The realities of Bells Palsy

Above: Some of the first days with Bells, I am actually Smiling in the picture on the left. The one on the right I am raising both my eyebrows but as you can see only one side is working...



Admittedly these pictures are not fun to look at. But the reality is, this is my life right now with Bells Palsy. Its awkward to say these least.

July 16th was like any other day. Busy and crazy. I took the kids to the movies and while there my eye was kind of twitching and burned a little. I also had a bit of tingling in my tongue. I wrote it off to maybe some sort of mild food reaction and maybe allergies with my eye.

Above: This is me before bed. I have to put a thick gel in my eye then tape it shut. Again a smiling and non smiling...Arrrrr



Later that night Seth got home from a week away and we went to dinner. We got the kids ready for bed and my eye was really tearing up. Again I attributed it to allergies. Seth ran to the pharmacy around 8 and I went and brushed my teeth. While brushing my teeth I realized my mouth couldn't hold water. I looked into the mirror and saw what you see in the pictures.  My eyes wouldn't blink, only half my smile was working and I couldn't get anything on the left side of my face to work.

I started to freak out.

 Above: One morning I woke up what looks like a black eye. Its wonderful. I cant wear much make up because I have to constantly manually shut my eye. How do ya like my shiner?


I texted some peeps who I thought had similar  symptoms and they suggested Bells palsy. I commenced looking it up on the internet while waiting for Seth. Once he got home he was concerned as well. I called the on call OB nurse who suggested I go straight to the ER since I was pregnant. GREAT. I thought maybe it was related to a headache I had been having for a few days, at least that was the hope. I get headaches quite often so the longevity of it wasn't any concern to me.

Seth stayed with the Kids and I headed to the ER around 9pm.

Another pre bedtime shot. For some reason when I smile it makes the other side of my face look like I have been stung by bees.

 

 

I got there and was with someone right away. I told them about my headache and that I was there because my face wasn't working. OBVIOUSLY!! I was taken to a room and blood was drawn and they started an IV. The nurse said the doctor had ordered drugs for my headache. I told her I hadn't seen the doctor yet and that I wasnt there for my headache. It was my face! Oh really she said...YES! She told me the doc sometimes orders things before a patient is seen to alleviate the pains before he has time to see you. Ok whatever. It was nice to get rid of that headache.

 

The doctor comes in quite a bit later asking me about my headache, how often I had them etc. Then says "your face is drooping". REALLY???That's weird because that's why I am here! Oh, hmmm....

 

Then he proceeds along another line of questioning and comes with the diagnosis which I pretty much already knew of Bells Palsy.

 

 

I was anxious and ready to go home as it was around 1am and I was exhausted. Finally I was released and on my way and was  told to follow up with my OB.

 

Above:  Almost two weeks in. Most of the make up is rubbed off or looks bad.  Again I am raising both eyebrows in the left picture and my left side remains complete still. The right is an attempted smile. Sometimes its like I invented cam wow

.

 

I called the OB the next day and told him what was going on and he gave me some meds to help possibly prevent nerve damage.

 

At that point I wasn't in much pain more of discomfort from my eye not blinking. I have to tape my eye at night so it doesn't dry out. My working half gets fatigued from overcompensation and my broken side is tender. Its awkward because I have to really careful when I drink or it just leaks out of my mouth. If I am outside for a long period like at the pool I have to tape my eye because it feels like it is being scalded by the sun.

 

For the most part I am dealing. If I am talking to strangers I don't say anything. Cause who cares really. But if I am meeting someone new at church or talking to old friends  I usually mention that  I know I look like a freaking awesome pirate, don't be jealous that I have Bells Palsy.

 

I am thankful that it is not supposedly permanent. It should last a few weeks to months. I am just hoping its gone by the time I have the baby!

 

Overall I am in good spirits and things are being dealt with.

 

Unfortunately the last few days I have been experiencing significant pain around my ear and down my jaw line and neck. It seems to be much worse at night. Why? I have no idea I can only guess. I was given pain meds, they don't work. The first few nights of pain I slept with ice on my face, if you can call it sleep. Then that stopped working. I moved on the heating pad and that helped a bit, not so much anymore. Now I have a heated rice sock....I have used oils and rubs and massage. I am seeing a chiropractor and I have an appointment with neurology soon. Even though the pain is bad, the lack of sleep is really hard. I would guess I get up 12-15 times a night in pain.  Couple that with a husband who has been traveling all week long and is only home on the weekends makes it physically and emotionally troubling at times.

 

But, what can I do? Such is life. Maybe there is something to be learned from this, compassion, patience, long suffering? I am not sure. I have had a priesthood blessing and I know there are many prayers being said on my behalf. Of which I am very grateful. The kids sometimes ask why my smile doesn't work, its cute really. Brigham often hugs me and says "mom I hope your face gets better" which is comforting as well. I appreciate all the offers of help and those who have helped. I know with faith it will all end with a full smile.

 

But for now its a Pirates life for me!

 

 

 



Summer 2015

 

Summer continues to fly by. We started the summer not having any real plans other than moving. However it seems almost every day has been jam packed with something.

The kids great aunt  Leisha runs fun little camps during the summer and I signed the kids up for a few. Seth has been traveling a lot and with the pregnancy and moving I have needed a bit of break.

The first one they attended was Ocean camp. They loved it!!

Emily has recently decided she loves her shirts tucked in even her Jammies. This was her successful attempt by herself. Too dang cute.

 

The family we bought the house from left us their unused movie passes since they were leaving the city. We have been able to enjoy some movies and treats thanks to them!

I really thought it would be harder than it was. The kids have been great. Solo  pregnant movie going with three kids...Check!

What's summer without someone almost always falling asleep in the car? After long days of fun either Briggs or Nems  falls asleep.

 

 

Enjoying some Italian Ice while waiting for some friends to come visit.

We have spent 1 day a week playing with cousins. It has been good bonding time for the kids. One day we got brave and took them to the real pool. Albeit exhausting. They went at it hard for hours.

 

Sunday afternoon snuggles with dad.

 

Of course with summer comes the next years round of school supplies, this is just Abigail's and its still not everything.

 

More camps meant more fun. The kids had dinosaur camp where they made fossils, tracks and dinosaur eggs.

 

 

 

Emily is such a little ham. She is always being some sort of funny.

 

 

After a round of playing outside with the cousins it was time for some down time.

 

Afternoon board games

 

After a long ride to Ikea and watching leap frog, Emily was really getting into it!
 

4th of July!!!

The morning of the 4th of July was spent unpacking and trying to arrange our house. We also went to a birthday party and had fun there as well.

 

The night of the 4Th the was spent at Grandma Cheri's house with lots of food and fireworks!

There were lots of kids fireworks which we started before the sun went down. For the most part all the kids loved them! They were pretty fun. They had firework cars that the kids raced until they shot under the real cars. oops.

 

 

 

Glow sticks are a must

 

 The kids enjoyed the sparklers as well. They were a bit hesitant but they all had fun once they figured it out.

The men preparing to light up the night

Getting ready to see the show

 

Honestly, this is better than an actual show. All the neighbors seem to really enjoy setting off fireworks too and thus if timed right the night is lit up for quite some time. The brothers did a great job and put on a fun show. It was loud and crazy and so close. It was great.

The New House!

We officially closed on our old house June 19th, and our new house July 1, 2015. It seemed like it all happened so fast!

 

The rough story...

 

We had been contemplating getting a bigger house since we have had ours since before popping out babies.  With baby number 4 on the way it again reignited those conversations

 

We toyed with the idea for a little while and just decided to reach out to our relator to see how the market was and to get her opinion on what we could sell for. When we realized the market was better than expected we decided to just go for it. The next week we had a sign in our yard stating our house would be coming to the market soon. That night there were lots of drive by's and we received a full price offer before it was even on the market. The offer was solid with several perks like being able to stay in the house for over a month if needed after closing for free so we could find a house. We discussed keeping it on the market and creating a bidding war, but a house still has to appraiser for the sale price and we were definitely on high side for the local comps.  We decided because it was what we wanted and we had time to find a house, not to mention we didn't have to mess with any showings, to accept!

 

Our Kitchen

The following weekend we went house hunting with our realtor.  We had been searching online for awhile, we looked at about 100 and had it narrowed down to about 10. But houses were selling so fast we lost some before we could even see them.

 

It all worked out though. Despite seeing 6 or 7 in person there was nothing that really stood out to me. Or shall I say that I was willing to make an offer on. Seth liked some but still not enough. We were not expecting to necessarily find a house the first day, but it was kind of discouraging.

 

Part of the living room looking into the kitchen

One of the last homes we looked at was this home. Seth really didn't like it from the pictures online, but we decided to see it in person since it met a lot of the criteria we had.

As we walked through the house both Seth and I really really liked it. I felt the spirit while there, and had an inkling that the homeowners were LDS but there were not any obvious signs. I remember standing in the kitchen knowing that this was THE house. I could envision our family living there unlike any of the other houses. It turns out Seth was feeling the same things. We didn't say much while in the house but once we got in the car Seth said he thought we should make an offer, and I didn't hesitate to agree.

The entry way

 

That night we put in our offer. We were told the sellers names and I knew instantly who they were. We had known each other long ago and my friend is her best friend. I reached out to my friend, told her we loved it and maybe put in a good word and hoped for the best.

 

We were told there were multiple offers and our agent suggested that maybe our offer wasn't strong enough for a multiple offer house.  But Seth and I felt really strong that a full price offer plus a few other things that were in the offer was as high as we wanted to go.

 

We waited.

The master Bedroom

A few days of anxious waiting passed and our Agent called. She said she was really shocked and that our offer had been accepted. She reiterated several times she couldn't believe we got it and there must have been some sort of divine intervention. Of course we think so too. We were beyond elated. We couldn't believe it. And I was on pins an needles every step of the way between inspections, appraisals, repairs and loan papers it all felt surreal until it actually became ours.

The master bath

We moved on July 2nd, and cleaned the old house on the 3rd. That in and of itself was a bitter sweet thing. I loved our old house. Lots of time, effort and money were put into that house and we owned it for 11 years. It was our first and it was sad to say goodbye. I may have had a little tear in my eye the last day. Maybe.

I love my closet. Its huge

We have lots of projects ahead. But the kids run around like wild banshees set free in the wilderness. Its very nice to have the space inside and out. We feel very blessed to be in this house and are thankful it all worked out. I still cannot believe we live here. We are all unpacked and its starting to come together....

Upstairs game room

The first thing on the kids agenda was to visit all the community pools. We have hit 2 of the 6 so far. Its slowly but surly starting to feel like our home instead of our house. Which I love. I still have to pinch myself that we live in a place like this, despite all the fixes it needs...

 Briggs has had a hard time adjusting especially at night. He refuses to sleep alone and is super scared of "whatever he can think of"

We have birds nests in the trees, random bunny sightings, squirrels all around. I am pretty sure the kids think we own a zoo and love it.

Now to start making our mark on it...TO ALL THE FUTURE PROJECTS

The back patio

More back yard which I love

The back of the house

Some of the front of the house