SURVEY~AT WHAT MONTH DID YOUR BLINK FUNCTION RETURN?

[CROOKEDSMILE]

I WAS TOLD THAT THE MOUTH AND EYE SHOULD COME BACK FIRST. WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN TOLD? FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT HAD EYELID FUNCTION TO RETURN......TELL ME WHEN IT CAME BACK AND IN WHAT SEQUENCE. THANKS.

[amymeri]

My blink is not complete, but with some thought I can close my eye.  That returned after 4-5 months.  I have significant synkinesis, but would say that between 4-6 months I had some function returning.

[4cm in Pacific Northwest]

CROOKEDSMILE

My blink actions returned this week… today is my 6 month anniversary of my surgery. The face came first staring with the corner of the mouth... I have 60% movement back (I was at a #6 on the House Brackmann facial palsy scale) … I am seeing a mm of eyebrow movement and I ‘think’ I saw my nostril flare a mm this morning… bottom lip still nada… but the top lip smiles.

This is quite the test in patience isn’t it?

My 1st mm sign of movement came at 3 months and 5 days (not that I was counting or anything  )


What time frame are you at post surgery? Remember everyone has a different AN tumor and everyone has a different recovery from treatment. I know it is hard not to compare your recovery to others… but try not to.

Hang in there.

4

[HeadCase2]

crookedsmile,
  I had blink, tearing, and smile functions back at about the 6 week mark.  Not totally back to normal at 6 weeks, but much improved and they continued to improve after that.  The only symptoms I have at the 2 year mark is some very slight synkinesis (eye squinting sometimes with certain mouth movements), and when I eat spicy foods I get some extra eye tearing and need to blow my nose.  None of which are major problems for me.
  Best of luck with your continuing recovery.
Regards,
  Rob

[4cm in Pacific Northwest]

Today is my 6 month post op anniversary... the blinking returned this week.

Now I am walking around winking at everyone   

The muscles around my eye really ache today and are so tight- no doubt from not being used for so long.

I too am very curious as to the variety of answers you will get back.

4 

[Kate B]

 

Today is my 6 month post op anniversary... the blinking returned this week.

Now I am walking around winking at everyone   

The muscles around my eye really ache today and are so tight- no doubt from not being used for so long.

I too am very curious as to the variety of answers you will get back.

4 

I could blink right away.  I did  not tear for two months.

BTW,That is really good news! Besides celebrating your ability to wink, a point to note is that it is six months after your surgery and the body is still making progress.

back at ya!

Kate

[yardtick]

  at you 4,

WOW!!!  the aching is a pain, but you must be so excited.

You go girl!!

Anne Marie  

[4cm in Pacific Northwest]

Oy ya not until this morning did I realize I responded to the same post twice – and both in one day. Must have been all that celebrating of the 6 month mark and winking at everyone- had me not-too-with-it  by the late evening (I was also typing while family were all chatting around me) … you all must think me a loony tune… 

A mistake I just got to laugh at. I thought I was responding to this post
http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=5910.0
- and must have had 2 windows open at once. I am holding my ground that “this AN tumor has NOT affected my cognitive ability� - but obviously late on a Friday night with people talking all around me while I typed - my multi-tasking skills were sliding. Oy ya- my apologies for not reading after I posted… until this morning… Oops

So anyway I too am curios as to what time frame, post op, people started getting their blink back. Crooked-smile has asked a very valid question here to which I too would be curious to learn from.

Kate and Marie- thanks for your encouraging words.

Crooked-smile- I have read back on your posts and see that you are at the 7 month mark and your complications are from something different than an acoustic neuroma tumor. I was told, by a physician, that the Bell’s palsy can take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years to resolve (I gasped at the “years!?� too). Have you gone to this website for help?
http://www.bellspalsy.ws/
I find that the “facial retraining exercises�
http://www.bellspalsy.ws/exercise.htm
…are actually helping with my facial tone. In fact after I started these- it seemed the recovery expedited - these past weeks. We have others contributing on the forum who did NOT have an acoustic neuroma but other medical issues with similar symptoms- to which here they are finding support here (i.e. facial neuroma, other tumors etc). I have found the contributors to this forum are very supportive and it is nice to have a discussion forum with good moderators - keeping us ion track. I hope you have found some answers- as I have.

Keep moving forward,

4

[CROOKEDSMILE]

I did not have an accoustic neuroma but I had vessel compression of the facial nerve. I had a retromastoidectomy. I actually had two back to back. July 5 and July 6th. The surgery is the same as it was for you guys but pulling vessels off instead of a tumor. I had a grade 5/6 paralysis after surgery. I was told that I might get better answers here than on my support group site that I have been a part of because my paralysis is a rare thing to happen so I've been told. (I had microvascular decompression via craniotomy) I don't have bell's palsy...my facial nerve injury is a stretch injury from brain surgery so I am finding much support here of people who know what I am going through.

[nancyann]

Crookedsmile:  I could be wrong (nothing new), but I THINK the term bell's palsy encompasses facial paralysis no matter WHAT the cause.....

[lori67]

I hit one year post op on last Wednesday and still no blink.   

My cheek and upper lip started first, around 8 months post op.  I can close my eye to within about 5mm when really trying, but when I blink normally, it just flutters a bit.  Still nothing in the eyebrow area or lower lip, but I do notice more muscle tone around my lower lip, so maybe that's a sign of things to come.

I don't think anyone ever told me an exact time frame to expect anything, just the standard "give it a full year".  Well, I did.  Guess I'll keep waiting it out..

Lori

[Meagan]

I am about 14 months and my eye closes but only when i think about it....and mouth still doesn't work on the corners so i still can't smile....my tumor was pretty large so it is taking forever....i see very small results but still slow enough that i want to cry.....

hang in there and that is great for everyone that had movement quicker....

Meagan