Just got back from the mall. Gail got a nice new set of glasses and sunglasseswhich she will be able to pick up in 10 days because they have to order her lenses.
Then we went and got some lunch at Remomo’s and had a long talk about my condition after I nearly choked on a piece of fried mozzarella. I seem to be developing what the doctors call “dysphagia” — difficulty swallowing. It’s worse with liquidsbut this afternoonI bit off a hunk of the mozzarella and part of it went down my esophagus and a small partdangling by a cheesy stringslid into my windpipe.
I’ve been noticing this for awhile… when I swallow liquidsI notice (sometimes I don’t notice it) that a little bit can leak into my trachea because the coordination of my epiglottis (the flap that automatically closes when you swallow so you don’t die with a lung full of melted cheese while eating pizza) is affected by the Parkinson’s. Thenat night timeI have this delightful experience of hacking and clearing my throat until Gail just wants to murder me to make it stop.
As many as 50% of people with PD develop swallowing difficulties. These problems may worsen as the disease progresses. Dysphagia can present with a variety of symptoms: coughingchokingthroat-clearingor gurgly voice when eating or drinking; drooling; complaints of food “sticking;”
Excessive throat phlegm is another common symptom of dysphagia because poor swallowing clearance will result in an accumulation of secrections in the pharynx (Murray et al.1996; Warms and Richards2000). This is often mischaracterized by the patient as postnasal discharge or excess saliva production requiring frequent throat clearing or spitting.
Gail says she’s gonna ask Dr. Grill on Thursday if keeping some Drano on hand would help with any of this.
She loves me.
Then we went grocery shopping for a few supplies and some stuff to make for dinner tomorrow evening.
It felt great just to get out of the house. And I took the opportunity to get a few shots of the outside world in suburban Baltimore/Washington in the days following “Snowmageddon.”
Then we went and got some lunch at Remomo’s and had a long talk about my condition after I nearly choked on a piece of fried mozzarella. I seem to be developing what the doctors call “dysphagia” — difficulty swallowing. It’s worse with liquidsbut this afternoonI bit off a hunk of the mozzarella and part of it went down my esophagus and a small partdangling by a cheesy stringslid into my windpipe.
I’ve been noticing this for awhile… when I swallow liquidsI notice (sometimes I don’t notice it) that a little bit can leak into my trachea because the coordination of my epiglottis (the flap that automatically closes when you swallow so you don’t die with a lung full of melted cheese while eating pizza) is affected by the Parkinson’s. Thenat night timeI have this delightful experience of hacking and clearing my throat until Gail just wants to murder me to make it stop.
Another website:
Gail says she’s gonna ask Dr. Grill on Thursday if keeping some Drano on hand would help with any of this.
She loves me.
Then we went grocery shopping for a few supplies and some stuff to make for dinner tomorrow evening.
It felt great just to get out of the house. And I took the opportunity to get a few shots of the outside world in suburban Baltimore/Washington in the days following “Snowmageddon.”
Here we go!