As I was driving back from the trip I made to Florida, I was thinking to myself, “Self, I wonder what I should write about first for my The Other Day articles?” Trust me when I say I cannot believe that this topic is the first thing to come up.
I had arrived home on Sunday evening from Disney, tired and excited, but all was good. Then, when I woke up on Monday, I noticed something was wrong when I couldn’t get my left eye to stay open. I felt a little weird, but at first, I kept it to myself. It had been a long trip, and my wife was still sleeping, and really, the only thing that was bothering me was my right eye, so I just shrugged it off and went on about the business of preparing for the day ahead. However, once my wife woke up and turned her light on, the first thing I did was get in her face and say, “Hey, look at my eyes. They feel weird. Do they look okay to you?” She told me my eyes looked ok but that I needed to go take a look at my face in the mirror. When I did, what I saw in front of me did not look good. The right side of my face was all droopy. I know what you’re most likely thinking, “Stroke,” because that was my first thought. With my A-Fib and my diabetes, and my high blood pressure, why wouldn’t I think that? At that point, my wife told me to get my jacket and that she was taking me to the hospital.
Now, she got no argument from me. I was pretty worried and knew I needed to get help, but with my wife’s hip situation, she hasn’t driven a car since 2019. I told her there was no way she could do it, but there was no stopping her. So, the woman with the bad hip, who uses a walker to get around everywhere, and who hasn’t driven anywhere in three years, is driving my son, who is also medically impaired these days, to the hospital and me. It prompted me to post a quip on Twitter: A woman, a medically impaired man, and a writer walk into a hospital emergency room… What could go wrong? That’s not exactly what I posted, but you get the picture. I was trying for a bit of humor.
Anyway, I checked into the ER by telling the woman I thought I was having a stroke. As a result, I was rushed ahead of everyone else. They brought in a specialist to take a look. He thought it was most likely Bell’s Palsy, but he wanted to be extra cautious, so they were going to be taking me to be further examined by a Stroke specialist.
I was put in a wheelchair and rolled into the new room. The nurse had me put a hospital gown on, and when I turned around, there were six people who had joined us. They all had a job to do, and when they were finished, they concluded that it had not been a stroke, I had no paralysis, and they concluded that it was Bell’s Palsy. While I was certainly relieved to learn it was not a stroke, I still wasn’t happy about the diagnosis. I knew nothing about this affliction.
Has anyone ever told you about Bell’s Palsy? It affects your facial muscles. In my case, the left side of my face is perfectly fine. However, the right side looks like it’s melting. I could actually hear the wicked witch’s words in my ear, “I’m melting, I’m melting.” Right now, I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror, so I try not to unless I have to. Also, I can’t smile. I hate that. I take great pride in smiles. I always try to greet people with a smile and a hug. I’ve written at least two TODs on the importance of smiles. I miss my smile! I’m not trying to sound vain; I just miss being able to smile at people. Especially my grandkids.
I must also share that it’s really hard for me to read or write. It’s an eye thing. Because it won’t close properly, my eye dries out. Therefore, I have to use this gel in my eye and eyelids, and it blurs my vision. I am wearing an eye patch over my eye (feel free to make all the pirate jokes you like here), and so it makes seeing and working on things difficult. It takes me three times as long to do something as it normally does. So, I am asking you to be patient and bear with me when it comes to my writing and posting new material.
Throughout this whole experience, I think the one thing that bothers me more than anything else is that no one, not the doctors or the Ophthalmologist they sent me to for my eye, could tell me what caused this and how I could have ended up with this affliction. I am a curious person. I like to know the hows and the whys of things. To be told no one knows what really causes it and why it happens does nothing to calm my racing thoughts.
Despite all this unexpected drama, there were several good things I got out of this experience. First, it was not a stroke. Trust me, with my risk factors, I am beyond happy to still be dodging that bullet. Secondly, my wife is still a darn good driver, even with her bum legs. She confessed to me that she was really nervous, but you couldn’t tell. We just took things slow. Now, after having been cooped up for so long, all she wants to do is drive. I would rather she wait another month or so until after her other hip surgery, just to be safe, but I have to say, I was grateful she bit the bullet and got behind the wheel that day. I don’t think there was any way I could have gotten there without her help. So, Thank you, Baby, for taking care of me.
Also, I really want to thank the ER doctors, nurses, aides, and everyone else who helped me that day and took such good care of me. Everyone was so nice to me. Hospital visits are not fun, and they have always been nerve-wracking for me, so it helps when the doctors and everyone else do their best to ease my fears.
Well, that’s quite enough for now. I am really tired and have many more writing miles to go before I sleep. Stay safe, and remember to always be grateful for good health. We take it for granted far too often. Until next time, stay well. MUH!! (886 views)
