Bell's Palsy

You don't expect your life to change overnight. Nobody ever does, but it happens all the time. Last night it happened to me.

It could be a lot worse, but naturally I'd have preferred that it not happen at all. Yesterday afternoon it seemed like the right side of my tongue wasn't tasting properly. I noticed it first with water. I love drinking water. It concerned me enough by evening that I tried a teaspoon full of sugar, then a dab of salt. I could taste them, but it still seemed like it was weak on my right side.

Well, what to do? It wasn't any big deal. I don't have a sense of smell, so the contrast wasn't huge, really. I went to bed.

This morning I woke up and twitched my nose. Left side worked fine. Right side didn't. Weird. I can curl my tongue the way one does for long distance watermelon seed spitting. I tried. The left side curled. The right side didn't. I can wink quite well with either eye. I tried that. The left side worked. The right side didn't. I can flare my nostrils at will. Same result. I can raise my eyebrows. Same result. The right side of my face was simply weak.

Fearing that despite being relatively young (mid 30's) the worst had happened, I called the on call doctor. He was very nice and asked about symptoms. I described them, and he said it seemed much more like Bell's Palsy than a stroke. I had heard of Bell's Palsy because it was what my Dad insisted he'd had after he had an actual stroke. Unlike him, I had no weakness in my limbs on the affected side, nor loss of sensation. Also, it turns out that for some reason, stroke paralysis doesn't usually affect the eyebrow on the affected side. Bell's Palsy does. My eyebrow was affected.

We took a trip to the Emergency Room, since no matter what, immediate treatment is important. They confirmed it was Bell's Palsy, and sent me home with antiviral medication and steroids to reduce any inflammation. Textbook treatment for a textbook case of Bell's Palsy--it was precisely what the on call doctor had said was likely.

Not having much sense of taste is really odd. Now I think I know what people who lose their sense of smell must go through. I've never had one, so I know I'm missing things, but it's not a huge deal to me. Food pretty much tastes like cardboard. The joy has gone out of eating. On the bright side, at least it will be easy to lose weight.