It would have been nice if my first post back after the trip was about the trip…but it’s not.

We’ve been back a month already. Can you believe it? I can’t. It didn’t take long to get back into the routine of work and life.

I thought I had taken a good amount of time to rest and recover during the break, dealt with some stressors and was feeling good about being in control of the way life/work was heading. I was feeling positive and excited for the future. I thought i was on the right track. My body apparently  has other ideas though. It thinks it’s stressed enough to start making me ill.

On Monday morning I thought I was having a stroke (ok, so I’m prone to a little drama queen action in my head LOL but still…can’t be too careful) …half of my face was tingly and sort of burning in places, my head was pounding and I was getting pins and needs in my arm/hand on the same side. So I went to work (smart huh?) … by mid morning I decided that I probably should see a doctor, and by lunchtime I was sitting in the doctor’s office being poked and prodded. As it turns out my brain is not exploding…I appear to be having a return visit from my old friend Bell’s Palsy (although the doctor did say to watch out for stroke symptoms and go straight to hospital if necessary…yikes). I say return, because I had the initial episode when I was 15, brought on by a virus invading my cranial nerve.

High-dose steroids is the order of the day treatment-wise to attempt to stop it early. There’s no way of knowing how severe the symptoms might get at this stage…I’m hoping not to go the whole Salvadore Dali melting face look…but you never know. For now its facial numbness, and some droopy bits (could write that off to old age I guess) but I’m not drooling just yet.

So…I’ve taken some time off work to give my body the best chance of resting and recovering. Now I just need to figure out how to turn off my brain and thus the attendant stress of letting people down when there’s lots of work to be done. The people-pleaser that dwells within needs to be taken down a peg or two me thinks. Health first. Everything else can wait. (there’s a mantra to chant in there somewhere) My life coach will probably be unsurprised.

I promise stories about our trip will come…soon…but first I need to rest and recover. If you’re the praying type I’d appreciate your prayers.