Had A Bit Of A Scare today....

[A383Wing]

Wife called me at work...told me she was being taken to hospital via ambulance...I asked what happened...she told me that the left side of her face was numb and that her left shoulder hurt bad...

So I left work around noon....got to hospital about 30 minutes later...all the while thinking the worst...yea, stroke

Found her room and she was not in it...went out door of room and saw her being wheeled back down to room on a hospital bed..and then I saw her face....left side droopy, she cannot close left eyelid, when she talks, she can only move right side of her mouth....she dribbles when drinking through straw...now I'm sure it's a stroke....

Long story short...was not a stroke, it's what they call "Bell's Palsy" ....I'm not gonna go into detail here because I'm just too damn tired, look it up on the web..it's an issue with a nerve from the brain that controls face muscles...80% treatable...might take up to 6 months to be gone..there is a chance it may be longer, and slim chance we may not be able to cure it...doc said we got in the early stage and had high hopes.

So, with that being said...if I am not on here as much, now you know why...

I ain't asking for sympathy or anything like that....it's just I got other things to watch out for now...

I'm off to bed...

Bryan

[bull]

Sorry to hear that. I've heard about that condition and from what I've rea it's usually temporary, so that's good news. Hope and pray she gets well soon.

[Fred]

Gee Bryan so sorry to hear this. Hope all works out well.

[440]

Hope she recovers quickly. Give her our wishes and best of luck

[Orange_Crush]

I had bell's palsy when I was in college.  It scared the shit out of me.

Tell your wife to be careful when she chews or even talks because she will bite the HELL out of her tongue or lip.  Also, get a high quality eyepatch.  she'll need it when she sleeps because her eye won't close.  Worst case, they will have to put a stitch in her eyelid until movement returns.  There is a VERY SLIGHT possibility that the paralysis will not get better, but it is extremely slight.  

It is worth noting, however, that there may be some very minor residual damage afterward.  I, for example, have one eye that tends to droop when I'm tired.  Also, my smile is slightly crooked.

They are not sure why it does that, but it happens when the bundle of nerves that goes from your brain to your facial muscles swells and presses against the opening in your skull.

In any case, it is pretty harmless and you won't have to "take care of her" like you would if she was incapacitated.  She just has some minor facial paralysis and the extent of nursing you'll have to do will be limited to wiping drool off her chin.  

[Orange_Crush]

Oh, one more thing, I think the doc may be trying to scare you or sell you some kind of "treatment."  My neurologist said "Go home and it'll go away...there is nothing that we can do besides wait."  It went away after about a month.  relax...it'll be fine.

[tan top]

oh crikey      sorry to hear that !!  , hope shes ok !

[skip68]

Sorry Bryan.       
Take care of momma.   

[mpdlawdog]

wow that is too weird....I had never heard of that before....I was in court yesterday and the chief from one of our village police departments was there....he has it also but also said it was not life threatening and was in treatment. 

Take care of her!  My thoughts and prayers are with her!

[jdiesel33]

Had it when I was a teenager. Lasted about a month I think. It is one of the weirder things you could experience I imagine. Had to tape my eye closed before going to bed so it wouldnt open in the middle of the night. And if you didnt pay really close attention and concentrate while you were eating or drinking, you could have things falling out and you wouldnt even know it. The worst part was it really infringed on my making out with chics!!!! 

Sorry you had a scare, but it will pass. Keep fightin' the good fight.

[mrsskip68]

Sorry to hear about this Bryan. Give her a hug from all of us!  Keep us posted on her progress.
Lisa

[41husk]

Wish you and yours the best.

[charge69]

I hope she gets well real soon. The lady that is the women's basketball coach at Baylor came down with this about a week or two before the finals but told the press she was fine, just had to let things work themselves out.

Again, I hope she gets well real soon.

[TruckDriver]

Best wishes for your wife and you. That is the same thing the bass player from Def Leppard has.

[learical1]

My wife got it in the mid-90's.  We were doing inventory at the dealership I was working at.  Her chair was directly under the outlet to one of the evaporative (swamp) coolers used to keep the parts warehouse somewhat cool.  By noontime, she had almost no movement on the left side of her face.  Took 2-3 weeks before she completely recovered.

[69rtse4spd]

Sorry to hear about this, hope all goes well.

[71ChallengeHer]

I hope all goes well , with your wife. Prayers sent.

[oldcarnut]

Wishing the best for a speedy recovery and for you too while you both are going through it.

[A383Wing]

I had bell's palsy when I was in college.  It scared the shit out of me.

Tell your wife to be careful when she chews or even talks because she will bite the HELL out of her tongue or lip.  Also, get a high quality eyepatch.  she'll need it when she sleeps because her eye won't close.  Worst case, they will have to put a stitch in her eyelid until movement returns.  There is a VERY SLIGHT possibility that the paralysis will not get better, but it is extremely slight.  

It is worth noting, however, that there may be some very minor residual damage afterward.  I, for example, have one eye that tends to droop when I'm tired.  Also, my smile is slightly crooked.

They are not sure why it does that, but it happens when the bundle of nerves that goes from your brain to your facial muscles swells and presses against the opening in your skull.

In any case, it is pretty harmless and you won't have to "take care of her" like you would if she was incapacitated.  She just has some minor facial paralysis and the extent of nursing you'll have to do will be limited to wiping drool off her chin.  

Oh, one more thing, I think the doc may be trying to scare you or sell you some kind of "treatment."  My neurologist said "Go home and it'll go away...there is nothing that we can do besides wait."  It went away after about a month.  relax...it'll be fine.

Yea...exactly what docs told us yesterday...it may take 6-8 months to go away, may take maybe a month...and yea...she can't close left eye...left side of face is "droopy"....and she kinda makes a mess when drinking...even with a straw....and she does have the eyepatch...she has to put ointment in there when she puts patch on to keep eyelid wet....

And docs said no surgery needed....it will either cure itself by the nerve finding another way to get message to proper muscles, or the nerve will finally let messages through....it's like there is a blockage in there stopping the muscles from getting the message from brain.

She was really scared yesterday, but today she is dealing better with it.....

Appreciate all the well wishes.....thanks all

Bryan  (tired of 2012 already)

[Fred]

Bryan  (tired of 2012 already)[/color]

Well don't wish it (2012) away too quickly. 

[skip68]

Well, it looks like she found a way to keep an eye on you Bryan.   Bu - dump - bump.   Smile and be glad it wasn't a stroke thank God.   
I hope she's not in any pain or discomfort.   Hopefully it WILL be a speedy recovery.  Best wishes, Chuck & Lisa ......

[Big Sugar]

sorry to hear the news Bryan .... Hopefully Rose pulls thru this quickly . 

Ron

[BigBlockSam]

that's real scary . i hope everything goes well for you guys . it seems the older we get , the more our bodies let us down

[moparstuart]

Sorry Bryan.       
Take care of momma.   

[Dave Kanofsky]

Prayers for her speedy recovery.  I've seen a few poeple get it and recover pretty quickly.

[bill440rt]

Best wishes to you Bryan through this tough time. Hope your wife has a very speedy recovery. God bless.

[A383Wing]

Update here on the wife's issue.....

things are getting better....she still has a bit of droopy face, and she still has problems drinking either from a cup or a straw...and last night she said that some foods taste "funny"

she can close her eye now without forcing it....but I can tell it's not working as it should

Bryan (Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comfort)

[71ChallengeHer]

Don't lose faith. Getting better takes time. Ask me how I know ?