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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