Tongue-tied

On a recent (August 12) Sunday afternoon, I gave a toast to my longtime friend, Barry, inside an enclosed reception hall built atop a large fishing pier in Kitty Hawk, N.C. The toast was in front of 80 people and I delivered it with aplomb only because the DJ handed me a microphone that allowed me to speak in a normal voice. Any scenario where I have to project my voice, unaided by technology, still proves difficult, because I lack the specific muscle strength in my mouth that leads to clear-sounding speech. In other words, precision deteriorates when I have to "speak up." The sensation on the top of my tongue has returned, however, it feels "marbled" and feels about 80% of normal ability. The side and bottom of my tongue is about 60% and I have no feeling in the right bottom of my mouth. I can only hope it will come back.

Still very frustrated. Still very annoyed at the dentist, and wondering whether the time for litigation is close at hand, given the worry I have about a permanent speaking disability.

Nine weeks - a setback

I can deal with the ups and downs of paresthesia as long as I can sense improvement. But today my day began with more annoying "ice" sensation on the right side of my tongue, and an inability to correctly pronounce many words without lisping. This is a disappointment as it comes nine weeks to the day since the dentist nailed me with the needle, causing the paralysis. Now, this time around at least the tongue has some sensation beyond the feeling of cold. It was crazy that I couldn't even tell I had a tongue in prior weeks when this has occurred. So it goes.