The Official Smile

6:30am

Yesterday we saw what can be described as the first "official" smile. Before the muscle made the corner of Taylor's mouth quiver just a little bit. You had to stand close and really pay attention, but you could see movement.

He's been flexing the muscle daily in order to strengthen it and to help train his brain to clench his teeth when he wants to smile so it will become automatic.

Yesterday his mother, sister and I were in his room shortly after he woke up. I asked him to try to smile, and when he did it was MUCH better than before. It wasn't a full, regular smile but maybe about 1/4 of what he had before on the left side, but it was enough to make everyone cry.

It's apparent that this procedure creates resistance so the strong side doesn't pull the paralyzed side toward the center of the mouth. And the flexing of the muscle helps tighten the paralyzed side to help create the smile.

Hopefully, in another month or two he'll have a full smile similar to some of the other patients who have had this procedure. You can see their before and after pictures here. Taylor's paralysis is most like the woman on the top left and the man beneath her.