question (new member)

[KimLyle]

Hi my name is Kim and i just had surgery about 3 mouths ago.  It was very random and I had to have the surgery right away. It was 3.4cm and they did not cut my facial nerve but i do not have any movement on that side yet (hopefully will on day) I have been doing acupuncture for the last two week. If this doesn't work in exactly a year i was to get the 7/12 graff surgery because i am getting off my parents insurance still and want to do it if i have to before i get off. I have a question for anyone who got felling back in there face. This week Ive started to get random tingling ( very lightly) on that side of the face, it will just randomly start then stop. I'm hoping that this is a sign for maybe movement coming soon, any idea>?

[Lizard]

Hello and welcome to the forum postie 
I did not have facial weakness, but it seems like 3 months is a short period of time in the healing process so its quite possible the tingling is a great sign.  have you tried other therapies to help with the weakness?  Some people on here will be able to offer their advice on these options.
Take care and please do not hesitate to ask anything, this forum has a wealth of information.  Also, you can search on facial weakness, paralysis etc in the search bar and you should come up with some pretty valuable threads.

Liz

[saralynn143]

Kim, when you ask about feeling returning . . . can you feel a touch to your face? The tingling is often a precursor to return of movement (a really good sign!) and is not related to the sense of feeling to your face.

Sara

[Jeanlea]

I had surgery for a 3.5 cm tumor nearly five years ago.  Right after surgery I had no movement and no feeling. I also started to feel "shocks" as I called them shortly after my surgery.  I think it was the nerves regenerating since they weren't cut.  Now I have an almost normal smile.  I think the tingling is a good sign.  Also, I got a lot of movement back between year 1 and year 2.

Jean

[Kaybee]

Hi Kim, I had surgery for an almost 4 cm tumor about 7 months ago.  My nerve was not cut but I had absolutely no movement post-surgery.  I currently have a small smile, a good smirk, some eye muscle movement and I am now getting tingling around my eye and nose.  I started to feel tingling and zapping soon after surgery.  I did not get any movement at all until almost 6 months but I do think all that tingling/zapping means something.  Best wishes!

[Tod]

Hi Kim, I had feeling, but absolutely no movement on the left side of my face until just past seven weeks. If you had no feeling, I would expect healing to take somewhat longer. Tingling, any type of sensation on your face is probably a good sign. It really is important to be patient and to learn to move bits of your face on command. I found that very hard myself, Trying too isolate muscles and move them -- Without misleading myself by moving my jaw or allowing the right-side muscle to actually do the work.

Best of luck to you....I do hope this is the initial signs of healing.

Tod

[jazzfunkanne]

3 month is a short period, 3 years on i am still seeing sligh movment, i had grade 6 palsy after the op , now it is about a 2

[leapyrtwins]

Facial nerves take a long time to regenerate.  Three months is a very short period of time.

Jan

[KimLyle]

thanks  I know 3mouths is a short time Im just trying to to plan ahead.. is having the surgery after one year a bad idea if i get no movemt?
and i do have all feeling its just not moving. It just hard not to plan for the surgery because if i dont have it in one year idk when i could have it because i just graduated college and doing it under my parents insurance is def going to be a lot cheper then doing it under mine when i find a job lol
thanks sooo much for your responces

[leapyrtwins]

.. is having the surgery after one year a bad idea if i get no movemt?

IMO, if you have no movement after one year, it wouldn't hurt to investigate options like the 7/12 jump or the T3.

Jan

[petittrv]

Kim,

Just noticed your message, I don't come on the board much anymore.  I had a 4.5cm AN removed in Oct 07 which did cut the facial nerve.  I had the VII/XII transfer a week later.  I know its different but I did get feeling back in stages all that started with tingling (the sensations kind of moved across my face a little bit at a time).  But I will say that if you don't get any progress in a year and start looking at options, if I could do it over I would not have the VII/XII transfer done.  I know many have had it and it does give back some tone, feeling, and slight movement but I think I would rather have my tongue back than the facial repair.  This is just my opinion and if the facial paralysis really bothers you, maybe you would prefer the transfer results, but I have to say eating is a chore now.  Its hard to describe how much I now realize I used my tongue to eat and how awkward it is now trying to prevent choking (I still forget sometimes and take big bites which tend to slip past and go right down my throat).

Hopefully you won't even have to worry about this but if you do, think it through.  Its not unbearable and obviously I can live with my decision, but I would not do it again.

Good Luck,
Rick