Eating, Swallowing

My swallowing muscles and chewing muscles have definitely deteriorated noticeably in the last 4 years or so. The first time I got something stuck in my esophagus, it blocked all other swallowing so I had to suction out saliva that built up very quickly. I went to the hospital to get it out.  That happened several more times, that I went to the hospital to get something removed.  It's a ridiculous ordeal, because the doctors always want to try things that we've already tried on previous visits that didn't work.  The treatments that did work were putting a large tube down my throat and either pushing the food down into my stomach, suctioning it out or both. Twice,out of approximately four visits, they used a large tube connected to a camera to get the food out.  The first time was without anesthetic and it literally felt like torture. The second time they used twilight sleep, so I was not conscious and it was a much better experience.  This way they also confirmed that I didn't have other problems, besides weakened muscles.  The first time, the doctor said, "Well, we ruled out cancer." I thought, "Holy fuck, I didn't even know cancer was an option to think about!"

Since then I've learned how to get things out of my throat myself with my suction machine. I just put a suction catheter down through my mouth and keep at it until everything comes out and I can swallow again.  It can take 30 mins to an  hour to get it all, but it's better than 5 hours in the emergency room.

I'm also more careful about taking smaller bites and concentrating on chewing my food, so that I'm not careless about swallowing food that isn't chewed enough.  I avoid steak, because I find it harder to chew and it takes much more effort to chew properly.  I also avoid pizza that doesn't have a thin crust and don't eat the end crust part at all. Other things I am extra careful with are shrimp, hot dogs, and any kind of meat that isn't extremely tender. I have to be careful with anything that might get stuck that wouldn't resolve itself, like meat and cheese.  Usually bread, crackers, and things like that can be broken down by saliva and if they don't block completely I just wait until it is ready to go down. I also have trouble with large pills, and try to get liquid medications if possible, so I can put them through the stomach tube.