Bell's Palsy Support Group
Bell's palsy (facial palsy) is characterised by facial drooping on the affected half, due to malfunction of the facial nerve, which controls the muscles of the face. Bell's palsy is the most common cause of acute facial nerve paralysis and affects about 40,000 people in the United States every year. Additional symptoms that may accompany the condition are pain around the...
hey I’m new, and I’m scared. Even tho everyone is really positive on here and the odds of me having this forever isn’t high, I’m still really scared. Not having control of my body terrifies me and this is literally the second day for me. I was fine then without me even realizing what happened, it happened. I just don’t really know who to go to for emotional support and to talk this out.
I am probably not the person that you want to hear from because I, but I got it at 17 and had areally was a "freak"
I wrote the reply above and got cut off, so it doesn't make any sense. So, I tried again and wrote an extensive reply and then must have hit a key that deleted it and that probably has something to do with my age (70) and gender (male). So here goes for the third time: Please read on because I had a bad case at 17 and understand how it seems to destroy your life (good news: it doesn't and, in fact, it will make your life much more meaningful. Read on).
I was really a "freak" according to more than one of my friends and honestly, I had a horrible experience, but it ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to me. I know what it is like to feel so ugly that some folks flinched when they looked at me smiling. I felt that everything was lost, but in the long run, it gives you the freedom to live by your standards, not theirs. I got it again at 30, but it was much easier then (teenage years are the absolute worst).
You will almost certainly recover completely even though it doesn't feel like it now. I still have some of it (hurts in cold weather, can't smile completely, can't blow up balloons, etc.), but those things are great reminders to me that I once felt totally lost forever (as you probably feel now), but now am back on the other side.
This will give you tremendous insight into how others, who are disadvantaged and seem hopeless, feel. It is an invaluable tool to have felt totally hopeless and then eventually return to the other side and it gives you an opportunity to help them.
I know that none of this makes you feel any better tonight, but keep your eyes on the future. I can't put into words, to folks who never had this, how you feel right now, but I hope you can.
Take this and run with it as a blessing in your life in the long run.
Chipsome1
Chip Somerville
Austin, Texas