I had my (roughly) 6-month follow-up today at the Facial Nerve Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Neely put me through some facial gyrations and punched the numbers in his computer. The magic number is now 46, up from 12 in July.
I have a "great snarl" (wrinkling nose). He also said my cheek is trying to move, it just isn't quite there yet. He was pleased with how my eye weight looks. I have movement at the corner of my lip and in my chin as well.
That moves me from a V to a IV on the House-Brackmann scale, although according to Dr. Neely, that scale is terrible. I just tonight figured out that he is the Neely of the Neely-Cheung Rapid Grading System (see
http://www.entusa.com/bells_palsy.htm#The%20Neely%20and%20Cheung%20Rapid%20Grading%20System), which is what I assume I scored 46 on.
I told Dr. Neely that I had found some very inspiring posts on this site that showed people with beautiful smiles even though it may have taken three years. He reminded me that there are many things we can do if Mother Nature doesn't take care of things to my liking. I told him that I thought Mother Nature was going to do the job, and he said that he does too.
I see him again in March. Hope to have just as big a jump on the scale then!
Sara
