Oh, Oh... :-(

[Leonardo the 2nd]

Today was a not so happy day for me...I know I don't write here that much...only if there is something important for me to tell or show you...Maybe you are interested in my story.

Since two weeks my left side of my face is numb and it goes on into my mouth ( teethridge, palate, left side of tongue). So on this side I don't really have taste when eating something. But for luck I have no other constrictions or even pain.

I went to the doc and they made bloodtests and magnete resonsnce imaging to see if there is something in my head that hits the nerve...also called trigeminus.

The doc said they found white spots in my head / brain that are inflammations. On Monday I have to go to the hospital...with a high probability for multiple sclerosis. They need to accomplish a lumbar puncture to be 100% sure.
My family, best friends and bf ( I have the feeling he already sees me in a wheelchair) are worried now....but I don't think that it will  be that bad. There are many different forms of this illness..what do you think?

[Michaelangelo]

There are many things it can be, and I hope for the best results for you!!!!

Please do keep us up to date on how everything goes!  You will be in my thoughts!!!! 

*HUGS*

[Leonardo the 2nd]

Oh, I will, my friend. *hugs back*   Thanks

[HUN]

  So sorry to hear that news, Leo 2!

The human body is a mysterious thing! Whatever is there one day is gone the next. At least, I've experienced that. I owe it all to faith in God, and the many talented physicians that have had a hand in my well being through the years. From the time a 67 Pontiac Catalina slammed me across the street when I was seven, to the day I was diagnosed with a tumor in my thyroid a couple of years ago, and I had half of it removed. You just never know what will happen one day to the next.

Rest assured you have my prayers, Leo 2, and I'm sure you will make it through, no matter what happens! 

[Amicitia]

Oh, crud. Doesn't the trigeminal nerve control the facial muscles? I hope it all turns out okay...

[Leonardo the 2nd]

Thanks, you are all so nice.

Hun: That's horrible to hear. I think a tumor or cancer is waay worse. I feel with you.
Before I knew what I could have, I thought it maybe could be a brain tumor, but on the other side I had no symptoms like a heavy headache. So I was half sure that it couldn't be one.
What's with the tumor now? You said you had half of it removed. Do you have still any symptoms or something??

Amicitia: Now I know how it's called in english^^ The trigeminal nerve controls the feeling in my face. The numb feeling is more in the mouth / lips section and a bit in the cheek, but for luck not at the eyes or the forehead.
My brother had had a facioplegia when he was younger. His whole left side hang down and he needed an eye patch, otherwhise he couldn't sleep, because his eyelid didn't close. He got it because he went to school with high fever, so he got a virus, that did this to his left face. For luck he got it away.
Because of the hanging, the virus attacked the motoric nerve that controls the face muscles. But I only have no feeling there. So I can move my mouth without any problems.

[Michaelangelo]

Ouch that doesn't sound good at all, I'm glad your brother is better. 

Nerves are never fun to deal with, they can be so hard to handle when they're screwed up.  I got nerve damage and hate it, they can't cure it so they're putting wires in me sometime this summer to try and re direct the pain I get from it.

I hope your problem is treat able, and that you got insurance covering the bill.   Most of all I just hope this is an easy and painless process for you!

[Leonardo the 2nd]

I read your threads in which you tell about your problems and what the docs are going to do with you.
If you always have pain...I think this must be torture, right?
I don't think that my problem will cause me pain...but I will await it. They have to declare it first to be 100% sure.

[moronqueen]

Aw geeze...no good.  Hopefully this is just temporary...like...an infection or weird allergic reaction or something...

Good luck with it...sounds like you have good support, though. So that'll help...

[Leonardo]

Best hopes and wishes and prayers to you.

[Amicitia]

Nerves are tricky things... the good news is that they *do* try to fix themselves. I know a guy who had experimental nerve surgery so he'll be able to move his arm again, but he has to wait a few months for the nerve to grow to see if it worked.

So... keep us posted.

[HUN]

Thanks, you are all so nice.

Hun: That's horrible to hear. I think a tumor or cancer is waay worse. I feel with you.
Before I knew what I could have, I thought it maybe could be a brain tumor, but on the other side I had no symptoms like a heavy headache. So I was half sure that it couldn't be one.
What's with the tumor now? You said you had half of it removed. Do you have still any symptoms or something??

Well, to make it brief, only half of my thyroid was infected with a small "nodule", as the surgeon put it, which would "mutate" into a tumor and grow into full blown throat cancer! Of course, my reaction to that news was  because I never had a life threatening disease before in my life! It didn't even hurt, and I didn't know it was even there, until I went for an employment physical and the doctor wondered about this lump in my throat. He said I should have my doctor take a look at it, and when I did that, I was sent to a neck surgeon before I could say, "COWABUNGA"! I'm so glad I did before it was too late!

Tip for all: ALWAYS see your doctor at least once a year to make sure you're OK! 

OK, maybe this isn't brief, but it is exciting! My surgeon removed half of my thyroid containing the nodule, barely hitting my vocal chords. He said I may retain scarring in my vocal chords because they are too close to the thyroid. He did tell me there was a chance that they could be severed and I might not be able to talk. Again, I felt  , but it's better than living with throat cancer! Thankfully, I can still talk, but in a raspy voice like I've been smoking. I can do a very cool Barry White imitation! 

Well, that's a "not-so-brief" description of my near death experience. True, it may be worse than what you're going through, but it just goes to show you that no matter what you go through, someone else is going through worse. The good news is that we can overcome anything with faith, and I'm believing that for you! 

BTW, I have a friend that had a brain tumor removed, similar to what you were describing. It's good that you don't have headaches, because my friend had migraines! It turned out to be a tumor, and after some chemo and major surgery, he survived, thankfully! He doesn't even mind losing all of his hair! What a guy! 

[Aignatius]

Ouch, Leonardo the 2nd. I hope that it will clear up.
One certainly does not have to be old to have significant problems...

[HUN]

That's for sure! People half my age are having strokes and heart attacks!
We all just have to be more careful, and more active!

My family has a history of high blood pressure, strokes, thyroid problems and heart attacks.
What an interesting life I inherited! 

[Amicitia]

Okay, Leo II, some useful facts.

The trigeminal or fifth cranial nerve mainly controls feeling in the face. But, it does *not* control vision and eye movements; taste and tongue movements; sense of smell; or hearing and balance. It controls the jaw muscles, but not other muscles of the face.

If I understand what I'm reading, *some* of the feeling in your face is handled by other nerves.

On the other hand, "the first relay station for taste is the nucleus of the solitary tract, located in the medulla. In primates the taste-sensitive neurons of this nucleus send their axons to the ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus, a nucleus that also receives somatosensory information received from the trigeminal nerve" (Carlson 2004). Which, without the big words, means that if the problem is not with the nerve itself, but with the part of the brain the nerve passes through, then you could also have problems with your sense of taste. Apparently, you can see what the tasting nerve (the chorda tympani, a part of the facial or seventh cranial nerve) is doing by putting a recording device in your ear.

Since two weeks my left side of my face is numb and it goes on into my mouth ( teethridge, palate, left side of tongue). So on this side I don't really have taste when eating something.

Um... so any problems will likely turn up on the left side of your brain. Left side of the brain normally controls language, so hopefully this isn't the sort of thing that will spread around.

This is all kind of scary, but when confronting doctors it's good to be armed with a little background knowledge. I hope some of that made sense to you.