How not to spend a day on vacation in Paris
Getting a doctor to prescribe Lacryvisc, prednisone and Valaciclovir.
If you do have to get this done, don't go to an ER. They will be attentive enough, but a bit brusque. OK, that's not completely fair. Let me explain.
I seem to be having a bout of Bell's Palsy. It's not fun, but it's not an emergency. If we'd known more about French medical care we'd have known that Emergency Rooms charge a premium for non-emergencies, and Bell's Palsy isn't, for all the distress is causes, an emergency.
We'd also have known that French hospitals have outpatient specialist clinics, which anyone can use. Which means I'd not have spent an extra 150€ (weekend, non emergency, and what looked to be a double dip on the weekend).
But even at that, the total bill was only 310€. I think I'll get it all reimbursed from the VA.
The palsy is bearable. It started late Tues, or early Weds. Food tasted wrong, as if my tongue were coated in fat, or saran wrap. I was attributing it to some sort of external damage... sleeping with my mouth open too long, or some odd reaction to something I ate; some sort of unknowable allergic reaction.
Thus. evening I went out to eat, and was listening to my iPod and tried to whistle along with the music.
I couldn't. The left side of my mouth wasn't answering my commands. There is some numbness in my cheek, my left eye doesn't close quite as I would like, but it does blink. Eating is annoying, but not a problem. My tongue is malfunctioning on the left side now, instead of the entire surface (well, mostly. It varies). All my chewing (and proper tasting) is done on the right side of my mouth. Swallowing is strange, and liquids try to escape.
Some aspects of my speech are off, mostly in the way some of my vowels sound. My russian accent is shot, and I think some of my trouble being understood in French is related. When it's being a real problem (because it seems to be variable in intensity) I feel as if I sound a trifle drunk.
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ladymondegreen and akawil say I don't look any different, but the ways it is affecting me are, as one might imagine, pretty apparent to me.
So I keep checking to see if I can whistle (not yet) and I am limited to the fifes, as the slack half of my mouth makes playing a penny-whistle less pleasant, because the oddity is the right side of my face feels swollen, and overtight.
It will, almost certainly, pass. If not, well I'll learn to deal with it. White wines are good, red are "wrong". Coffee is still tasty. Bread is good, so long as I keep it on the right side.
Life goes on.
If you do have to get this done, don't go to an ER. They will be attentive enough, but a bit brusque. OK, that's not completely fair. Let me explain.
I seem to be having a bout of Bell's Palsy. It's not fun, but it's not an emergency. If we'd known more about French medical care we'd have known that Emergency Rooms charge a premium for non-emergencies, and Bell's Palsy isn't, for all the distress is causes, an emergency.
We'd also have known that French hospitals have outpatient specialist clinics, which anyone can use. Which means I'd not have spent an extra 150€ (weekend, non emergency, and what looked to be a double dip on the weekend).
But even at that, the total bill was only 310€. I think I'll get it all reimbursed from the VA.
The palsy is bearable. It started late Tues, or early Weds. Food tasted wrong, as if my tongue were coated in fat, or saran wrap. I was attributing it to some sort of external damage... sleeping with my mouth open too long, or some odd reaction to something I ate; some sort of unknowable allergic reaction.
Thus. evening I went out to eat, and was listening to my iPod and tried to whistle along with the music.
I couldn't. The left side of my mouth wasn't answering my commands. There is some numbness in my cheek, my left eye doesn't close quite as I would like, but it does blink. Eating is annoying, but not a problem. My tongue is malfunctioning on the left side now, instead of the entire surface (well, mostly. It varies). All my chewing (and proper tasting) is done on the right side of my mouth. Swallowing is strange, and liquids try to escape.
Some aspects of my speech are off, mostly in the way some of my vowels sound. My russian accent is shot, and I think some of my trouble being understood in French is related. When it's being a real problem (because it seems to be variable in intensity) I feel as if I sound a trifle drunk.
ladymondegreen and akawil say I don't look any different, but the ways it is affecting me are, as one might imagine, pretty apparent to me.So I keep checking to see if I can whistle (not yet) and I am limited to the fifes, as the slack half of my mouth makes playing a penny-whistle less pleasant, because the oddity is the right side of my face feels swollen, and overtight.
It will, almost certainly, pass. If not, well I'll learn to deal with it. White wines are good, red are "wrong". Coffee is still tasty. Bread is good, so long as I keep it on the right side.
Life goes on.
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