Facial Recover time~~ help

[iamjlee]

to all,

i had my AN Surgey done on 12/1/08 . i got pretty healthy after that. no sick no any side effect beside i lost all my facial functionality on my right side and dry eye and the bury vision. only progress i had so far is i can move my lips a little more than before because i can do a kiss circle on my lips but not a pretty circle but at least no gap and i can close my eyes without help( blinking still not fully closed.
my doctor told me they monitor my facial nerve until last mins, it all respond the feedback , but still got facial paralysis afterward. ( o yeah i got a 2.4cm AN)

can anyone who has experiences can tell me how much longer i need to wait, is there hope. since i saw ppl said nerve work from bottom to up. i already had my lips and my eye improved. thus, do i still have chance to get back like before, how about my eyes. will it get better?
 
i am 25, and  it's really hard to deal these emontion crysis that i am going through.

James

[Kaybo]

James~
Welcome!
If I read your post right, you JUST had surgery a little over a month ago.  Unforunately, the healing process can take a VERY long time.  The fact that you have some movement already is a VERY good sign to me!!  Keep taking care of yourself and keep your chin up and I think it will all work itself out in time!

K   

[mimoore]

Hi James,
Welcome. I do understand, I too experienced facial paraylsis after surgery. The surgeon also tested my nerve during surgery and it was intact but stretched. I am sure it was angry but now the nerve must be happier I am getting movement back.
I am 7 months post op. I agree with K, the fact that you are getting movement back already is amazing. i didn't have anything until 2 1/2 - 3 months. Patience (oh such a word I heard so much after surgery) it takes time for the nerve to regenerate. It is early days for you...I am sure things will continue to improve. I am seeing a faciial therapist to help strenghten my face now I have some movement back.
You will find a wealth of information here. You are not alone.
M 

[RCB]

James..i had no facial paralysis right after surgery.  one week later, as i was told could happen, it hit. i had my surgery on july 7, 2008. my AN was only 4mm.  I was told that the rule of thumb is whatever you have after surgery is what you end up with.  6 months later its still not 100% but given you age you are progressing much faster than i did. It's VERY frustrating because it's slow.  Everyone in the medical field tells me the same thing, nerves do not like to be touched. It will come back, you just have to be patient. 

[saralynn143]

That rule of thumb is not entirely accurate. I woke up with complete left-side paralysis but i am recovering. Delayed facial weakness does have a more complete and usually faster recovery, though.

Here is one of my favorite sites about facial paralysis. It has a section on predicting recovery:
http://neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/CranialBaseCenter/b95.htm

[Meagan]

I am two years post op and still seeing change...it happens weekly and i still have tingles...so hang in there....i am 27 and was 25 when it happened so i completely understand how hard it can be....but know....THINGS WILL GET BETTER....i am after two years and they say you will be the best you can be and i am constantly getting better!!

Meagan

[Rc Moser]

I would say it the norm. Usually the nerves after being trampered with, pulled on , and stretched over time usually goes limp for awhile. At least that's what my Dr.'s said. For Us thats had large tumors for a long time most likely will never get the lift on that side.

I went through the exact same thing for about 6 months, then started showing little signs of improvements. The biggest for me was being about to close my eye without the eye weight and get some moisture back. This took about 9 months to start and about 3 years to where I am today.

I have read and the doctors have told me 6 months to as long as 10 years depending on how thin the facial nerve was stretched. Some of us will never get lift back. You can see one side of my face is wrinkle free and the other side show my age. I have not noticeable droop on my an side, but no Lift and can't whistle. 

IMO for right after your operation you are doing quite well. If you can close your eye and it's tearing you are doing great. The burry vision IMO is normal after an AN operation. It too should get better by the 6th to 9th month.  Took my vision about year and half to get close to normal. Just be thankfull the headache's haven't kicked in yet. Hopefully they never will, but most of us suffer from severe headaches attacks Years after our operation.

[iamjlee]

to all,

Thanks everybody ~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :Di felt so much better now. i am going to see my doctor next week ...... hope i can also hear some good news too because i don't know if it's because my AN, i am so sensitive with the sunlight these two days, funny thing is it so affect my good eye too. no idea why..........anyways, i still thankful that i still alive and everything will be all right down the road. thanks for everyone's advice too. i will keep the update.

james

[Jeanlea]

James,

It's a really good sign that you are getting movement back already.  I'll bet you will be one of those people who make quick progress.  I woke up from surgery with complete facial paralysis on the left side.  Now after over 3 years it's not all that noticeable.  I can smile.  You also want to make sure that your eye is lubricated well enough so that it doesn't dry out.  That can be a problem if you can't close your eye completely.  Just something to check on.

Jean

[calimama]

Hi James,

I am sorry that you are going through the trama of dealing with facial weakness/paralysis. Many of us here totally understand and sympathise. You are young though (i am 39), so I can imagine that must make it that much harder. Hopefully, you will heal fast and be past this in no time really (even if it does not feel that at the moment). It sounds like you are already having progress in the first few months, many of us had nothing for many months, so I think that is a good sign.

You can't make time pass any faster, or speed up the healing... all you can do is be strong, patient, and stay positive. Keep busy and don't look in the mirror too much. Give it time.

Whether you see any changes or not, the healing is happening. I know of what i speak because i had horrible double vision for about 4 months... no signs of improvement, even at 3 month doctor visit. Then close to month four i noticed that when i looked down at my daughter in my arms, she had only 2 eyes! Everything was still totally messed when i looked straight ahead, or to the right, or up, but i finally had a sign that it was getting better. It took another month or so before I had perfect vision again (YAY!!!!!), and now i just look on back on those 4-5 months (i had to wear an eye patch, couldn't drive..) and i think, it sucked, but i made it and it's over. Life moves on. The rest of my face is recovering SLOWLY... but i know from all of those on this site to be patient and be thankful for the little improvements.

Try to not to dwell too much on the bad parts. You will look back on this before you know and give yourself a pat on the back for getting through it. It sounds like you came through pretty good overall, so focus on the things that went right.

You will get there.

Trish in Toronto Canada

[LADavid]

Hey James
You and I are are on the same recovery path -- only a year apart.  My surgery was 12/3/07.  About this time last year I was getting concerned because I had no facial recovery.  It wasn't until March that I saw any movement.  I think you're OK.  Just watch out for synkinesis.
David

[mimoore]

Well said Trish!!!

[iamjlee]

thanks david, i will do. and again i would like to thank those people  who gave the the advise on my question.

I went see my doctor yeaterday, my doctor is actually surprise that i can not move my face yet because he told me that he didn't even cut anything on that 7th nerve,and monitor shows my face still strong until last min............ so ........i don't know


James

[saralynn143]

James, after my surgery (which was a little different in that it was a direct decompression of the 7th nerve) my surgeon told me that my biometric readings were the same coming out as going in. If you go look at the webpage I posted before, I think that puts me in this group:

Facial nerve is anatomically intact, stimulates at low voltage, but no movement immediately after surgery.  In this group of patients, ENoG may be particularly useful in the postoperative period. If the compound action potential of the paralyzed side remains greater that 10% of that of the normal side after one week, then a good recovery usually occurs, although it may require several months.

Unfortunately I did not know at the time to ask for an ENoG within the first two weeks. My surgeon told me that he "had a bad feeling" about my nerve, but at seven and a half months, I have symmetry at rest and the tiniest of closed-mouth smiles. The facial nerve specialist I see now thinks I will have substantial (though probably not complete) improvement by 12 to 18 months post-op.

Your surgeon's remark that your nerve responded to feedback throughout your surgery makes me optimistic that you are in the same group. Hang in there, the time passes a lot more quickly than you think it will.

Sara

[iamjlee]

  thanks sara.