Congratulations to me! I’ve made it through the first six months of RHS recovery. I’ve come a long, long way in those six months, too.

My walking indoors is almost normal. Outdoors, I’m still having trouble with any bumpiness in the pavement or ground. Stairs are a challenge unless there is a rail to hold onto. And any visual confusion, like flashing lights or diagonally striped crosswalks, of all things, can make me feel very woozy. In total darkness, I cannot even stand upright, but low light in a familiar environment doesn’t seem to bother me any more, as long as I can see enough to orient myself. However, I cannot go to the mall alone after dark, because walking back to the car in the low light with strange shadow patterns is too difficult. My energy level, too, is finally approaching normal, which is such a blessing, after so many months of low energy. The fierce itching in and on my ear has eased off so that now I rarely have to use the Hydrocortisone cream on it.

However, my facial recovery is not going as well. Although my right eye is closing much better, and I only have to use the eyedrops occasionally during the daytime, I am still having to use eye gel and tape my eye shut at night. There is just not enough strength in that eyelid to hold the eye tightly shut all night. There is very little movement on the right side, both in the cheek and mouth and around the eye. Also, a lot of synkinesis has developed in my face, in addition to the muscle tightness. I have crocodile tears, where my eye waters when I eat, and I squint involuntarily when I talk or chew.

But, thinking of how badly I was affected by the original RHS attack and the relapse, I consider myself blessed to have come so far in six months!