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What Lysa Arthur thought would be an ordinary business trip to Arkansas in January 2020 would turn into a months-long stay filled with pain, uncertainty, and life-altering realizations—all as a result of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (RHS). Lysa’s symptoms started on that trip with pain that radiated outward from her jaw, up toward her left ear, and across her face. She initially attributed the pain to an issue with her jaw as a result of her history with TMJ. However, her symptoms had physicians across multiple specialties stumped. Lysa’s other symptoms included vertigo, changes to her hearing, facial paralysis, and a shingles rash. She recalled, “I couldn’t touch my face. I couldn’t brush my hair. I couldn’t lift my hair off my head. I couldn’t chew, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t eat. I mean, nothing. I couldn’t move my mouth. The whole left side of my face was just pain frozen, and my hearing was so amplified. Every little thing sounded like a fire alarm in my head.”
After going to see a local dentist and ENT physician who were unable to pinpoint the cause of her symptoms while she was traveling, Lysa was left to resort to the emergency department—not once, not twice, but three times. The first two times, clinicians could not identify a cause for Lysa’s symptoms. She explained, “They did nothing. They said they couldn't find anything. There was nothing wrong.” But there was something wrong. On Sunday, three days after her second visit to the ER, the manager of the hotel where she was staying found Lysa unable to move or get out of bed due to the extent of her pain. She was transported back to the same ER that had sent her home twice before, this time by ambulance.
Want to learn more about Lysa’s RHS experience? Click HERE to read the full story.
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