I had some awesome reactions, though. A few people asked about dental work. A very nice person at work asked if I needed help and basically asked if my husband had hit me (ummm, no!). Since I needed to wear my eye patch occasionally at work, my coworkers joked about my "pirate hour" and offered to "bling up" the eye patch. Lots of nice emails, and a family friend sent me a beautiful orchid.
My face is at least symmetrical, but the paralysis is noticeable when I smile with my mouth open. On the one hand, I'm grateful for the recovery I've had and that other than my appearance, my body is in working order. On the other hand, my appearance does bother me from time to time--and I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm that vain. I'm self-conscious now about my facial expressions and shy away from pictures. Physically, the only remaining symptom, other than the smile, is an annoying watery eye. I'm constantly saying, "No, I'm not crying. Seriously, I'm fine. It's just my thing from the shingles." My left eye can still water for hours at a time-- which means I wear my glasses everyday. Also, I lisp a tiny bit when I say "p" words in a row. I sound like Elmer Fudd when the dog is in trouble," Pritizie, Prizie, PRITZIE!"
Now for the pictures. At first glance, it looks like the right side of my face is wonky. Then it is clear that the right side is turned up in a smile and the left is well, drooping.
Here it is the night it happened (July 30th):
Here I am a month later, on the first day of school for the girls (last week in August):
Another month later (October) at the Shedd Aquarium. I must admit, a low cut shirt does help distract others from the face:
Getting there. I hope that by Easter my photos will be normal. We'll have to see what the Christmas photos look like.
If they aren't better by Christmas, I have now ruined the surprise of our holiday card. Sorry.
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