Sue's story
My name is Sue; I am 75 years old.
One Sunday in May 2021, the day started off as normal.
My husband and I were having one of our sons, his wife & child for lunch. I was standing at the kitchen bench when my son said to me “Mum you are smiling different”
I went to the mirror to check & noticed my face sort of going towards the right, the left side of my mouth was not moving when I tried to smile. My first thought was, am I having a stroke.
I moved my limbs & they were fine, my son said to me, “I think you have got Bell’s Palsy”
We googled it & the advice was go straight to a doctor. He took one look at me & said, you have Bell’s Palsy & prescribed steroids, instructing that I go to my doctor the next week, this I did & she recommended I cover my left eye at night as it was not closing properly, plus use eye drops for the dryness. These were not very successful, so I changed to eye ointment.
Over the next week my symptoms increased, I found it difficult to eat, drink & swallow sometimes choking on my food.
My eye became very dry & tears dropped regularly; I became very self-conscience as to my facial appearance& my speech was also slightly affected.
I sought help from a physiotherapist who gave me a few facial exercises to try, I also had ten sessions of acupuncture, I am sure this helped to some degree.
I broke several teeth on the right side, my dentist suggested I be referred to a neurologist as I had now had this condition for 18 months. He booked me in for an MRI scan which showed some swelling within the left facial nerve but otherwise no obvious cause for my paralysis, he also started Botox injections around my eye & left side of my face every 3 months, this was to relax the muscles. I had another MRI scan about 1 year later which showed no change during this time. My left eye almost closed completely but fortunately not for too long.
I then developed tightness down the left side of my face; bright lights & the sun affected me.
Over the next few months my symptoms improved somewhat. My biggest issue was not being able to smile as it’s something I had always done when meeting & talking to people.
When speaking to someone that didn’t really know me, I felt I should tell that I have a condition called Bell’s Palsy, this caused me to become withdrawn & didn’t enjoy mixing socially, however I didn’t let it stop me going shopping!!! I found by helping others plus my family & grandchildren helped me cope. I had a very supportive family, especially my husband who put my eye ointment in twice a day for 4years & still does.
Most people recover from Bell’sPalsy within 3 to 6 months, as of writing this article I have had this condition for 4 years.
A friend of mine did some research& came across the “Da Vinci Plastic Surgery Clinic” in Tauranga. One of the Plastic surgeons, Mr. Dan Butler specializes in Bell’s Palsy.
I contacted him to get a second opinion as to having the Botox treatment, his response was immediate & we had a zoom meeting the following week. Dan got me to do several facial expressions & told me I had a condition called Synkinesis which is a more severe nerve injury affecting about 15% of Bell’s Palsy patients. He gave me the UK website details that had self-help videos & exercises which address some of the Synkinesis muscle groups, these I try to do daily. He recommended that I have surgery to address other issues relating to Synkinesis.
I also had an appointment with him at his Tauranga clinic. He impressed both my husband & myself how relaxed & confident he was in being able to help me, showing a lot of care & kindness, I had full faith in him.
On the 26th of May 2025 I had surgery at the Grace Hospital in Tauranga.
Everything was explained in detail by Dan & the anaesthetist along with the nursing staff, their care was exceptional. I presented no issues & had very little pain, swelling or bruising, I no longer have tightness down the left side of my face, my friends& family have told me that my face looks a lot more symmetrical. I continue to work with stretching exercises to improve my smile.
As of writing this I am 3 now weeks post-surgery & am feeling fine.
I have a follow up appointment in 5weeks & be forever grateful for Dan & his team