Today I was thinking back to before I was diagnosed with BP (Bell's palsy). Life was easy to be certain. Everyday living is so different right now for me. This is a day in my life with Bell's palsy.
Everyday just like before I wake up at 5:30 am and get myself ready for work. I pull myself out of bed after being so rudely awakened by my God forsaken alarm clock. I drag myself to the kitchen to start the coffee pot.
Once back in the bathroom, this is where the "fun" begins. I start by trying to shave. This is probably the hardest part of my morning. What I once was able to do by moving the muscles in my face I now have to do with my hands. One of the hardest things about shaving is try to relax the good side of my face enough to be able to shave it without hacking it up.
After shaving I move on to the shower. The shower isn't too bad if you like getting soap and water in your eye that doesn't close completely. While washing my face and hair I do my best to use one of my hands to hold my eye closed while I wash with the other. Before BP I used to love taking a shower. I would spend half my morning in the shower, now, I basically try to get in and get out.
So at this point I have shaved and cut my face in three different places, and shower which now has made my one eye blurry and painful. At this point the back of my head in throbbing from a painful nerve.
After a few minutes I can finally see again and I continue my morning routine. After finishing in the bathroom I move back to the kitchen to make my breakfast of two fried eggs and two pieces of toast. Nothing hard about that other than I can only see out of one eye because the other one is watering so bad it looks like I am crying.
After breakfast I pack my lunch and head to work. I always hope for a cloudy morning when I head to work. Have you ever tried to drive into the sun when your eyes are watering. Yeah, not a good idea, basically because there isn't so much seeing go on when your eyes are watering. When the sun is shining I have to wear sunglasses otherwise I can't see. I remember going to church last weekend I when we were going out to the car I had to hold someones hand because I couldn't see enough to find the car.
Finally at work I deal with my watering eye all day long which also basically rubs my eyelid raw because of always wiping my eye. I use eye drops a few time a day to make sure that my eye doesn't dry out. By mid morning of work my jaw feels like it is going to kill me from talking to much. I have to communicate with the customers, but it really takes a toll on my jaw.
Leaving work I deal again with the watery eyes which by the end of the day has given me a wonderful headache. The nerves on the back of my head are screaming at me by this point. My evening continues with dinner which Renee usually creates. Eating after a day of overusing my already sore jaw makes eat very painful.
The rest of my evening is spent trying not to talk and trying to rest up to do all of this again tomorrow.
And that is a day in the life of a person with BP.
Everyday just like before I wake up at 5:30 am and get myself ready for work. I pull myself out of bed after being so rudely awakened by my God forsaken alarm clock. I drag myself to the kitchen to start the coffee pot.
Once back in the bathroom, this is where the "fun" begins. I start by trying to shave. This is probably the hardest part of my morning. What I once was able to do by moving the muscles in my face I now have to do with my hands. One of the hardest things about shaving is try to relax the good side of my face enough to be able to shave it without hacking it up.
After shaving I move on to the shower. The shower isn't too bad if you like getting soap and water in your eye that doesn't close completely. While washing my face and hair I do my best to use one of my hands to hold my eye closed while I wash with the other. Before BP I used to love taking a shower. I would spend half my morning in the shower, now, I basically try to get in and get out.
So at this point I have shaved and cut my face in three different places, and shower which now has made my one eye blurry and painful. At this point the back of my head in throbbing from a painful nerve.
After a few minutes I can finally see again and I continue my morning routine. After finishing in the bathroom I move back to the kitchen to make my breakfast of two fried eggs and two pieces of toast. Nothing hard about that other than I can only see out of one eye because the other one is watering so bad it looks like I am crying.
After breakfast I pack my lunch and head to work. I always hope for a cloudy morning when I head to work. Have you ever tried to drive into the sun when your eyes are watering. Yeah, not a good idea, basically because there isn't so much seeing go on when your eyes are watering. When the sun is shining I have to wear sunglasses otherwise I can't see. I remember going to church last weekend I when we were going out to the car I had to hold someones hand because I couldn't see enough to find the car.
Finally at work I deal with my watering eye all day long which also basically rubs my eyelid raw because of always wiping my eye. I use eye drops a few time a day to make sure that my eye doesn't dry out. By mid morning of work my jaw feels like it is going to kill me from talking to much. I have to communicate with the customers, but it really takes a toll on my jaw.
Leaving work I deal again with the watery eyes which by the end of the day has given me a wonderful headache. The nerves on the back of my head are screaming at me by this point. My evening continues with dinner which Renee usually creates. Eating after a day of overusing my already sore jaw makes eat very painful.
The rest of my evening is spent trying not to talk and trying to rest up to do all of this again tomorrow.
And that is a day in the life of a person with BP.
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