Exactly a year ago in the morning of Aug 16th, 2017 while sitting in the office, I started feeling a bit different. I was not able to drink water or blink my eye, there was a funny feeling on my face. I knew it was something, so I called up my local GP (Dr). They gave me an immediate appointment and asked me to come ASAP. I was soon diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. It’s a condition that causes partial facial paralysis, where I lost control of the left side of my face. I was not able to smile, close my eyes, close my mouth, eat or taste any food, twitch my ear – all on the left side!
On the bright side, I was told and later I read and discussed with many people, that this was a temporary condition. 8 out of 10 people get cured completely and others do get towards normalcy with a slight twist in the face, but no one can guarantee a time frame of cure. It can be anywhere from 1 month to 6, 8, 9 months or maybe more.
This happens when our facial nerve (seventh cranial nerve) that passes through our skull from the brain gets inflamed. This nerve is connected to the muscles that control the face. When this nerve gets inflamed, it stops functioning and the muscles attached to this nerve also stops function causing your face to droop and losing all controls and sensation. The cause of inflammation is not known but in most cases, it’s a viral infection. Staring early medication is extremely essential to avoid further complications.
Another important thing that one should keep in mind is to not lose hope and be in a positive frame of mind. The support of my strong-willed wife, fantastic friends and family, my office colleagues, who all came together for my support helped me sailed through this tough time. Luckily, my in-laws were also there at that time, which added to the support. My only worry was, and I checked it with my wife as well, if I am able to say syllables correctly, as I was having difficulty speaking. I had important meetings & demos lined up for the next two weeks, which I didn’t want to miss. Other than that, I was in a way ok state of mind, as worst that could happen to me was a permanent twisted face and I made peace with it. Being on the wrong side of 30 and that too married for more than 10 years, I was not too bothered about my looks…. 😊
I carried on with my daily routine, went to the office with an eye-cap on my left eye, did my day to day work, just a bit slowly so that while I am continuing with my daily routine, my body should also recuperate. I kept myself busy enough to not let negativity creep in. And yes, I did all the demos except for one which was that week itself, my boss was kind enough to step in for me at the last minute and they all went pretty well..!!
I was very fortunate and blessed as it took only 3-4 months for me to start returning back to normalcy. It’s one year now and by the grace of God, I can say that I am 99.5% cure. 0.5% remaining is because I am unsure. There is always something missing when I think of it before and after and I think that’s what will remain with me for the rest of my life.
There is a tonne of information that I can now share and talk about this condition. If you happen to come across someone in a similar situation, do let them know that it is okay and it will pass. Feel free to get them in touch with me. I will be more than happy to help. I have been helped and counselled by many, when I needed it most.
I would like a special mention of my friends Ankur, Mukul, my brother-in-law Anurag and my aunt Shalini who arranged homeopathic medicines prescribed by Dr Neerav, (who also happens to be my childhood friend) all the way from Lucknow to Delhi to UK with superb coordination.
Parents and Wife – Not mentioned as I can never thank them enough!!!
Here is a video of how it looked 2 weeks after the onset.
