I did make a full recovery. I still feel a tiny bit of numbness on the apple of my cheek, but it is only noticable when I think about it. I also think I still look slightly more lopsided than I did before, but I'm certainly not complaining! Here is a pic from last Christmas:
The only other remotely interesting update I have is that I was pregnant last year, and terrified of having a relapse. You know from reading the literature that you are more likely than the general population to get BP again once you've had it, and you also know that pregnant women are more likely to get it, in theory because of the immunosuppressed state your body maintains while pregnant. I did inform my OB immediately that I had had BP in the past when I became pregnant, but there were no precautions we could take - it was just a wait and hope situation. One afternoon I felt like my face felt... funny... a little numb, slightly less responsive, and I went into full panic mode thinking that it was happening again. But it all turned out to be the fears of a hormonally charged mind, as BP never developed and the next morning I returned to feeling completely normal. I had no other scares throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, and I delievered a healthy baby.
I found it interesting that I could have lived through BP before and still be so nervous about getting it again. I mean, it is most definitely something that is livible, though life is so much easier without it! I think it really speaks to the adaptability of the human mind: when we have BP we go through a full mental process in order to cope with it, and as we heal, we return to "normal". If we ever get it again, I imagine the coping process would have to happen all over again, but at least we would know some of the more simple quality-of-life adaptations (like eye-patches!) to make immediately.
What I want to say to anyone reading, and to myself if I ever get BP again is this: it is going to be ok. One way or the other, it is going to be ok. You cannot control if or when you heal, but you can control how you feel about yourself, and you can control the simple adaptations that you need to make in order to make yourself physically as comfortable as possible. Focus on those things that you can control. And reach out to anyone you see with BP, because we know how difficult it is, especially in the beginning!
