The Neurosurgeon and Neurologists that I worked with in the hospital told me that I can expect to have reacurrences on & off for the rest of my life. Most times it is just the tingling or the numbness but when I get tired my eye gets real tired and the eyelid and corner of my mouth will droop a little more. My eye does not water like it did when I first started with the Bell's Palsy and I don't drool like I did. I do have residual damage to the right side of my mouth and throat. I can't really chew on the right side well and when I try to swallow on the right side food will get stuck and not move down , so I have to go in with my finger to get it out. But it has also left a small spot on the left side of the throat that like get tickled easily and I start coughing like I am choking on fluid. They said it is all normal because it is all controlled by the seventh cranial nerve and that is the nerve that Bell's Palsy affects.
I hope this helps to answer your question and I don't it isn't too discouraging. You can live with it, you just have to make some adjustments.