Fun with Picture Pages

“We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” – 2 Corinthians 4:9

It is coming back! It is certainly taking it’s own sweet time, but it is coming back!

I have read as much as possible and gathered every willing doctor’s opinion, and the consensus on the topic of nerve regeneration is “Data Not Conclusive”. That translates to, “I have no clue” in layman’s terms, but I have not found many medical professionals that are willing to admit that much. 

What exactly is coming back? My face!

Check out these pictures and we can go through step-by-step on what is different. Sure they are a somewhat scary and it is probably poor judgement to post these images on the internet, but silly emotions like pride and dignity were left behind months ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First things first – in both of these images I am trying to make a symmetrical face! As you can see, my right-side facial muscles are still much more responsive than the left. Particularly note how much more my right eye is closed and how the stonger cheek muscles are actually able to pull my nose off-center.

But to the trained eye, there is a tremendous amount of progress on the left side of my face! In the left image, you can clearly see that the muscle in my cheek is pulling back enough to form a small crease from my nose to the corner of my mouth. Also in that image, close inspection shows that the very corner of my lips are turned slightly upward. That is the biggest smile that side of my face has flashed in over a year!

In the right-side picture, note the beginning of muscle contraction at the bridge of my nose, near the corner of my left eye. Compared to the muscles on the right side, it is insignificant, but there is clear progress showing. You can also see how much my eye is closed in this shot, as well as a slight furrow at the inside edge of my eyebrow and enough muscle contracting between my eye and ear to cast a small shadow towards my sideburn.

In this clenched position it is also easy to see that the droop in my mouth has almost completely disappeared. At rest, a trace still remains, but with some contraction, it straightens itself.

I probably contract these muscles at least 20 times per day. While the visual evidence is just barely starting to show, I can feel a big difference during exertion. I am still unable to close my left eye without closing my right, so it does no good to practice in front of the mirror.

The most important lesson here is that this progress boosts hope that the “complete recovery” that has been projected over the past year is inching toward the surface. According to the “inconclusive data”, as nerves continue to regenerate and connect further with muscle tissue, I will gain more movement and control.

For now, I am just content to be able to close my eye – well, almost close it. If you will excuse me, I need to go practice flexing my face!