I had a bit of a scare on Monday which ended up with a short hospital stay. I woke up Monday morning with slight numbness in half my lip, half my tongue and up into part of my eye on the left side. I looked in the mirror and didn't see anything unusual so I thought I probably just slept on it wrong. It felt like coming off the Novacaine after being deadened at the dentist's office. I continued my day and had no other symptoms, though the numbness persisted.
When Ben came home late afternoon I was talking to him and he asked what was wrong with my face. He said the right side was not moving like the left side. I went inside and talked to myself in the mirror and I could see that he was right, though I didn't sense it when talking. I also noticed my left eye blinked but the right eye did not and was a bit droopy.
They insisted that I go to the doctor so I went to an urgent care clinic. After hearing my symptoms, they sent me to the ER, offering to call an ambulance. That was kind of scary!
After waiting a very long time!, the ER doctor said he thought it was Bell's palsy but the numbness was concerning because it wasn't a normal symptom of Bell's palsy. He consulted with a neurologist and they agreed I should stay the night and have some tests to be sure I had not experienced a stroke.
I finally got into my room at 1:30 in the morning after having been there since 6:00 p.m.! That is frustrating! By the time the nurse took my vitals, asked a bunch of questions, and got everything set up, it was 2:30 a.m. I barely got to sleep when at 4:00 they came in to check my vitals. Back at 5:00 to give me meds. Back at 7:00 to take me down for tests. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night!
First thing I had was an MRI scan. I had never had an MRI scan before. I knew it was going to be difficult because I'm very claustrophobic. I laid on the table and the technician put something over my face with just a small opening. Unfortunately I had my eyes open and saw this...I never should have looked! Right away I started to have difficulty breathing and I wasn't even in the machine yet. She went ahead and slid me back into the machine. I started kicking my feet and told her she was going to have to get me out. I thought I really might have a stroke in that machine! I took a moment to compose myself and laid back down but told her I would not open my eyes to see when she put the thing over my face. I prayed through the whole thing and recited the 23rd Psalm. It was the longest 5 minutes of my life. I was just glad to get through it and hope I NEVER have to have another MRI in my life!!
Then I had a CT scan and later in the day had a heart echocardiogram. All came back okay, no signs of stroke visible! I am so thankful that it's just Bell's palsy which can be treated but mainly has to run its course. And fortunately I have a very light case. You would really have to look at me to know anything was wrong.
There is no pain or discomfort involved...really it's just an annoyance. My eye does stay a little dry but I put drops in it and that seems to help.
I finally got home about 6:00 last night after waiting forever for the doctors to come in and release me. I'm thankful to be home even though my house is such a mess! I prayed that God would not let me die with my house in such a mess and he answered my prayer!
The carpenters are here today to install the stove and microwave. Still no cabinet doors as they are still not completely dry. So I'm still waiting for my kitchen to be finished before we can get started on the floor which will be another big mess. I'm wondering if the Bell's palsy could have been brought on by stress.
I'm doing well today and feeling fine. Just so very thankful that it wasn't a stroke. It could have been so much worse!
Never take your good health for granted!
