Gemma Faces up to Bell's Palsy

by Rosie Peters

Gemma sat with her head down. She tugged constantly at the sleeve of her jumper while waiting to see the doctor. Her mother sat silently. Gemma knew her mother was worried. She had yet to turn a single page of the magazine she was holding. Gemma’s heart beat fast as she wondered what had happened to change her facial appearance so suddenly and drastically. She’d gone to bed as normal the previous night and woken up dribbling, with her face sagging on the left side.

‘No, Gemma,’ said Doctor Strong, after listening to a description of her symptoms and examining her, ‘you’ve definitely not had a stroke.’

‘What’s happened then? Why has my face gone droopy? My voice has altered too.’

‘You’ve got something called Bell’s palsy. It’s a weakness that affects the face muscles. That’s why you can’t smile properly. You’ll likely find your sense of taste diminishes for a while too and chewing might be a bit of a problem with food getting stuck between your gum and left cheek.’

‘I will get better, won’t I?’

The doctor nodded. ‘Try not to worry. Although most people get better without treatment, some don’t. You may wish to take a short course of steroid tablets which would increase the likelihood of complete recovery. In two or three weeks you should notice an improvement. Hopefully, you’ll be fully recovered in a couple of months.’

‘What if I don’t get better in time for Graduation?’

Gemma felt embarrassed by saliva escaping from her mouth. She dabbed at it with a tissue and then at the tears which fell down her cheek as she pictured herself in mortarboard and gown unable to smile for the commemorative photograph.

‘Could you give me anything to speed my recovery?’

‘Not really,’ said Doctor Strong, gently. ‘Antiviral drugs are used in some cases but the evidence for using them isn’t conclusive. I don’t think your case is severe so I would err on the side of not taking them.’

‘What about complementary therapies?’

‘There’re treatments you might enjoy such as facial massage but alternative techniques won’t alter the progress of the condition. Really it’s just a case of being patient.’

Doctor Strong explained that the exact cause of Bell’s palsy wasn’t known but it could be due to a virus inflaming the facial nerve. Swelling of the nerve would cause it to get squashed in the skull and stop working properly.

‘That sounds painful. I haven’t had any pain.’

‘Most people don’t. Some get an ache near the ear though and some people recall having a recent infection of some kind.’

‘I’ve been so well,’ said Gemma. ‘This seems to have come out of the blue.’

‘You’ve just been unlucky. Anyone can get it, though it’s most common between the ages of ten and forty. You’ll need to allow time for the damage to repair itself.’

‘Why won’t my eye close?’

‘The facial nerve which controls movement of the face muscles isn’t working properly. It’s all to do with the inflamed nerve. You see it’s the one that tells your eyelid to close.’

‘So my eyelid will work normally again when the nerve recovers?’

‘That’s right, and while you can’t close your eye you need to protect it by wearing an eye pad or protective glasses. Artificial tear drops will give lubrication during the day. I suggest you apply ointment at bedtime then stick the upper eyelid closed with tape for while you sleep.’

When mother and daughter got up to leave, the doctor handed Gemma an information sheet entitled ‘Bell’s palsy.’

‘This will help you understand things.’

Striding through the crowded waiting room, Gemma shielded her lower face with the leaflet and looked at the ground. She hurried outside; glad she hadn’t been stopped by anyone she knew.

Once home, Gemma flopped onto an easy chair. Photographs of her three elder sisters in graduation clothes seemed to beam down at her. Gemma pictured herself with a lopsided smile and dribble in a photograph beside them. She could feel her chest heave and the sobs came, quietly at first and building up to a crescendo. A comforting arm was soon on her shoulders. Gemma could see her mother was shedding tears too.

‘We’ll get through it love. Thank goodness you came home for the weekend. The doc said you need rest and a healthy diet so I think you should stay here a while. You could email your tutor.’

‘There are quite a few people I should contact,’ said Gemma, thinking about Tom, the tall blond student she’d been meeting for a drink some evenings. He’d told her she had a wonderful smile. She suddenly felt very plain and wondered what he would say if he saw her mouth now.

Gemma considered how she could arrange for lecture notes to be sent over. She didn’t feel she could face anyone so she started to email a college friend. While leaning over the computer keyboard saliva trickled off her chin. Gemma stopped typing, wiped her mouth and picked up the drink her mother had brought. She could feel the side of her face twitching while she tried to suck the fruit juice through a straw. Her nose wrinkled as the juice reached her mouth. It didn’t taste as she expected.

The pink bedroom Gemma had slept in throughout her childhood was a place she found comforting. She compared it to the stark beige college accommodation she’d become accustomed to. Gemma sat at the dressing table mirror and peered at the unfamiliar face staring back at her. Normally she wore her silky curls tied back in a pony tail but as Gemma studied her reflection she wondered if a change of hairstyle might disguise her altered face. She swept the brush through her tresses then parted the hair carefully on the right of her head. Long red curls flopped over the left side of her face like a thick curtain partially covering an eye and the downward slope of her mouth. She put on a pair of dark glasses and felt transformed.

Knowing her mother always seemed distressed when she or her sisters were unhappy, Gemma resolved to try and cope with the situation. She sprayed perfume on her wrists then changed from old jeans and sweater into clean trousers and shirt. Standing up tall she tried to feel confident as she studied herself in the mirror. She stepped back and pondered. The hairstyle and dark glasses reminded her of film stars from the fifties. This, she decided would be her new style until her face returned to normal.

Gemma crept up behind her mother in the kitchen and hugged her.

‘Oooh, you do look glam. Is that my scent I can smell?’

‘Hope you don’t mind, but a new look will help me get through the next few weeks.’

As predicted, Gemma’s condition gradually improved. When she attended surgery a month after her first visit, normal speech had been regained. Gradually, the dribbling stopped and in another month Gemma’s face looked as it had before her illness. Doctor Strong assured her that only about one in ten people get a repeat episode of Bell’s palsy and often not for many years.

Suddenly, Gemma felt excited at being able to start making plans for her future.

On Graduation day Gemma sat huddled close to Tom as they waited for their names to be called. When her turn came, she strode confidently on to the platform and beamed broadly as she was presented with her diploma. The photograph which joined her sisters’ showed an attractive girl grinning and the red hair was neatly tied back into the familiar pony tail.