Hi to all!
I have had the appointment with the surgeon for the nerve graft. The doctor is a female and she seems very kind and human; she explained me everything I asked about the graft: she told me that I need a hypoglossal facial nerve graft with some kind of bridge made of the sural nerve; this will help my cheek and mouth to recover and in this way, the hypoglossal nerve will not be sacrificed and I will not have problems in eating or speaking. She also told me that for the recover of the eye, I will need another graft with the masseter nerve, so that I will avoid synkinesis in my mouth and in my eye. Then when I will see the beginning of the recovery, I will have some retraining with a doctor that will give me exercises to do at home.
I was glad to hear that the recovery will begin after 4-5 months. She also told me that I will never be the one I was before the palsy because it's like to accomodate a hole in a dress: we can sew it, put a patch on the hole, we dress it again, there is no hole but it's as before, it's not as a new cloth.
So I will have some kind a smile with closed smile, helping me with the movements of the tongue. I will have the graft, so I would be very happy to hear about what all of you are thinking about and I would like to know experience of people who had this anastomosis: what does your face look like after the recovery? What kind of movements do you have now? Do you smile?
Thank you for your support and a great kiss for all of you!
Michela
