for no facial pain since, Friday! Your healing is off to a good start!!
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If itās any consolation, several of our members who have had surgery with Dr Hackman have had quite significant facial palsy, with lip droop and paralysed eyelids too, and this has resolved with time for them 
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Thank you, that is encouraging to hear! I FaceTimed with Dr. Cognetti this morning and he agreed there were some minor improvements, but still wants to get an MRI to be sure. I took my third dose of my steroid today that is hopefully reducing swelling of the nerve. But itās basically a waiting game at this point. I did get to leave my house today (just rode in the car while my mom drove. She could tell I was going crazy sitting around.). That made me a little tired and dizzy from the movement but I also think the dizziness may be because Iām not totally back on a normal diet yet. But little by little Iāve been able to eat more so hopefully in the next day or so that will resolve itself, too. Pain levels are still manageable and Iām in better spirits today than I was yesterday, which is good.
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Sending you hugs, glad you could get out for a bit & good your Mum is taking care of you
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Yeah I am definitely lucky to have a good family to take care of me. Today, I met with the nerve doctor, Dr. Krein, who agrees itās too soon to say anything is wrong other than swelling, especially because there is still swelling of my lower right jaw and neck (Iāve been really good about icing so hopefully we can get that to keep improving). Both he and Dr. Cognetti think itās good that even though I have not had as much progress as we would hope by now, I am also not losing progress. I have two telehealth appointments Thursday, one with each doctor, and my MRIs are scheduled for Friday, so this week has been shaping up to be busier than expected. But Iām still getting lots of rest in the downtime. I appreciate everyoneās encouragement and prayers.
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It sounds like theyāre really taking care of you & being thorough, so thatās good! Later, once your incision has healed, thereās info on here about massage for swelling if you still have an issue with that, for some reason some people seem to be affected more by it. As @Isaiah_40_31 has said, the swelling is the bodyās way of cushioning to heal, but it can compress structures itself & cause issues!
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Praying for you, quick resolution of the facial nerve, and the MRI shows everything is good with the nerve.
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New Updates:
Got my MRI in Philly today (thank God we live in NJ so itās manageable to get there and back as needed). Here is the message I sent to family and friends regarding my results.
MRI was about as good as they could have hoped. They were able to see swelling in the nerve, and there were no obvious signs to indicate anything is severed or unconnected. They said obviously itās not 100 percent conclusive (nerves are pretty hard to see on scans, so we got lucky) but if Iām continuing to improve that would further support that movement will come back on its own. So Iām on steroids a little longer (another 18 days) because they are taking longer to taper it. Itās not high dose for all that time, but he said I havenāt had any negative reaction to the steroids so it wonāt hurt to do that. They are looking at Monday the 25th as a potential date to surgically look at the nerve if the improvement doesnāt continue as they want it to or if things get worse. He said they arenāt at that point of confirming that yet, but want me to be in the loop of all possibilities. And if I continue improvement, we likely wonāt need that at all. So heās giving me the weekend off on daily phone calls but told me of course to call him if I need anything. And then weāll check back in on Monday.
Long story short, I am not totally in the clear yet but things are looking very hopeful moving into the weekend. I am cleared to resume normal activities for the time being (easing back in of course). I go back to teaching my piano students this week (tomorrow is my first day) and then will resume voice lessons the following week assuming my medical things continue in a positive manner. I am looking forward to a few days of ānormalcyā with my partial work day tomorrow and a trip to the Renaissance Faire on Sunday. Thank you all so much for your continued support, advice, and prayers. This space has been such a haven for me thus far, and I hope to keep having positive updates in the coming weeks. 
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Glad to hear things are progressing for the positive. Praying for continuing and quick healing. Make sure to take it easy and slowly ease into work, if you overdue it you can stir things up and might relapse.
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That is definitely on my mind. I donāt have much planned for the regular week other than two more partial days of work. All in all, Iām only working maybe 10 hours this first week back, but want to ease in before the actual school year starts and Iām back to two jobs.
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Iām glad that the MRI showed swelling & no obvious injury, thatās good news! I hope that you continue to heal & improveā¦itās good that Dr Cognetti is monitoring you & taking this seriously, Iāll just add in again that weāve had lots of members whoāve had considerable facial palsy after surgery who have all healed with time to reassure you 
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Thank you! This group and everyoneās support and stories has been really comforting to me. While I am not glad that others have had to go through similar things, it is also helpful to know that they have made full recoveries.
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New Updates/More Waiting: Hi all, itās been a little over a week since I posted an update. I am doing very well in terms of pain levels, just a little soreness/stiffness around the incision area sometimes, but I havenāt had to take any pain medication for it in about a week. My scar is healing nicely and looks way better than I thought it would. My right side ES symptoms have not flared up since my surgery which has been lovely (also a little weird to feel kind of ānormalā if that makes sense). The right side of my face, however, still does not move correctly. I am still in contact often with Dr. Cognetti, as well as with the nerve doctor and nerve occupational therapist that he set me up with. We have decided to wait a few more weeks before doing an exploratory operation to confirm that the facial nerve is intact because the tone of my face is good and the MRIs I had done were best case scenario. They said if the nerve was snapped anywhere they would expect less facial symmetry at rest, but that my age (late 20s) could allow my tone to present better even if there was a part of the nerve severed. So, they want me to go on my family vacation in September and we will set an exploratory date for after that trip. Dr. Krein, my nerve doctor, said that if there is anything out of place, the prognosis doesnāt change so long as it is fixed within 3 months. So we are waiting a few more weeks and hoping for any kind of movement to come back as a concrete sign that the nerve is āwaking upā on its own. I still have about 10 days left on the steroids they have me taking, so hopefully those are working internally to reduce the nerve swelling. Along with the facial palsy, I have many accommodations I need to make for my daily activities like driving, eating, showering, etc. to help cope with the lack of movement on the right side. I have had a lot of anxiety around things like eating/drinking in public, and my eye fatigues quickly with my limited blinking ability so I carry things like eyedrops, reusable straws, sunglasses that fit over my glasses, etc. to try to combat some of the more annoying limitations of my right side. In either scenario (the nerve is fine or itās not), I will likely be like this for a while, so Iām trying to be proactive.
Personally, I have gone back to work full time at my singing/piano teaching job and today was my first in-service day for my paraeducator job. We start with students next week. I have gone part time back to the gym, not nearly as frequently as presurgery. Though I have no specific restrictions from Dr. Cognetti, I am taking everyoneās advice and starting slowly. I have also gone back to doing my normal āfor funā activities, like going to the Renaissance Faire this past weekend to celebrate my birthday. I do find myself more easily fatigued than normal, which I know is because my body is healing from the physical trauma of surgery while also trying to process the physical and mental trauma of this facial palsy. But I am coping as best I can and trying to give myself grace as I maneuver what I can and cannot handle right now.
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@Sammi -
Youāre doing an AMAZING JOB of making the best of an uncomfortable & awkward situation with half your face not functioning normally! At your age I can only imagine how difficult that is. It sounds like you have good self confidence & understand the way you look right now doesnāt define you.
Itās great that youāve gone back to work, the gym & are doing things you love outside of those areas. Iāve never been to a Renaissance Faire. I my endurance was low for two months after my first ES surgery & for about 6 weeks after my second one. I guarantee yours will return & am glad you also recognize that.
I recall one of our members who had surgery w/ Dr. Hackman a few years ago had significant lip & eyelid problems after her surgery. It took about a month for those to begin to resolve. Iām hoping that youāll start noticing more significant nerve recovery sooner than that, but itās good to know you have a 3 month window in which to decide if another surgery is necessary. Itās very encouraging to know Dr. Cognetti is sticking with you on this journey & that heās given you referrals both to a good PT & a neurosurgeon who can help you going forward. Iām so glad your other ES symptoms are pretty much gone.
Iāll also keep praying for your facial nerve to get into gear with recovering!
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Thank you for your kind reply. It definitely helps to have this community of people who understand what this is all like. It also helps that while I donāt have muscular movement, at rest, the tone of my face is good (so not incredibly droopy besides a little at my mouth), so it isnāt super apparent that my face isnāt working until I talk or try to move it/emote.
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Good that youāre not in pain, are healing well, and are starting back to work as well as resuming hobbies! But Iām sorry your facial palsy hasnāt improved, you sound strong and like youāre making the most of it though, well done to youā¦Iām really glad that your doctors are being supportive and that theyāre okay to wait for the exploratory surgery . Hope that you have a really good trip, where are you going?
Praying that it does improve soon
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Thank you for the support! We are going to Universal Orlando. We go every September for their Halloween Horror Nights event.
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Sounds FUN!! 
Hi @Sammi. I hope that you are continuing to feel better and more back to normal each day. I just wanted to give you a little bit of encouragement regarding the facial nerve damage. My husband had brain surgery when he was 34 years old and was left with the whole right side of his face paralyzed. While it didnāt sag (except at the mouth a bit), he didnāt have any movement, other than eye blinking really. Anyway, his facial nerve was intact, but had been damaged during surgery. The doctor told us that it would take 6 months to one year for him to see if it was going to heal. When the 1 year mark hit & he didnāt have any improvement, we were disappointed, but still hoped that it would improve anyway. Well, about 18 months after surgery he had the first twitch at his mouth and then healing began to rapidly improve. Eventually, it went almost back to normal and now, most people donāt even know that he ever had any paralysis. The one lingering effect heās had is that he canāt raise one of his eyebrows, so it looks like heās giving you a sardonic look instead of an inquisitive one, but heāll usually explain that to people early on in their interactions. Anyway, I hope that you will see improvements much sooner than he did; however, I wanted you to be encouraged that the nerves can continue to heal even though it sometimes takes a bit longer than expected. We also began eating very nutritiously and he did facial exercises to try to help the nerves heal as best as possible. It sounds like you have a really positive attitude, so I think that will help you heal as well. Take good care of yourself!!
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Thatās an amazing story @vap! Thank you for sharing it. It will be an encouragement to anyone who reads it & is having slow nerve recovery.
Iāve had a similar experience w/ my glossopharyngeal nerve/First Bite Syndrome which never fully recovered after my first ES surgery, however, over the last 11 years, it has gotten to be less & less of a problem & barely ever happens anymore. HOORAY! that God designed bodies that heal!!
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