MSNBC: Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey inflicted with Bell's Palsy

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MSNBC.com:
Ron Ramsey Battling Bell's Palsy
Ramsey's Facial Paralysis Began 14 Years Ago
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29805548/

By Reported By Tom Randles
WSMV-TV

updated 9:45 a.m. ET March 23, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It's a mysterious illness that affects tens of thousands of people every year and can literally change the face of its victims.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey is battling to overcome Bell's palsy.



Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville

Ramsey's paralyzing illness began Sept. 12, 1995, and is still with him today.

"I thought something felt kind of funny that morning, but I really didn't realize it, 'cause you get up and go do your normal routine, get out, you get in the shower," said Ramsey. "And I start brushing my teeth and when I spit my toothpaste, it comes out the corner of your mouth, you look up in the mirror and say, 'Wow, I've had a stroke.'"

But it wasn't a stroke; it was Bell's palsy, a condition that affects the seventh cranial nerve beneath the ear in the skull.

Nearly 40,000 Americans get it annually. That's about one in 65 people over a lifetime.

Ramsey, who is also an auctioneer, worried his facial paralysis might spell the end of all his public appearances, including politics. Ramsey plans to run for governor in 2010.

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