People may or not know that three months ago today, I got the ultimate blessing of knowing to be truly grateful for not only being able to smile but, doing any facial expression, AKA Bell's Palsy. Bell's palsy is a paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of your face. Damage to the facial nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face causes that side of your face to droop (thanks to Web MD for the definition). The first couple weeks it was maybe the hardest thing I've been through. I remember looking in the mirror multiple times trying to get any possible movement from my left side of my face praying, hoping, it would match the right side. Drinking was defiantly not as easy, it was what felt like a never ending dental anesthetic so, straws were must or I would look like I was drooling whatever I was drinking. Talking without a lisp was impossible. I tried not to smile and laugh as much as possible because I could only imagine my how ridiculous I looked so, my palm of my hand became quite familiar with my mouth.I had this great opportunity this past year to be on the Mountain Crest cheer team but, cheering was definitely one of the hardest things in this process. Cheering in front of crowds was one of my all time favorite things because I loved showing off my facials(the werid thinks cheerleaders do with their faces like, wink, duck lips, cheesy smiles..etc) or just being over bubbly to the point of an anyonning cheerleader. So when only half my face was moving I didn't feel entitled to move my face or even say the cheers. I remember feeling like people were staring and talking about me and just being so upset, with all my might trying to hold back my tears. Though this process was not a easy one, I feel ultimately blessed and learned a lot. I realized they're are people who deal with that their whole life, I only went through it about a month. I thankfully did not lose any friends or family members and they were all so supportive and loving. But last but not least, I learned to love your smile whatever it looks like (dimples or no dimples) be grateful that you can show your emotions what you feel on inside, on the outside.
