FO ON B757 CONTINUES TO FLY DESPITE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS CONSISTENT WITH POTENTIALLY SERIOUS MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES.

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ON MONDAY MORNING; I AWOKE WITH A FUNNY FEELING ON MY FACE'S L SIDE. NOTHING BIG. I WORKED THAT DAY WITHOUT ANY SIGNIFICANT PROBS -- THOUGH I DID DRIBBLE WHEN I TOOK A DRINK OF WATER ONCE OR TWICE. THE NEXT DAY; I AWOKE WITH FURTHER DETERIORATION OF FACIAL CTL. I CONSIDERED CALLING IN SICK; BUT DID NOT. I ASKED MY WIFE; AS I LEFT FOR WORK; TO CALL MY DOCTOR AND SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT FOR THE NEXT DAY. AT WORK THAT DAY; I HAD SIGNIFICANTLY MORE PROBS; EYE DRYNESS UNCTLED TEAR PRODUCTION; ETC. AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THIS; I SPENT MUCH OF THE DAY FLYING WITH 1 EYE CLOSED. THIS WAS PARTICULARLY TRUE DURING THE AFTERNOON AS WE FLEW TOWARD THE SUN. I TOLD THE CAPT I WOULD NOT BE RETURNING FOR THE THIRD DAY'S TRIP AND ADVISED HIM TO KEEP AN EYE ON ME. I WENT TO THE DOCTOR THE THIRD DAY AND WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BELL'S PALSY; A TEMPORARY FACIAL PARALYSIS CAUSED BY INFECTION. I SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE CALLED IN SICK ON MONDAY; THE FIRST DAY OF THIS SERIES OF TRIPS. I DEFINITELY SHOULD HAVE CALLED IN SICK ON TUESDAY. I DID NOT CALL IN SICK DUE TO MY EMPLOYER'S SICK LEAVE POLICY. BY CALLING IN SICK; I AM NOW TO LOSE 5 HRS OF PAY FOR APR/04. SINCE THE MAX PAY IS 85 HRS; THIS IS A PAY CUT OF ABOUT 6%. I AM ALREADY WORKING FOR 40% OF MY FORMER SALARY. THIS IS DUE TO DOWNSIZING; BEING DEMOTED FROM CAPT AS WELL AS FORCED PAY CUTS. THE EXTRA 6% FROM SICK LEAVE USE COLORED MY JUDGEMENT AND HAD ME FLYING WHEN I SHOULD NOT HAVE. I ALWAYS THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY TO NOT FLY IF I WAS SICK; BUT WHEN PUSH CAME TO SHOVE; THE PAY CUT DID INFLUENCE ME. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR ADVISED THAT THE BELL'S PALSY EPISODE LASTED FOR ABOUT A MONTH AND WAS ESSENTIALLY LIMITED TO THE SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED IN THE BASE RPT. THE RPTR'S DOCTOR DID SUGGEST THAT THE CONDITION COULD LAST ANYWHERE FROM A FEW DAYS TO A YR OR MORE AND THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE THE SYMPTOMS COULD PROLIFERATE TO THE POINT THAT SPEECH COULD BECOME SLURRED; TO THE POINT THAT IT MIGHT BE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND.