Amen to that! Hope you’re continuing to feel better too!
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@vap thank you for reaching out to encourage Sammi, and for sharing this story- we’ve heard of members taking a year to see improvements, 18 months is very impressive!
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Thank you for sharing. It is really helpful to hear stories like this! My doctor asked me in our now weekly call about my mental health through this and I was honest that, while some days it is hard to stay positive, I have some really great support systems in place and mentioned that this group in particular has been very encouraging. I am glad your husband was able to recover most of his movement with time. I am prepared to be like this for a while in any scenario and will likely have an exploratory procedure at the end of the month to check if the nerve is intact (and repair if needed) unless we see any changes before then. But I am hopeful in either scenario that I will make at least most of a recovery.
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I haven’t posted in a while, but thought I’d give an update on my situation. I still have a palsy of the right side, but my facial tone has continued to improve. Little bits of progress on recovery here and there have my doctors comfortable waiting a little longer to make a call on whether I will need a procedure to check on the nerve. My nerve OT has me using a taping strategy to support the right side and mostly to help the left side overwork less. This has been weird to get used to over the last week, but I think that the taping in addition to the massage techniques I have been doing has aided the new things and improvements I have seen in the last week, which has included some tingling (kind of feels like the muscles crawling upwards) and some involuntary movements of the right side, particularly at the lips.
Unrelated to the palsy, my stamina is getting better, as well as recovery time from activity. I have returned to the gym and was able to make it 3 days in a row last week, and even did both personal training and a class on one of those days. I am going to try going 4 days this week and see how I do. I still am not to full strength, but I am building back up to that as my stamina continues to improve.
Overall, I still have some bad days in terms of fatigue and mental health, but they are getting to be much fewer, as I continue to adjust to living with partial facial palsy.
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I’m glad that you are seeing some signs of the nerve repairing, although it must seem incredibly slow to you! Good that the doctors are happy to wait and see. I’m pleased for you that you’re able to exercise more & that’s improving…thanks for the update, I was thinking of you & prayed you’d still see healing of your nerve 
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Thank you for the positive update, @Sammi. So good to hear you’re still noticing progress. Even the involuntary movements on the right side of your face are a positive along with the tingling. Nerve recovery can actually be a bit painful as the nerves wake back up & those involuntary movements are also signs of nerve activity in an area where they were “sleepy”.
That you can exercise somewhat regularly now is also a plus as that stimulates endorphins which help keep your mindset more positive & that also helps with healing.
Looking forward to hearing another update when you’re ready. I’ll keep praying for your facial nerve to fully recover.
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November 3, just under 3 months post op: I have seen many positive improvements in my right facial movement. I can do a somewhat normal smile now, it’s just not my big smile from before yet. There is still stronger movement on the left (good side) than on the right, but the right side is starting to hold its own a little more. My eyes are more in sync with blinking and closure, but still a little off. The lower lid has been slower to recover than the upper lid, and I experience lower lid twitching most days. Most recently, I have recovered some movement in the right eyebrow, but it is still much less range of motion than the left side.
I still have many doctor’s appointments ahead of me, but they are less frequent now. I have been using taping methods throughout the last month and a half to support the right side and help the left side not pull as far. There are talks of using some light Botox on the left side to make it easier for the right side to work against it and to help prevent unevenness as I continue to heal. We will see about that when I go into the offices in Philadelphia at the end of the month. The very good news is that I am cleared from any further exploratory procedures until closer to the 6 month mark (February)! Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.
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Hi Sammi! I think of you often & you’ve been in my prayers with your post surgery issues; I’m so glad that this is slowly resolving! Still a way to go then, but good there are improvements… Take care, & pop back on to update us regularly when you can, & will keep praying, hugs to you 
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Thank you for the continued support! I actually smiled in a picture for the first time since August 8th after my team workout at the gym yesterday, so that was a big deal. I will update again when I have my next appointments or if something big happens before then.
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That’s really good news you’ve shared, @Sammi! I’m so glad you’re continuing to see improvement in your face & that you were able to smile for the gym picture. It’s also good news that there are additional therapies that can help w/ further restoration of your facial nerve/muscles that aren’t terribly invasive. I’ll also continue to pray for complete recovery for the right side of your face.
Looking forward to your next update. 
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@Sammi Thank you for sharing your story. You have amazing courage and strength.
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November 26 Update: As of yesterday afternoon, I am cleared by all of my doctors! While I am still in recovery from my nerve related facial palsy for about another 2-8 months (6-12 months is the standard recovery time for something like this according to my doctors), I no longer have to have regular appointments for it. There is still some asymmetry of movement with the right side being a little slower to activate and relax than the left side, and a small portion of my top lip is still not totally back to full motion. But it is close enough that most people who don’t know what happened don’t notice anything off. I am just thrilled to be able to smile again (I am a very bubbly person, so not smiling was difficult for me). I still need to be vigilant about stretching and massaging the face and being careful not to overactivate the left side, and now we are on the lookout for any synkinesis (involuntary movement of another muscle when a muscle contracts voluntarily). However, Dr. Krein, my nerve specialist, said it is a really good sign that we haven’t seen any synkinesis to this point.
I really just want to emphasize in here again how thrilled I have been with the care I have received from my team of doctors at Jefferson in Philadelphia, led by Dr. Cognetti, who performed my ES surgery. I remain symptom free and feel very lucky to have access to these doctors close by.
Lastly, I just want to thank all of you again for your support and encouragement. The community we have in this support group is very special! I look forward to keeping up with each of your stories and hope this story and I can be a resource for people who need it.
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That’s fantastic news, I’m so pleased for you Sammi! It’s great that your facial asymmetry isn’t noticeable to others now, & good you’ve been discharged. It certainly sounds like Dr Cognetti & his team took good care of you which is reassuring to hear… Now you can get on with your life
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Happy days ahead as your healing continues & you’re free from constant follow-up appts., @Sammi! What a great Thanksgiving & end of the year gift!
It’s so good to know that Dr. Cognetti sticks with his patients when there’s a post op problem.
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