Zombie Like Me

I have felt like a zombie this past few weeks. By zombie like, I don't mean my brain is half dead, I am constantly craving brains, or that I am walking irregularly. No I'm talking about me not being able to show facial expression... Like a zombie.

How did this all start? Well, it all started with me with an itchy eye. I started noticing that my eyes have been really irritated, especially my right one. At first, I thought that it was maybe just my dry contact lenses. Then it really started to irritate even without my contacts. My next instinct was that I might have symptoms of pink eye (which I've had before.)

A little after, I started to notice that my face was "swollen." I mean, when I rinsed my mouth on Tuesday (4th of February) night, I noticed that my lips weren't closing properly. When I smiled, the left side of my lips went to the side more than my right. My first instinct was that the left side of my face was just swollen because I smiled irregularly. Plus, the left felt puffier than the right.

My mom and I went to the doctor's office on that following Thursday to see about my "swollen" face. Turns out that it wasn't swollen but rather the right side of my face wasn't working properly. My eyes have been so dry because my eye hasn't been blinking properly. Half of my face was paralyzed with something called, "Bell's palsy." It wasn't a stroke or a brain condition. It was just my facial nerves are in shock and don't work very well. Why? The doctor isn't sure but it is probably because I caught a nasty virus while being sick. The virus got to my nerves and made half of my face paralyzed. So for the past week, I've been "sick" and trying to recover my facial nerves. (I had to take a steroid for 7 days to try and stimulate my facial nerves again.)

What just happened to me?!

It's weird having half your face not working. I tell my brain to smile and only half of my face responds. No matter how much I smile, I only get it half way. My face looks abnormal and unnatural. The first few days of Bell's palsy, I looked in the mirror and smiled. When you cover half my face, the left side is happy and cheerful while the other side is like an unresponsive blinking doll. IT IS SUPER CREEPY. If it was Halloween, then Bell's palsy would make me an amazing costume/Halloween effect. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

I get to wear an eyepatch at night... so that's kinda cool?

It's been about a week since I've been diagnosed with Bell's palsy and right now, I'm feeling pretty good. Not all of my facial nerves are back but at least I can smile a little bit. My eye is less irritated and dry but still not blinking properly. (It still looks extremely awkward when I show a lot of expression like frowning or laughing though.) It sucks having Bell's palsy but I'm slowing recovering and support from friends and family help me through.
♥Petpet

*Pictures belong to rightful owner.
Read more about a reporter's experience with Bell's Palsy