ANA Discussion Forum
AN Community => AN Community => Topic started by: Doc on February 19, 2010, 03:07:05 pm
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I had a very scary choking incident at lunch today that was only resolved when a waiter gave me a good squeeze around the chest and cleared my wind pipe (H-Manuver / SP). I tried eating rice which turns out is still very difficult for me to manage...yes, I still have impaired swallowing function even now, nearly seven months after surgery.
Word of caution...be happy, eat carefully! On a side note, I closed the deal; a sympathy order I'm sure from a shocked client who probably still has clods of rice stuck to his shirt...he was in my line of fire...ha!
Take Care!
;)
Doc
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Doc ~
I'm sorry that choking incident occurred but glad the waiter had the presence of mind (and knew how) to perform the Heimlich maneuver and as a bonus, you closed a deal with a likely sympathetic client. Ironic. Your warning to those with swallowing issues is well taken. Thanks.
Jim
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That is so scary!!!! I'm so glad you are ok. Be careful and next time try not to cram the entire bowl of rice in your mouth at once. (Just kidding, of course, haha). At least you closed the deal, so the day wasn't all bad.
Lyn
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Thanks Lyn and Jim. Good thing that waiter knew what to do...might have gotten messy otherwise. Rice and, yes even hamburgers are still a real problem for me. Oh well.
Take Care!
;)
Doc
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Hi doc: I sent you a message on your blog. Scary incident indeed ! ! Glad you're still with us !
Always good thoughts, Nancy
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Doc,
Scary indeed. I'm sure you handled it graciously with a sense of humor to boot.
Gentle chewing and swallowing thoughts going your way ;)
The "journey" continues!
Maureen
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I had trouble with Angel Hair Pasta for a LONG time...
K ;D
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Does Devil's Food Cake go down OK, Kaybo? If so, maybe your food is telling you something . . .
Sara
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Wow, Doc, you really go to any length to close a deal, don't you? :D Now that's dedication!
Glad you're doing well. I have a problem with rice sometimes too. No problem with Devil's food cake....hmmmm.... :o
Maybe next time you should just take your clients out for ice cream.
Lori
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Hi Lori,
I would love to take my clients out for Ice Cream, but like a lot of us, the extent of the Facial Paralysis I still have precludes me from opening my mouth very wide, thus making eating Ice Cream messy. I actually had a bowl of Ice Cream in the privacy of my own home last night and destroyed two or three napkins in the process...constantly wiping my face and nose...yikes...can't take me anywhere!
I don't know about everyone else, but anytime I eat, my nose starts running like its in a marathon...not a pleasant site for innocent table mates! Just recently in fact, my son had to point out a booger stream that was running freely from my left nostril at the dinner table...the paralysis effects my left side to the point I can't feel it when it runs.
Take Care!
;)
Doc
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I can manage ice cream - I would no matter what kind of mess I made - but soup is definitely not something I can eat in public! That's ok - I can live without soup - I can't live without ice cream. Besides, since I have my 7 year old and my 3 year old with me, I'm not always the messiest one! ;D
We'll have to have an AN ice cream outing - and bring along a few cases of napkins! If we all make a mess, we won't look too bad!
Lori
p.s. love your profile cartoon!
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Isn't that a good one....Poke Poke, at least it's not Snowing...legs kicking wildly! I second the Ice Cream Party idea...count me in!
Take Care!
;)
Doc
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there are things I still have problems with ... only paralysis issues I have are throat ...right side and left don't work together ...rightside being surgical side just stops or rather pausses in sending stuff down
rice , spaghetti and oddly enough liquid are te biggest choke hazzards for me ... rice just seems to hang in throat and not know where to go ...spaghetti will get half way down and decide it rather go up one side while other side of throat still trying to make it go down ... liquid goes down too fast ... didn't conciously know that my throat slowed the desent of liquid before surgery ... I have developed a way of holding liquid in my mouth and letting a bit at a time go down ... can't really explain that ...
as for nose drip ... I thought I was the only one ... my nose drips and my right eye runs too ... most of the time it is dry and I have to carry drops with me ... but let me eat and it looks like I am allergic to everything and very sad and teary ... bland food causes less a reaction ... sour stuff like leamon ade seems to cause the strongest raction
who would have thought all the oddities that become our norm would arrise from removing a brain booger ???
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Soundy, Have you had a swallowing study done by a speech patholgist? Sounds like thickened liquids which we gave stroke patients would be an option for you. There is a powder which is mixed in liquids to do this. I hate to say this but a pureed diet might be good for you too but that gets old after so long. I don't know how much you have been checked out for this.
Cheryl R
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Soundy~
I know this sounds crazy, and the last thing you need is another medical issue, but I had LOTS more trouble until I had my thyroid removed a few years ago!! I had growths all over it and I guess that was affecting my swallowing! Just a thought...
K ;D
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I remember they started doing "swallowing studies" on me while I was still in the ICU; ice chips, apple sauce and that awful thickened water. The last one they did had me sitting in front of an x-ray machine and the Speech Therapist watching on a screen behind a wall. Until that point, I was being fed via a feeding Tube stuck directly into my stomach...I have the most interesting scar a few inches above my belly button...in fact, I have two Belly Buttons, or so it appears...insert joke here...but I digress! Wait, I just thought of this...my newest Belly Button is Lint Free...as I continue to digress!
My right eye also tears a lot, especially when I'm lying around in front of the TV. I wear glasses with the left (AN effected) lens covered with clear shelving contact paper. This stops the double vision since I can't see past the paper. I think this causes the right eye to stream tears so much. I do not have dry-eye issues on the right side.
I've lost my train of thought...forgot what I was going to say next...?!?
Take Care!
;)
Doc
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It's OK doc, I know how you feel ;D
(Why did I come in this room, OR What was I going to say?)
Anyway,thanks for the update. I guess a good idea is just don't eat in front of clients, or order applesauce!
Keep truckn ;)
Maureen