kind of frightening

There is nothing like a medical emergency to keep someone from doing a good day's work.

My boss came to work yesterday and stopped at my co-worker's office. Then he stopped at my office. As we talked I found myself drawn to his mouth. No! Not in a sexual way! Something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it but something wasn't right.

A few minutes later I went to help my co-worker with something and she asked if big boss (because there is also a little boss in the office) seemed okay. Okay so I wasn't imagining it. We compared notes. We had each had a 2 minute conversation with him so how many notes could we have? P and I were talking about it for longer then 2 minutes. So long in fact that little boss joined us. He hadn't noticed anything but said he would check on him. MEN!

In the meantime, P and I compared notes again. His eye seemed droopy. Part of his mouth was droopy. We diagnosed him. He was having a stroke. We crowded into his office. He was fine. He insisted it. And, after all, none of us had any medical experience. So we went back to work.

A few minutes later little boss came to P and I. He had been on the internet. He thought big boss was having a stroke. Okay. That's it. Time to get him to a doctor. How do you tell your boss that he has to do something? "Dude, I know you sign my paycheck and you say you are fine but GO TO THE ER!"?

He agrees to see a doctor. Which is good because now his eye is not blinking, his lip is drooping, and when he smiles (okay, laughs at us), his cheek does not respond. All on one side of his face. He says he will go see his neurologist. Really? You mean the guy that is 20 minutes away? There is a hospital across the street. ACROSS THE STREET! Literally. But he has agreed to see a doctor. And little boss has agreed to drive him. It would not be good to have him stroke out on the road.

And while he is laying in a doctor's office, P and I are worried. We are worried for his health. We are worried that we pushed when we shouldn't have. We are worried because he is our job.

He was back in the office before we left for the day. Less then 4 hours later! He did not have a stroke. Whew! He has Bell's Palsy. He has ... what??? Bell's Palsy. Which can look exactly like a stroke -- at least in the face. And the doctor said P and I did the right thing. Okay so we won't get fired for pushing our boss around. While he recovers he will talk out of one side of his mouth. Like Popeye. He winks at us -- because his eyes no longer blink at the same rate. His eye gets dry. I have suggested that maybe an eye patch with a Jolly Roger on it might help him look like a bad ass.

I get to keep my job - despite getting very little work done yesterday.

Mean Mama