The last few weeks have seen a flurry of activity in the Twitchy House. Mr. Twitchy has recovered from his surgery and is now back on the golf course. I have started to play Pickleball in addition to Ping Pong. We celebrated Labor Day, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and in a couple of days we are off to Morocco with friends for 2 weeks. I hope to post a lot of photos for you while we are on our trip.
A Swallowing Study
I have been having some difficulty swallowing at times, nothing terrible, but it is more noticeable. Mostly swallowing wrong when drinking. My MDS referred me to a Speech Pathologist for a barium swallow study. Swallowing issues are one of those little indignities with PD that you need to catch early, before it becomes debilitation.
In the photo, you can see the lovely things I had to swallow. Barium is used with a videofluoroscope to capture images when swallowing. The first cup (left) was liquid barium. The second cup was more of a marshmallow texture that was served on a spoon because it was so thick. And finally, on the front right are delicious cookies dipped in the marshmallow barium.
Now for the test. First, I had to drink the liquid barium. Not too bad and I only coughed a little. Next came the thickend marshmallow stuff on a spoon. Not so much fun. It was thick and hard to swallow. Finally, I got to eat a couple of those delicious cookies. Ugh. I think it is still caught in my throat somewhere.
Apparently, my ability to swallow liquids is ok. However I am having some difficulty getting the food (cookies) to the back of my throat to swallow. The speech pathologist is recommending that I go to a speech pathologist to learn exercises for the tongue and throat. It may not improve my swallowing, but the exercises could stabilize it so it does not get worse.
Moving Day LA
October 7 is The Parkinson’s Foundation’s Moving Day in many cities around the country. Los Angeles has chosen to honor me for their 10th anniversary walk in Los Angeles. Unfortunately I will not be there as we will be riding camels somewhere in the Sahara. But that did not stop the determined team in Los Angeles that wanted to honor me. I am hoping to send a video message to the staff in LA so that they can show it at the walk.
Team Twitchy Woman 2022
Team Twitchy Woman will be there without me. We have raised close to our team goal of $10,000 so far, putting us well ahead of the second place team. Please consider joining our team or making a donation to the Parkinson’s Foundation. You can join our team from anywhere and create your own walk and share it with us. Click here for more information.
Time to Laugh
Sunday Mornings with Twitchy Woman is proud to present
In 2010 British comedy writer Mayhew-Archer was told he had PD and decided to find it funny. If you’re worried or in need of a laugh, join us.
THIS PROGRAM IS OPEN TO EVERYONE
When: October 29 @ 1:00 PM ET, 10 AM Where: On Zoom – Reservations necessary How much: FREE, but donations are appreciated
Make your reservation through Eventbrite
Please note that there will be no recording allowed.
Gotta go finish packing.
Have a great week!
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