Quasimodo

I'm telling you what, folks. I just can't seem to get a break! I don't mean to sound whiny, as I know I've got it pretty darn good, but sheesh!

I woke up today to find the right side of my face unresponsive. I was scrunching my mess of curls, and singing "This Little Light of Mine" when I noticed I looked a bit like Elvis. The left side of my lip was kind of snarled up compared to the right. Then I tried to smile, and it was pitiful. Upon examination, the right side of my tongue and face were/are almost completely numb, and accompanied by a sharp pain in my jaw/temple.

After Sticking my tongue out at my husband, and reciting "She sells seashells by the seashore" a couple times, my husband and I were almost convinced that I hadn't suffered a stroke. I thought it was probably a pinched nerve in my already degenerating spine. Then my husband called my mother. She's an RN, and not one to allow her children off easy. She demanded we go to the ER to have things checked out.

A short while later, I was lead down a sterile hallway to room 21. The nurse in bright green scrubs told me that I was lucky not to be "drooling yet."I then waited with my husband for a nurse to come take my vitals. My face felt hot as I wondered, worrying what was wrong, and if/when I would start drooling.

The wonderfully kind doctor came in after a few visitors, did a quick checkup, and told me I had textbook Bell's palsy. For some reason, possibly a dormant virus, there's swelling around the nerve that controls the right side of my face, causing limited mobility. There's no proven cause. There's no proven cure. Catching it within the first three days of symptoms, and taking corticosteroids and antivirals, are thought to hurry it along. Swelling needs to go down, before there's any hope of normal muscle function returning.

Alas, I feel like Quasimodo. I can't blink my right eye, smile, whistle, make kissy noises at critters or curl my tongue. Nothing too vital, I guess. At least it isn't anything too painful. The jaw pain isn't so bad; more annoying than anything. Chances are, if this goes away, it will do so within a few weeks to months. I'm being positive, and willing it to go away quickly, as I would like my smile back soon.

It just seems like one thing after another sometimes, doesn't it? I can just picture the devil camping out on my doorstep, waiting to get me. Praying my way through trials and tribulations must really tick him off, which makes me kind of happy, but oy. No matter what I go through, I trust that God sees me through, making things as painless as possible. I am supremely thankful for that. <3