Susan: My former sister-in-law had a round of Bell's Palsy. She's fully recovered - hang in there! Tom ________________________________ From: Susan Ring <susanmring@xxxxxxx> To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sun, July 15, 2012 10:43:49 AM Subject: [GeoStL] A note to my geobuddies... Some of you who attended the last Happy Hour know that I had a medical mishap, but I'd like to spread the word to the rest of you. I got hit with Bell's Palsy. It's a sudden paralysis of one side of the face. Lucky me, I actually have a less common but more severe version called Ramsay-Hunt syndrome, which is caused by getting shingles in the ear. Sounds like fun, huh? This one has a whole host of extra symptoms besides just the droopy face. I won't bore you with all the details, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm pretty out of commission: vision/hearing problems on that side, vertigo, and talking is tough. For now I can only drive a little, and not on the highway. The upside: this condition is uncomfortable and annoying, but not serious and eventually it will get better. The prognosis for recovery is pretty good, but it's really slow-- months. Anyway, I'm not telling you all this for sympathy. It's just not something that I can hide, and I'm hoping to make it to the picnic next week (my very supportive hubby has volunteered to drive me). Explaining in advance makes things easier. Now you guys don't have to wonder what's going on and it will save me from a lot of extra talking. We now return to our regularly scheduled chatter. For instance, how not to end up falling off a cliff while caching.... Susan