I woke up in the wee hours, about 1:30 A.M., and headed down the hall to the bathroom. My right eye was sore and something felt strange about my upper lip, so I turned on the light, looked in the mirror, and got the shock of my life! I looked like I had put on my Halloween mask early! The palsy was well advanced at this point: my eyelid hardly moved at all, the corner of my mouth drooped dramatically, and even my nose was crooked.

I was shocked, but did not really suspect it was anything more than Bell’s Palsy, which Hubby had had several years earlier. There wasn’t much they did for him, except have him tape his eye, so I debated whether to call the clinic after-hours number again or even to wake up Hubby. I finally woke him up, and we decided I had better make the call.

The PA taking calls that night thought it was probably BP, but it could also be any one of several other, more serious things. She suggested I head straight for the Emergency Room. Still not suspecting anything serious, I took a shower, brushed my teeth as best I could, and got dressed, then headed off for the ER, arriving about 3:00 A.M.

Getting examined was painfully slow, as usual. I was taken in a wheelchair to a private examining room in the ER at about 4:00 A.M., and finally saw the hospitalist (in-house doctor) about 5:00 A.M. He was a short slight man, younger than either of my children (Everyone seems so young since I passed 55!). He seemed a little shy and hesitant but was kind and unhurried. He said I had a whopper of an outer ear infection, diffuse otitis externa, with the cellulitis that typically accompanies such an infection. Cellulitis is an inflammation just under the skin, and that was causing the swelling and soreness in the cheek and neck around my ear. Except for the ear infection and cellulitis, the remainder of the scalp pain was the only pain I felt at this point. This made the diagnosis of RHS seem less likely. (I still hadn’t connected the scalp pain to my other symptoms.)

The hospitalist thought it was probably BP triggered by the outer ear infection, but ordered a CT scan, just in case. He was concerned about the dizziness, and about the slight fever I now had. The scary term mastoiditis was mentioned. The scan, however, showed nothing unexpected, and I was able to assure Hubby that there really was more than cobwebs and butterflies in there. The hospitalist decided to call in a neurologist. By this time it was 7:00 A.M., so I sent Hubby home. He called the family about 7:30 A.M., and later sent them the following in an e-mail:

They fed me breakfast in the ER at about 9:00 A.M, but I felt weak, tired, and very cold. And terminally bored! Is anything as boring as an ER wait? When the nurse finally peeked in and saw me on the gurney, shivering with my coat wrapped around me, she brought me a couple of heated blankets. I felt like nominating her for sainthood! After she checked my temp, which was rising, almost 102F, I finally was able to doze off for a few minutes. The neurologist arrived about 10:00, but first had to see a little boy in the next room with a bad bump on his head. Boy, did he scream, poor little guy! He didn’t like doctors at all. I thought the noise would bore a hole through my head, but it didn’t last very long! The neuro too said I probably had Bell’s Palsy, but was also concerned about my fever and dizziness, and also mentioned the possibility of mastoiditis. He decided I should have an MRI as soon as possible. This meant being admitted to the hospital, since outpatients often wait two or more weeks for an appointment! Hubby continued in the same e-mail:

The admission forms were all filled out and signed, but I sat in the same cold room in the ER for another hour or so until a bed opened up upstairs. Then it was an exciting (not!) ride on the gurney to my room, a four bed ward on the fifth floor, well down the hall from the pediatric wards. My only roomie was hard of hearing and slept a lot, so the room was quiet.

I found that this hospital has a 'room service' style menu for meals. You phone room service when you get hungry and order anything on the menu that fits within your diet limitations. I ordered a light lunch and found it delicious! What a surprise!

Eating was an adventure. I had to learn to take tiny bites or, as I chewed, the food would get lost in the cavern between my right cheek and the molars on that side or, even worse, dribble down my chin. I never realized how much of a role our lips and cheeks play in the eating process. Occasionally I would push a bit of upper lip in with my sandwich and chomp down on it... Ouch! And even the straws the kitchen provided had to be placed in my mouth with care or the liquid would dribble onto my johnny.

Right before my lunch arrived, an IV line was installed in the back of my left hand, and I was hooked up 5 times a day around the clock to receive Keflin, a broad spectrum antibiotic, for the ear infection. I was also given Corticosporin Otic, antibiotic ear drops, every six hours; and artificial tears for my eye every four hours. I slept most of the afternoon and evening, in spite of being awakened often for 'vital sign' checks (my fever was up over 103F by dinnertime), meds, and doctor visits. A second hospitalist, an older man, and more confident than the younger doctor, but just as gentle and caring, had called in an ENT specialist, and I saw the younger hospitalist and the neurologist again. I found out I was scheduled for my MRI in the morning.

During the afternoon, two more women were wheeled in, making a full room. About 9:00 P.M. a nurse brought me more eye drops and some micropore tape to hold my eye closed for the night. It felt so dry and sore! Monday night, Hubby sent out the following e-mail update:

I really was tired yesterday, but I woke in the morning refreshed, and my fever was down below 102F, which helped. I got to meet the roomie next to me, who arrived yesterday afternoon. I was so groggy yesterday I hardly acknowledged her presence. She's a lovely woman, 70 years old, had pneumonia, which she gets often. She also has painful neuropathy, and has to take a dose of morphine to break the cycle when it gets really bad. I felt enough better today that meeting her made me feel like I was just taking up space there! The other two roommates are feeble elderly, and don't talk to us.

I finally had enough energy to brush my teeth this morning, and what an adventure! I had to lift the lip with my finger to get the brush in, spitting was impossible, and rinsing was a hoot. I just hoped I got them clean. Washing up was fun too. I had to lean against the wall and hold onto the sink with one hand while I washed with the other. Maybe some day I'll be able to take a shower without falling over.

I noticed that I had trouble locating the source of sounds today. This means I wasn't hearing much in my right ear. I hoped that was just from the swelling in my ear canal! I didn't notice this problem yesterday.

They took me down in a wheelchair about 9:00 A.M for the MRI of my head and neck. It wasn't as bad as I expected. Although it was pretty noisy, I actually dozed off a couple of times. It took about an hour, then they wheeled me back to my room in time for my next meds. Another check of my vitals showed that my fever was going up again. One of the older roommates was sent home in the morning, and a new roomie added. She has a great sense of humor!

Our pastor called and told me that a request for prayer for me went out on the prayer chain. Although I was concerned about what was happening to me, I really did feel a strange peace about it... it has to be the prayers of my friends! He apologized for not coming in to see me, but he was about to leave for Maine to do a funeral, and had arranged to stay there for a few days to visit with his mother. The phone rang all morning. I guess friends and family who were kind enough to let me sleep yesterday wanted the reassurance of talking to me in person!

Just before lunch, the MRI results were delivered to my room. The ENT looked them over about 2:00 P.M. and told me I had some mastoiditis, probably secondary to the ear infection and, apparently, contributing to my spiky fever. He found nothing in the MRI that would indicate stroke or a tumor, so something else was going on. The choices seemed to be narrowed down to BP or RHS. My fever was going down again by dinnertime.

My sleep wasn't very restful last night, because our new roommate was having weird reactions to her meds. She was hallucinating, and thought she saw a man outside the window walking past. We were on the fifth floor! They drew the curtains around her bed and that helped for couple of hours. Then she was convinced she had to get up and use the bathroom. When she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, her bed alarm would go off and wake us all up! They tried to tell her she had a Foley catheter and didn't need to get up. A short while later, she'd get up again. Eventually, she became paranoid about not being allowed to go to the bathroom. Sigh... ! I finally gave up and pulled out my crossword puzzle book. Finally they got her up and walked her over to the john and let her sit, then brought her back to bed. By then it was about 12:30 A.M. This time she stayed asleep! This morning, she was much better, lucid and funny, as though nothing had happened. Her daughter said she always has that kind of reaction to certain meds!

Hey, I had chickenpox! Hurrah, a diagnosis at last! The ENT came in about 7:30 A.M. and was thrilled to see a few vesicles on my outer ear and in the ear canal. I'm not so thrilled; they itch! The nurse brought me some ointment, Hydrocortisone Cream 1%. It really helped. I finally knew what I had, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, whatever the heck that is. They started me right away on Acyclovir, 400 mg 5 times a day, and Prednisone, 30 mg twice a day. I was still getting the Keflin by IV and the drops in my ear and eye.

Soon, there was a parade of all my doctors trooping through, two hospitalists and my ENT and neurologist. At one point, after he had examined me, the neuro, a man in his 40s, said in a cheery voice, "You know, you're my first Ramsay Hunt case!!" You'd have thought he was a hungry cat and I'd just brought him a juicy mouse for a present. That really made me feel as though I was in safe hands, you betcha!

The ENT told me my ear canal was full of pus, blood, and who knows what else. He flushed it out, which hurt like h***!! It really was ugly looking stuff. My hearing seemed a teensy bit better after that, but still not normal. What I did hear sounded distorted, muffled and tinny like a cheap walkie-talkie. The flushing did relieve some of the pressure and "full" feeling I had had in that ear. The pain in my ear seemed a bit worse than yesterday. My fever appeared to be down again, this time below 100F. By dinnertime, my temp was normal. Hurrah!! The ENT said that, since they were never sure of the cause of my temp, he would like to see it stay down for 48 hours before he would take me off the IV antibiotic and release me. My eye was still dry and sore, even though I was patching it most of the day and all night. The balance problem seemed no better, no worse.

By this time I was really feeling like I was taking up a bed needed by someone else, so I was very glad to hear that my temp was still normal, and if it stayed that way I could go home tomorrow. I certainly was glad I had a good insurance policy! And my own bed was sounding awfully good by then. I was not unusually sleepy, but I certainly was feeling exhausted. I was also very much wanting my own quiet house back. Now that I was feeling better, the constant low level of noise and the lack of privacy were getting to me.

The ENT told me today that I should stay away from the grandchildren until the lesions in my ear clear up. I missed them terribly! But I wouldn't have wanted to pass it on to the baby; he hadn't had his chickenpox shots yet. And the older kids, who have had their shots, could still have gotten a very mild case, and they could have infected him.

My ear was really hurting today, a sharp stinging pain different from what I felt a couple of days ago, but the ENT said it was looking better. Later, the same pain started to spread onto my right cheekbone as well. I guessed this must have been the shingles pain the doctors kept asking me if I had. (I still hadn't connected the sore scalp to the shingles!) The young hospitalist ordered some Tylenol for me, and said if this was not enough to tell the nurse and he would prescribe something stronger. Fortunately, this hospital makes a big deal out of pain management, but the Tylenol seemed to do the trick. I have a pretty high pain threshold.

I started walking around the corridors a bit today. I was so wobbly I had to stay close to the walls and run my hand along the wheelchair rail, and I could only make one circuit before quitting. But I was feeling so restless I couldn't stay in bed! Later, I found out this was a side effect of the Prednisone. I also had a migraine, but got permission from the doctor to take the Caffergot I always carry with me before it got too far advanced for the med to do any good. I later found out that this also can be triggered by the Prednisone in those who are subject to migraines.

At last, I was able to come home! I settled into my big blue "people-eater" chair and rested from packing up (5 minutes) and the trip home (15 minutes). I was exhausted, no energy left at all!

The house looked neat, but dusty. Hubby is great at keeping things like shopping, cooking, dishes, and laundry going, but he doesn't do windows (or floors, or rugs, or furniture, or... ). That didn't matter, though. After all, he had been spending a good part of his days at the hospital with me! The dust bunnies will be there when I get around to them.

We had stopped on the way home and Hubby picked up my prescriptions. I felt like a walking drugstore! I was taking Keflex antibiotic tablets, 500 mg 4 times a day for 12 days; Acyclovir tablets, 400 mg 5 times a day for 8 days; Corticosporin Otic drops in my ear, 4 drops 4 times a day for 14 days. I was also taking Prednisone tablets twice a day, 30 mg for 2 days, 20 mg for 2 days, 10 mg for 2 days, and 5 mg for 2 days. Then, of course, there were the artificial tears, micropore tape, and the box of eye patches in the bag too.

It was Halloween, but Hubby had forgotten to get candy, so we shut off the outside lights... I felt like the Halloween Grinch! It's just as well, though, since the back door opening and closing might have given me a chill. Couldn't afford that!

It felt fabulous to sleep in my own bed last night. I must have built up quite a sleep debt, being awakened every 3-4 hours! Except for getting up to take my meds, I slept like the dead, from 9:30 P.M. until 9:00 A.M. this morning! Then I had a two-hour nap in the afternoon. Hubby was taking excellent care of me; he wouldn't let me do a thing! I swear he'd have brushed my teeth for me if I let him! I still felt really tired; I had a feeling my big blue chair and I were going to spend a lot of time together for a while.

I got so frustrated trying to keep track of which meds to take when! They all had a different schedule, and I was afraid I'd miss something. So, I made a "spreadsheet" on a pad of paper. Each column of squares down was labeled for a different med, the rows across were marked with the times to take the various meds. Now, every morning I could set the pills I would take that day (and night) in their squares on the paper. The ear drops, I just moved down to the next square after I used them.

I noticed as the day wore on that my balance and pain got worse, then briefly better after a nap, then worse again. Fortunately, I figured out that this meant I would have to get a lot of rest and not overtire myself.

I shooed Hubby out the door tonight, urging him to attend our square dance club's monthly dance here in town. He wanted to stay and take care of me but, to tell the truth, his solicitousness was getting on my nerves! ;o) I know he was glad to have me safe at home, but I was not a totally helpless invalid! And it was so good to be alone at last, for the first time in over two weeks, even just for a little while.

I felt a lot better this morning, after another relatively uninterrupted night. The pain and dizziness seemed somewhat better. I got up about 7:00 A.M. and got dressed, rested while Bob cooked a big breakfast, ate, rested, and decided to go with him to church. They were shocked to see me! It seemed strange to stay seated whenever everyone else stood up, but I knew I would be pushing it if I tried to keep up with everyone else. It felt so good to be praising God with people who had prayed for me! I did stand up during testimony time and thank everyone for their prayers. After the service, I had to keep warning everyone not to hug me, since the vesicles were still open. I knew the chances were slim of passing on chicken pox, but I had no idea who was immune and who wasn't! Chicken pox in an adult is no joke!

In the afternoon I napped again, this time for 1 ½ hours. This was getting to be a very pleasant habit! Just before dinner, I noticed a funny, metallic taste in my mouth, so I took an ear swab and dipped it in salt, then sugar, then vinegar, and found I had lost the sense of taste on the affected side. The next dose of Prednisone, I touched the tablet to the affected side of my tongue and couldn't taste that bitter taste either. I didn't notice any loss of taste in the hospital, when the docs were asking about it. Food tasted normal, probably because I was doing all my chewing on the unaffected side.

The meds spreadsheet worked great! I could glance at it whenever I passed that counter and see when my next dose of what was! No more rummaging through the pile of bottles and jars and instruction papers to find what to take when and which bottle it was in.