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Hiding Behind A Mask: Facial Palsy

Sometimes life has a way of reminding us that we are fairly powerless and inconsequential.

Facial Palsy Bells Palsy
Source: Stock Photo Secrets

Bilateral Facial Palsy

Eleven days ago I suddenly developed a facial palsy.  It looks like Bells Palsy, which I had about ten years ago, but it has impacted both sides of my face.  This set off alarm bells for the doctors as Bells Palsy almost always affects only one side of the face.  I couldn’t manage a normal MRI (I know it’s stupid but I’m claustrophobic). An MRI under sedation and a lumbar puncture are being organised to see what has caused this palsy to happen.

Facial palsy doesn’t just affect your face.

It affects your interactions, your communication and your confidence. I hate that I can’t smile or laugh properly. I’m strangely warped and expressionless. My eyebrow doesn’t move, my right eye won’t close properly, and although my speech is getting clearer, I look very odd when I speak. It  is tempting to hide away from the world. It’s the time of the year which is usually the most social and fun and I love a good party…but not right now.

Plans have to be postponed

I’m sharing this with you because a lot of my #BoomersNextStep plans for the next two months have to be shelved and the blog and facebook page will not be getting much attention from me.  I’m tired, I’m worried and I don’t have any desire to sit at the computer. In fact I don’t have any desire to do much at all.  I certainly can’t make the videos I was about to start making! The facial palsy has affected my appearance so video doesn’t appeal to me at all.  It never did really!

Usually working on #BoomersNextStep is a great pleasure for me but any work I do right now is not going to be from the heart.

Stuff happens

I’m certainly not looking for sympathy.  So many people have much worse things happening in their lives.  Stuff happens to everyone at different times, and I guess this is my turn.  But when you have a small business it is difficult to just walk away from it suddenly without telling people and without some negative consequences.  I hope my lovely assistant will be able to continue to keep the blog and FB page alive.

My fervent hope is that when I’m back at work you will still be connected and we can pick up where we left off, helping awesome people embrace their age and stage of life and live their lives in a way that suits them best.

Would you like to be published on BoomersNextStep?

Meanwhile if you have an urge to write a blog post that fits in with the content and spirit of #BoomersNextStep please send it through to us – admin@YoungAtHeart.info.  I’d love to read your stories and it would be great to have some content being posted over this time.

Warmest wishes,

Jenni

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Jenni Proctor

Hi, I'm Jenni Proctor from Boomers Next Step. Remember when the formula for success in life was simply to strive for good marks at school, gain qualifications, get a great job, work hard and save for your retirement? Yes, I believed it too! For years my husband David and I wanted to develop a business that we could operate anywhere in the world, but both of us were educated to be employees.  We had entrepreneurial dreams and ideas, but still had employee mindsets. 14 years ago I took the giant leap!  I left my job in Education to start a business as a Career Counsellor and Coach, helping mature adults transition from one career path to another, and particularly from employment to entrepreneurship.  I had studied long and hard to gain new qualifications but sadly I hadn’t learnt how to market my new business. About 12 years ago we realized that we were not tracking well towards having the sort of retirement we wanted. We’d saved; we’d invested; and like so many other people we’d also lost some money along the way. It didn’t help that my business was not bringing in as much as I had been earning as an employee. Our dreams of extensive travel and helping our family were being replaced by a growing concern that we would outlive our savings. It seemed that a traditional retirement would not allow us to maintain the lifestyle we wanted. I love helping people plan the next phase of their lives, but we realized that was not going to be enough.  We needed a way to create an income stream that would pay for the travel and other lifestyle luxuries we wanted, that would provide mental stimulation, and would interest us both.

What have we been talking about?

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