Know Your Self

So I had a scary experience last night. I had noticed for a few days that my mouth was feeling odd. Not thinking too much about it, I attributed it to the fact that I had a canker sore inside my mouth. No big deal, it will go away I told myself. Then I noticed after a couple of days that my ear was achy. Everyone at work has a cold I thought surely it's just a run of the mill ear-ache. It too will go away. Then my mouth started feeling numb around the area of the sore. Okay, this is odd. No biggie. It will go away. I really did not think anything was wrong. I felt a bit odd, but nothing significant to make myself think I need to see someone.

Then yesterday, I went and visited a friend over in KS. On the way over I stopped at Kansas Sampler to get some Jayhawk goodies... My eyes were having a horrible time focusing in the store. I told myself at first it's because of the lighting, and everything is jam packed into the store. Then after a while I wasn't noticing it, so I thought maybe it's me, did I lose a contact? While sitting in my car getting ready to leave I looked. Nope contact in place. what gives.

Long story short, after dinner with my friend and telling her what was going on she said if this isn't better in a few days you should go see your doctor. She's a nurse, I asked her if there was anything I should be worried about. Everything else seemed normal to me... hey I'm no doctor. She said make sure you look and check that your face is even. Huh? Okay sure.

Went home, messed around on the computer... okay it's late, I think I'll brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Wait, my smile is all crooked. What the heck is going on. Panicked I call my Mom In Law. She's awesome. I was freaking out, trying not to cry while explaining to her what was happening. Sorry Mom, I know I did not really accomplish that, and I am sorry for scaring you too! After a couple of minutes it was decided I would be making a visit to our local emergency room.

Diagnosis... Bell's palsy. Imagine this... You wake up one morning, and your face feels stiff and odd. When you look in a mirror, half your face appears to droop. You can only manage half a smile. And your eye is dripping tears and doesn't want to close. Each year, about 40,000 Americans develop Bell's palsy, a condition that occurs when the nerve that controls the facial muscles becomes swollen or compressed. The problem can occur at any age, but rarely affects people under the age of 15 or over the age of 60.

Check this out... and I thought I looked pretty normal... okay, well this was taken on Friday night... by Saturday my left side of my mouth would not turn up into a smile... Never mind that I

look aweful in this picture... just look at my mouth...

Oh and as an added bonus, I discovered today it's very tricky to drink from a straw sometimes. Good news is this is a condition that goes away relatively fast. THANK GOODNESS! So all is welland I can stop freaking out. Now I know it's nothing serious, and can be dealt with. I'm sure I noticed it more, since it's happening to me... but I don't think anyone else can tell that my face is "crooked".