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DOOL Discussion Group
Yesterday the blonde came home from the University of Wisconsin training camp. This was the first time that I've seen her since she developed Bell's Palsy.
She doesn't look as bad as I expected. Actually, in just looking at her casually, I couldn't really tell that there was anything wrong with her face and she had to show me which side was affected. One eye brow is about 1/2" higher than the other one, so she looks mildly surprised. (She looks a little like Hope from DOOL when she does the raised eyebrow thingy. LOL) When the blonde speaks, her mouth does not move symmetrically, so it is a little like watching Greta Von Sustern or Dick Morris speak.
PB's parents picked her up from the training camp to bring her back home. My MIL said that the blonde was tired and hungry when they first picked her up. My MIL noted that the blonde kept trying to turn her face so she was giving her good side while speaking. LOL.
When this first happened, the blonde was concerned on Sunday night and had relaxed enough to go to bed after PB told her that it is common and temporary and that he and I both knew people who had this. She felt a lot more comfortable after she had gone to the doctor up in Madison and had the medical evaluation at the UW Clinic. They were thorough and cleared her to continue at the training camp. But, the blonde wasn't quite at the comfort level where she could laugh about it...yet.
On their way home, the blonde wanted to stop by her work to talk to her manager. Apparently the manager also had Bell's Palsy. He told her a couple of stories. Apparently he is always whistling a tune. He was walking into work one day and suddenly lost the ability to whistle. He thought he had a stroke. He rushed to the doctor immediately and the doctor was "laughing" with him because his complaint was that he couldn't whistle. The manager's facial paralysis was bad enough that he would drool. So, he would have to keep a tissue nearby and keep dabbing at his mouth while he interviewed people at work.
Having spoken with someone who she knew well who went through it, helped her to progress to a comfortable acceptance phase about it. She was fairly light-hearted and laughing when she was telling us last night about her manager.
She had a really good experience at the training camp and the coaches were really helpful and supportive of her. She enjoyed meeting the college players and was very impressed with the facilities that they have for the student athletes there. Apparently the weight room that they have for the athletes is a lot better than what they have at her high school. The UW pitching coach gave her some pointers that helped improve her pitching. She was totally gushing last night about the experience.
The trainer for the team kept her medication while she was at the camp. That tidbit wound up being comforting to me because it meant that someone there with a little bit of medical knowledge was keeping a closer eye on her.
She is home now. For the moment. She and PB leave on Sunday for a tournament in Denver.
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