5- Whats the name of that doctor?

At first I was convinced that this fight with Bells would go away quicker because I was being very proactive; I was taking B12 shots, going to acupuncture appointments, chiropractor appts, doing restorative yoga, more Reiki, using essential oils, and taking my regular meds. I really thought I had it in the bag. 4-6 weeks and I'll be fine. For those of you who haven't done Restorative Yoga, it's a great way to relax and nap without interruption.

By week three I realized there was no improvement what-so-ever. My enthusiasm for alternative medicines diminished and so did my enthusiasm for medications in general. I felt like a human drug depository. My state of mind was fragile; my left eye was worse than my right now, my entire mouth was paralyzed now, my tongue was numb, I was biting my cheeks and lips when I ate, and hell, I couldn't taste food much anyway. Having residual effects on the right compounded the entire situation. I know I needed to see a specialist.

My first appointment was with a neurologist in Fairfax, VA. She gave me a thorough examination, and ordered an MRI. Did I mention I was claustrophobic? That's why I panicked in the ER and but now I had no choice. They needed to see if the nerves were under pressure still. I did the MRI totally sober of any medications because my husband stood there for an hour and rubbed my leg as this machine ROARED in my paralyzed ear around my head and I chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, a Buddhist chant that kept me calm. The results were good, no residual nerve pressure. She told me she'd see me in 3 weeks and sent me on my way. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate the fact that we had hope, where I promptly made a mess of trying to eat food and used a million napkins hiding my un-moveable lips. I cannot move my lips up to get them out of the way of a sandwich. It's not pretty.

Now, let's back up the train a bit....

In the winter of 2015 a colleague of mine suggested I go see a doctor at John's Hopkins regarding the right side of my face. She had gone through a surgery removing Pepe ( a non cancerous tumor that she named) from her brain. Unfortunately, it included her 7th facial nerve. Apparently this doctor that worked on her has been able to re-animate her face. Yes, re-animate. Sounds so futuristic, doesn't it?

Being 50, stubborn and thinking there was no hope I told her that I'm fine the way I was. I was responding out of fear. I did not want any more facial pain and although my eye doesn't blink all the way, my mouth doesn't completely smile; I was used to my new normal and what was the point. Then this happened.

I had to collect 65 pages of medical documentation and submit them to John's Hopkins BEFORE I could schedule an appointment with Dr. K. Within one week of submittal I was on my way to the "reanimation doc". I had hope...I must have read his website a million times. I poured through before and after photo's and even included photo's in my medical records to show him all my before, before and after. I said before twice because this was my second round so there was a before before the before. I think I confused myself. My appointment was scheduled the day before our exchange student from Germany was to arrive. I got this...house was cleaned, I'll cook the day he arrives and my son was going to come with us because he is interested in medicine. All set and excited to go...the count down began.