A little trip to the Doctors ...

I've been feeling slightly off colour for a few days while we have been in France.  Things didn't seem to taste right and I had a bit of a headache/neck ache.  Nothing particularly severe but it left me feeling slightly odd.  Last night being our last evening in France on this trip we'd gone to a Chantovent a wonderful restaurant at Minerve.  The meal and the company were wonderful..  

During the course of the meal Cathy, who was sitting opposite asked me if I felt alright, and truth to tell I was feeling bit off colour.  The left hand side of my face didn't seem to be quite working properly.  Not wanting to ruin the evening I said that I was fine.   But when we got back to John and Wendy's place at midnight I admitted that I was a bit worried about what as going on.  Wendy used to be a nurse and before I knew where I was the sappeur pompiers had arrived and I was ambulance bound to Narbonne.

After a series of tests in the early hours  of this morning I was diagnosed by the very helpful French doctor as having facial paralysis on the left hand side of my face, probably the result of a viral infection of a nerve.  I believe that this is sometimes called Bell's Palsy.  This was an enormous relief as I was worried that it might have been something rather more serious.  We eventually got back to Olonzac by just after 4 with the OK for me to fly home today.

The prognosis is good, as this sort of thing seems to be temporary.  I have a battery of medicines to take and in the meantime will be refraining from smiling wherever possible (only the right side moves and it looks weird), and taking great care when eating and drinking...