Tony Blankley
The symptoms first began one Friday evening as I was sitting in the make-up chair preparing for a live television interview on MSNBC. I noticed one side of my mouth was drooping a little, but we were minutes away from a live broadcast into millions of homes so I decided to ignore it. But then I reached a point when I couldn’t ignore it any longer – in the middle of my hour-long interview, the entire side of my face had gone slack and I was drooling on live, national TV. Off the air, the host asked me if I needed an ambulance. I finished the hour-long show and quickly went home. I don’t consider myself a hypochondriac, but I knew something had gone terribly wrong. So, for the first time in my life I called my physician after hours. I was almost immediately diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, the most common cause of facial paralysis. Bell’s palsy is the result of damage or trauma to one of the two facial nerves; it’s most often caused by a bacterial or viral infection. I managed to have both, thanks to a deer tick and to a bite from my pet peacock.
Your chances of recovering fully from Bell’s palsy are good if it’s recognized and treated quickly. In fact, many medicines for Bell’s palsy work best if they are administered within the first 24-48 hours. I was extremely fortunate that the entire time span from noticing symptoms to receiving first treatment was less than three hours. My course of medication continued over the next three weeks and now I’m fully recovered, thankfully.
My experience with Bell’s palsy was unpleasant, but I learned a lot, too. If you notice something abnormal going on with your body, don’t ignore it! It’s important to seek quick medical attention so an appropriate course of treatment can be determined by your physician. There is no substitute for getting the right medicines at the right time.
Tony Blankley is an on-air political commentator for CNN, NBC and NPR, and a syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate. Blankley’s career has ranged from child actor to White House policy analyst. He was editorial page editor of the Washington Times from 2002 to 2007, and now works at Edelman, a public relations firm that proudly represents PhRMA and its member companies.
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