Bride was so stressed on the run up to her wedding her face became paralyzed
Kelly Stech, from Chicago, spent a year organising her dream wedding to her now-husband Benjamin Stech after getting engaged in July 2022.
However, the week before the ceremony, Kelly began feeling under the weather, complaining of earache and pain when swallowing.
The following day, Kelly woke up with painful, swollen blisters across her right ear, which urgent care doctors put down to the skin infection cellulitis.
Over the next few days, Kelly's symptoms dramatically worsened as the right side of her face became completely paralyzed on the eve of her wedding.
Devastated, Kelly refused to cancel her nuptials and was left distraught when she was unable to 'fully smile' in her wedding photos.
Days after tying the knot on October 6th 2023, Kelly returned to hospital where doctors diagnosed her with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare condition where shingles affects your facial nerve, causing weakness on one side of your face and sometimes hearing problems.
Kelly, who works as a hairdresser, believes the disorder was brought on due to the strain of wedding planning over the last year - and is now urging other brides to keep their stress levels in check.
Kelly said: 'Exactly a week before the wedding, I was starting to feel under the weather. The following day, at work I felt like I had an ear infection coming on.
'It hurt to swallow and I felt a popping sensation in my ear.
'I went to urgent care and they said it looked completely fine and there was no infection brewing.
'I woke up that Monday and my ear was completely swollen and blistered. I went back to urgent care and they put me on a steroid and antibiotic for cellulitis.
'I woke up the next day and the pain was worse. I was vomiting non-stop, I couldn't keep anything down.
'My whole body felt like it had been hit by a truck. Then I was laying on the couch later on and making silly faces on Snapchat and couldn't feel the right side of my face moving.'
Kelly continued: '[The next day] when I went to smile, the right side of my face just wouldn't move like the left side would.
'My ear had blisters on them. I was full blown panicking and crying. The pressure on my ear felt like it was going to explode.
'I went back to urgent care and they transferred me to a hospital. We were supposed to be going to our rehearsal dinner that night.'
Kelly rushed back to hospital where doctors told her she'd had an allergic reaction to an IV antibiotic that had caused Bell's Palsy - a temporary weakness of one side of the face.
Despite her deteriorating health, Kelly opted to go ahead with the wedding the next day.
However, she made the last minute decision to slash her ceremony guest list from 200 people to 50 members of her close friends and family.
Kelly said: 'I barely slept the whole night. There was barely any movement in my mouth.
'I could smile without teeth but if I tried to smile with teeth, it was definitely crooked.
'I wanted to go ahead with the wedding either way. My makeup artist was so good at hiding my paralysis.'
The real cause: Days after her wedding Kelly returned to hospital where doctors diagnosed her with Ramsay Hunt syndrome
Kelly contiuned: 'During the ceremony, me and the bridesmaids switched sides so my right-side paralysis wasn't facing my guests.
'The middle of the day at the venue, my right eyelid just stopped working.
'I couldn't go around taking photos anymore, my eyelid was paralysed, I couldn't blink.
'I was holding a handkerchief up to my eye to keep it shut. Everybody kept saying "sorry you're going through this".
'I felt like it was the happiest day of my life but I didn't want people to think I looked miserable because I couldn't smile on my wedding day.
'I couldn't drink any alcohol. I was in so much pain and so tired.'
Luckily, Kelly has since regained all the movement in her face but is now urging brides-to-be to try and avoid wedding planning stress.
Kelly, who is currently eight months pregnant, said: 'It's hard to believe this happened. My wedding stress definitely caused this.
'The financial stress of it definitely takes a toll.
'We got to experience first-hand early on what 'in sickness and health' actually meant.
'I tell friends stressed about wedding planning, be grateful you're in this position and don't let it stress you out, you don't want to end up paralysed on your wedding day.
'Don't stress about your shoes or the weather.'
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