The following day, Tuesday, I had Annual Leave booked anyway, so I mooches about the house on my own. I found I was quickly developing an unfamiliar habit of looking at myself in the mirror, only, it wasn't me. Now, I consider myself quite lucky, the paralsysed side of my face has never 'dropped'. I practiced a look of normality, which is essentially a still photo pose, once I moved a facial muscle normality skipped out the window.
I still felt positive, I self administered my second whopping does of steroids and got on with things. Myself and Sam are driven to becoming proud owners of livestock, in the form of chickens. We had just decided to build our own chicken coop and run from scratch and had targeted today as the project start date. After fashioning some crude plans I set to the manual labour, measuring lengths if wood and angles with a school protractor set and other makeshift equiptment.
My tact of ignorance failed to make any ground and the pain in my head provoked more breaks on the project than a council worker.
Wednesday 15th October, I was forced to give real consideration to my ability to function as an Operational Manager. My very good friend Phil collected me at 8.30am from our usual meeting point and was struck dumb. He could not figure out which was more incompriensable, the appearance if my face or the fact he was taking me into work in such a state. I was forced to promise that I would leave work when I had my blood pressure checked and had made arrangements to cover my responsibilities.
I did both, at a pace, and was secretly relieved when Phil dropped me back home before lunch, that short day exhausted me.
The next few days were a conglomeration of - chicken coop, radio 5 live and occasional dozing. Phil came round with a card from work colleagues which jolted my spirits no end and went a long way to making me feel like a normal human for a brief moment. My blood pressure leveled off at a slightley hypertensive 150/106 and the headaches continued.
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Sunday 26 October 2008
Saturday 25 October 2008
What Next?
Monday, 13th October, Jordan's birthday. What a difference a night makes! I had now lost control of the right side of my face, which had taken to feeling as though I had donned a facial wax. After wishing Jordan a happy 15th I had to contemplate my work situation. I am a Registered Mental Nurse with over 20 years experience, working at the same hospital throughout. I have progressed to be an Opperational Manager overseeing the running of three Adult Forensic Psychiatric wards. Today was an away day to examine the Directorate patient risk and security issues.
I didn't know what to expect of my facial problem, already suspecting Bell's Palsy, underlined by my wife's diagnosis, I hoped we were wrong! I decided to try my favorite technique of 'ignore it and it will go away'. However, my first opportunity to contribute to the meeting was a bumbled cluster of sentances which drained me to convey. With this, the White flag was raised, I phone my GP and booked an appointment for 4pm that afternoon.
The GP surgery was facilitating a teaching placement for a young male student doctor and it was he who put me through my paces to confirm the diagnosis of Bell's Palsy. The only real positive taken from this examination was that my sense of humour remained intact. When young GP in the making asked me to blow out my cheeks the most I could muster was a loud and clear rasberry from the corner of my mouth, unable to seal itself.
With a prescription for 50mg Prednisalone in my hand I strode over to Gore's chemist eager to commence the treatment to rid me of this increasingly troublsome disorder I popped the pills and slipped off to bed hopefull the speedy response would yield an equally quick recovery.
Posted with LifeCast
I didn't know what to expect of my facial problem, already suspecting Bell's Palsy, underlined by my wife's diagnosis, I hoped we were wrong! I decided to try my favorite technique of 'ignore it and it will go away'. However, my first opportunity to contribute to the meeting was a bumbled cluster of sentances which drained me to convey. With this, the White flag was raised, I phone my GP and booked an appointment for 4pm that afternoon.
The GP surgery was facilitating a teaching placement for a young male student doctor and it was he who put me through my paces to confirm the diagnosis of Bell's Palsy. The only real positive taken from this examination was that my sense of humour remained intact. When young GP in the making asked me to blow out my cheeks the most I could muster was a loud and clear rasberry from the corner of my mouth, unable to seal itself.
With a prescription for 50mg Prednisalone in my hand I strode over to Gore's chemist eager to commence the treatment to rid me of this increasingly troublsome disorder I popped the pills and slipped off to bed hopefull the speedy response would yield an equally quick recovery.
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The Begining
Sunday 12th October 2008, the date I first began to realise that something was disturbingly 'different'. Sam and I were playing the lastminute.com game of sourcing birthday presents, for our youngest, Jordan. We were in the Big W at Manchester Fort when I noticed a strange tingling along my moustache line. It had the familiar fizz of that when the dentist's local anaesthetic begins to wear off, but was accompanied by a dizzy head feeling.
I detest admitting to having any sort of imperfections in my health but this was unusual. I sought Sam in the kitchen crockery section and reported my finding. The feeling lingered throughout the rest if the day but was joined by the headache that had frustrated me for the preceeding 48 hours. This headache turned out to be significant.
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I detest admitting to having any sort of imperfections in my health but this was unusual. I sought Sam in the kitchen crockery section and reported my finding. The feeling lingered throughout the rest if the day but was joined by the headache that had frustrated me for the preceeding 48 hours. This headache turned out to be significant.
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Sunday 5 October 2008
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Oh The Gall Of It
Blimey, after spending the worst part of a week in various stages between discomfort and agony, I have just received a tentative diagnosis of Gallstones. Well at least it wasn't wind!
Having exchanged a few tubes of blood for a prescription slip I lugged my pointless carcass out of the surgery and to Gore's pharmacy. Like a sad figure of Quasimodo round the streets of Prestwich I coughed up nearly fifteen quid for some desperate pain relief. Remind me again, what are those hidden perks of working for the NHS? Oh yes.... There aren't any!!
Still, I finally arrived home slumped on my bed like a marine based invertibrate and popped my medicines. Half an hour later I slept like a kitten.
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Having exchanged a few tubes of blood for a prescription slip I lugged my pointless carcass out of the surgery and to Gore's pharmacy. Like a sad figure of Quasimodo round the streets of Prestwich I coughed up nearly fifteen quid for some desperate pain relief. Remind me again, what are those hidden perks of working for the NHS? Oh yes.... There aren't any!!
Still, I finally arrived home slumped on my bed like a marine based invertibrate and popped my medicines. Half an hour later I slept like a kitten.
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Sunday 21 September 2008
Garden Matters
Last weekend was the first time Sam and I have had to straighten the outside if our home. I took the exhausting role of grass chopper. The seasonal growth was such that the mower became redundant and I needed to hack away with the strimmer. Sam picked up her spade and attempted to dig up the roots of megalithic weeds.
The ground now set, we want to push forward with our plans to cultivate portions of the garden and prepare to invite half a dozen chickens to come and live in an eggy heaven with us next spring.
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The ground now set, we want to push forward with our plans to cultivate portions of the garden and prepare to invite half a dozen chickens to come and live in an eggy heaven with us next spring.
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