I would prefer to skip. I knew it, everyone else knew it, but unless we spent untold hundreds to get it confirmed, no one but me would be satisfied. And so the medical industry took me by the hand in its gentle yet forceful way and provided an examination and backed by a CT scan to conclude what I was already sure of.
The Bell's Palsy diagnosis was confirmed along with a sinus infection. There is no cure for it other than time. Medication that has been found to improve the condition is a steroid pak that has a week's worth of tablets. A prescription for sinusitis and a comment by the doctor to start taking an aspirin a day, and I was out in the parking lot in about 2 hours, minus the hefty ER co-pay from my insurance company, bless their little hearts.
Seems everyone knows someone who had Bell's Palsy. And it is a fairly common ailment - some 20,000 people get it every year in the U.S. My sister-in-law had it a few years ago. So I'll take my meds, pay off my credit card in a few months, and eventually I won't be fun to watch talking or smiling. Till then, though, have fun, stare and enjoy the show. But remember, it's a limited engagement.
Rockn the hospital gown. Quite the fashion statement.
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