Friday, May 25, 2012

My Own Nightmare

Pin It
I had to think long and hard about this post and not sure if I will ever publish it but I feel I need to put my feelings down on "paper!"

Three weeks ago yesterday (Saturday April 21) I woke up with the beginning signs of Bell's Palsy!   HERE is a link for a complete explanation of the syndrome!  I started to put on my mascara and my eye would not close!  We were headed to Fayetteville for spring game and so we headed out!
As the day went on my eye became harder and harder to shut and my face started to feel weird!  I am a nurse in my prior life (pre kids) and Todd is a Physical Therapist in a prior life (LOL) so we knew the signs but decided to call my brother in law to make sure!  Was diagnosed over the phone and the nightmare began!
By Sunday my face had started to lose movement on the left side!  Me being a very expressive person with my face, I was quickly becoming devastated!  I cried a lot and seemed to cling to my husband more than usual!  I am a 90 mile an hour mom and wife that normally has 100 commitments at any given time, but I always need him!  He is my rock!
By Monday morning I am in the doctors office getting my steroids and acyclovir!  I am on the Internet reading any bit of info that I can dig up!  NOT A GOOD THING, BTW!!!  At this point I am afraid that I will never smile again!  It is a VERY scary and emotionally draining syndrome!! 
I basically hid in the house for the first week and a half!  A VERY hard thing for me since I am always volunteering and I am a social BUG!!
The 11th day is when it went to HELL!!  The pain was UNREAL!!  I felt like someone was stabbing me in my ear and the left side of my face had sharp, shooting pains all the time!!  They NEVER let up!  Talk about going INSANE!!  I wasn't sleeping and my face was swelling by the day!  After several days of this I am calling the doctor to try and get some reassurance that I am not losing my mind!  She tried me on some new meds but they did not seem to help at all and it only got 100 times worse at night!  By the middle of the 2nd week I am pretty sure I was a lunatic!!  I was mean to everyone and cried all the time!  My doctor made an appointment with an ENT to check me out!  
I went to see the ENT praying for some good news!  They were thinking that I could possibly have a syndrome called Ramsay Hunt and it does not have a good prognosis!  Do you know what it is like to have something like that going around in your head??  Thinking that you may never move your face again? Smile at your children??  JUST HORRIBLE!!
The ENT confirmed that I did not have Ramsay Hunt!  That was a huge sigh of relief!  He did his examination and found that I had movement in all three nerve "branches" that were affected!  That was GREAT news!!  It almost seems, that as soon as I heard his words, I could start to relax and feel some movement!  :)
Today has been 3 weeks and 1 day!  I have about 60% movement today and I am praying and believing that God will return my smile back to me!!
If I don't have faith, I am afraid that I may just lose it!!


Just a few things that the Dr's just don't tell you!


1.  It is PAINFUL!!
2.  You will gain 15 pounds without a BLINK OF THE EYE!!
3.  You will be emotionally devastated and a complete basket case!
4.  You will need a lot of support from your family!
5.  Be prepared to cry a LOT!!


I also want to apologize to all of my readers considering I have been all over the place!  I know that I haven't been organized or posting very much!  I am sorry!


UPDATE...5 weeks tomorrow and I am about 90% back to normal!  My eye is still slow to close and my smile is almost 100%!  Once again, so sorry for not being around and posting!!  I am hoping that I am back on track and posting by next week!!


45 comments:

  1. I cannot imagine how frightening that must have been/must be for you!! I'm so glad to read you are at 90%....you will be at 100% before you know it!! Enjoy the holiday weekend and keep smiling!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie...THANK You for the kind comments!!! ;)

      Delete
  2. You will survive, of this I am sure!! You are nothing if not a fighter, Randee. My sister had this when she was younger, but she is fully recovered, as I know you will be. Yes, it's scary, but you're on the right path. Keep the faith and I'm sending you my love!!
    Shelly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shelly....THANK you!! I love hearing the stories about people that have made it through this mess!!! Hope you are having a GREAT Weekend!!

      Delete
  3. I had an aount go through this, so have an idea of the ordeal you've been through. And I understand the "mental" part/ Went through that when I was diagnosed with cancer. You have my prayers!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about your diagnosis!!! i WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOU!!

      Delete
  4. Thinking about you. I am happy you did share this with everyone. Your information I am sure will help someone going through something like this

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THANKS!!! That is one reason I felt that I needed to post about it!!!

      Delete
  5. Randee, my beautiful daughter went thru this last year and she is recovering. Thou, stress as she is (single mother of four),doing beautiful. I am praying for you and that it is a slow healing process, I know that you will be back to yourself as a stronger women. Hang in there! Judith, Texas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THANK you!!! I can see howshe would be stressed!! ;) It is a SLOW process but at least it works itself out!!

      Delete
  6. Wow, I am so sorry to hear this! How scary. I will be praying for you for sure!

    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  7. Randee, I'm so sorry. How scary for you! I'm glad you are on the road to recovery. My nephew had that in High School and we were all very concerned. Fortunately for him he was back to norm in about 5 weeks. Sounds like you are well on your way back too. Hang in there and you know all of your blog friend support you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Danni....THANK you!!! I need the support and it really does help!!!

      Delete
  8. Omg Randee were you going through this during blog a pal loosa? Wow! I would so have taken over. What can we do? Would you like guest posts? Seriously anything at all just let me know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Connie...THANK YOU!!! I sent you a message!!

      Delete
  9. Randee, I am so sorry to hear about this. If Jimmy knew it he hasn't said a word. I will add u to my prayer list and I certainly hope u have a full recovery.U are such a pretty girl and we for sure need and want that happy smile back.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well ur Uncle Jimmy just came in and I ask if he knew about u being diagnoised with Bell's Palsy and he said he did and that he just hadn't thought of it--- men!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh no Randee!!I am SO sorry to read this!! I will be thinking of you and praying for her! When I started with my migraines last September, I thought for sure I was dying of Menangitis! What a scary feeling to feel so sick, in pain, and CRAZY! I hope things improve wuickly for you, and remember you are loved!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leanne...THANK YOU!!! I really look back and think I was a little nuts from the pain!! ;)

      Delete
  12. I am so glad you are feeling better!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Randee - so sorry to hear that you have been thru all of this. My best friend got Bell's Palsy which started at the dentist. It took a few days of backing and forthing from the dr to the dentist to get an answer. She is now 100% back to normal but her emotions and pain were like yours. Just take it easy - we are all here for you and supporting you xxxx Nat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie....THANK you so much for the words of support!!

      Delete
  14. Oh goodness! I will keep you in my prayers! I am glad that you are 90% better, that is amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Randi, I'm soooo sorry you've been going through all this and then do do it on top of the Blog-a-pal-loosa. I wish you would have said something. If you need anything now, please let me know. (Hugs) Barb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barb...THANK you so much!! I did feel like I was a little out of control but glad that we made it through Blogapaloosa!! ;)

      Delete
  16. Oh, Randee, I wish I could help. Must have been horrible! I know you've got the strength to win. You know that, so please NEVER forget it.
    Praying for you.
    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  17. oh bless your heart, we will keep you in our prayers. how scared you must have been!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I am so glad you are going to be OK. What a horror to go through! My grandma had Bell's Palsy and she ended up making a full recovery, I am sure you will too soon. I can only imagine how scary this was for you! Prayers are out to you! Thank you for sharing this, it may help someone out there with similar symptoms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ann...THANK you for the wrds of encouragement!!! I also LOVE the prayers!!

      Delete
  19. Praying for you! Praising God you are getting some slow improvement, but nonetheless improvement. My son (4 years old now) use to have an immune disorder where his body attacked his own white blood cells and no one could figure out for sure why he had it. We spent over 2 years going through various diseases and illnesses that it could be and some were down right horrifying (one would cause cancers, bone marrow failure and average length of life was only 22- thankfully after a few weeks of waiting for this test result we found out it was NO) so I can understand that part or your post. Just keep your faith and keep relying on God!!! I should say that God has since healed my son of disease that had no cure!!! (Amber)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amber....OH MY!!! How horrible!!! I can not imagine having to worry about my kids!! :(
      GOD is good and I am so glad that your baby boy has been healed!!

      Delete
  20. Bless your heart Randee. This roller-coaster you've been on is enough to have anyone flipped out. I can't imagine you're pain. How horrible for you. I'm so happy to hear that you're about 90% better. I'll be sending prayers up for you that you'll be feeling like your old self in no time at all.

    God Bless you Sweetie.
    OOO's...Tracy @ Cotton Pickin Cute </a

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tracy...THANK You for the prayers!! I LOVE the name of your blog!! TOO cute!!

      Delete
  21. Randee, please know that you have so many people sending love your way. Hang in there!

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  22. OMG, Randee, please do not apologize. I can't even imagine what you are going through. I am sending prayers and love hoping for a speedy recovery and a 100% improvement.

    XOXO, Melysa

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a scary experience! My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to you. I'm glad to hear that you're 90% back, but will continue to pray for when you are 100% back! You are so brave and thank you for sharing.

    Chris
    chubbetteadventures.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  24. I know exactly how you feel. I got it in high school after being punched in the face. Mine took 6 months though, but I was a drama nerd and completely shut myself out of theatre.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Girl don't you apologize! You are going through a big thing here! So glad to hear you're almost 100%! Faith can move mountains... and I too have faith He will bring back your smile ;)

    ReplyDelete
  26. I've been thinking about you and praying for you. Stay strong. Glad to hear your smile is almost 100%!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...