Transformed

What is that old cliche about salesmen, “never trust a person that speaks out of the sides of their mouth…?” Well I worked in sales, and thanks to bell’s palsy I did indeed speak out of the side of my mouth.

For 15 years, I worked in resort sales and quite frankly, loved my job. Working for companies such as Marriott Vacation Club, customer experience and service were paramount. I have always been passionate about people and believed that our product allowed families to spend time together with those they loved in beautiful and memorable destinations. Sales in general, tends to be a very high pressure situation; not only for the clients, but for the sales executives and managers working to fulfill quotas and hit goals…so frankly I didn’t need this.

My wife and I were enjoying dinner at Buffalo wild wings… Pretty much a standard evening out when I noticed that while taking a sip of soda from a bottle a lot of the liquid dribbled out of my mouth And onto my shirt. I was like “well that was weird, How did I miss my mouth like that?” Slowly I realized That my right side of my face was starting to freeze. Immediately we thought that I was having a stroke, so we raced to the emergency room. The Young man in the triage department quickly diagnosed that it was Bell’s palsy, however the attending physician gave an official diagnoses of a TIA (Transient ischemic attack) a type of mini stroke and actually that was entered as my official diagnosis. Ultimately I think what I ended up with was Ramsay hunt Which actually is a much more painful version of a Bell’s palsy attack. The main difference with Ramsay hunt is usually the pain and the painful lesions in both the ear and tongue. Fortunately I did not have the lesions, just simply the pain and the disfiguring facial paralysis… Constant acute pain in my ear and face, which to a diminished degree, I still carry to this day, four years later. My face literally ‘cracks ‘ daily- almost as if it slowly trying to put itself back together again.

Slowly my major symptoms of facial paralysis started to resolve over a period of ten to twelve months. Today my family and friends say they barely notice any residual effects … but I do. This was just one of the side detours that I had to travel since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 13 years ago. It was a slow descent towards illness and chronic disease and pain.