Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog. Ive been a bit busy. I developed Bell’s Palsy on April 1 (yeah, great April Fool’s Day prank). And to make it even more funny, I’m a speech pathologist. So, I’m a speech pathologist whose mouth isn’t working at the moment!

If you don’t know what Bell’s Palsy is—it is facial paralysis. It usually occurs only on one side but it can affect both. Thankfully, in my case it only affected one side. According to my doctors and websites I’ve visited, it is usually caused by a virus attacking the 7^th cranial nerve but it’s not always caused by a virus. Anyway, recovery can happen quickly or slowly, even up to six months.

So, one of my doctors insisted I have an MRI—just to be sure. I thought it was unnecessary but I did it. And turns out they found something else—of course! They found schwannomas—which are a type of tumor—on both sides of my brain.

Here’s the interesting thing, my neurosurgeon isn’t sure that the schwannomas are the cause of the Bell’s Palsy. According to him, it might be or it might not be. They are very, very tiny and the larger one is on the side not having Bell’s Palsy. On the other hand, it seems too coincidental that I have Bell’s Palsy and the schwannomas. At least he thinks so.

 Me—I don’t think it’s coincidental at all. God has His ways of getting things done. Catching the tumors in their early stages is a blessing and that means the Bell’s Palsy is a blessing!

 So, what experience have you had that seemed awful at the time but turned out to be a blessing?