20211111 : Oral feeds..

Every afternoon, I have some soup. twice in the afternoons actually.

I switched from juice to soup as the consistency is thicker. Stays on the tongue/ mouth longer till I can try to slowly push it down to the throat. Juice/ water consistently fluids - no moderation. Just flows in.

I think the oesophagus and wind pipe have decided to exchange roles. Almost everything goes into my wind pipe which is like an open Goalpost and the oesophagus barely opens. I think something like 10% goes down the oesophagus and into the stomach.

Almost 90% of it is coughed back out.

I doubt anyone has the stomach to witnesses the bout (see or listen). Except the nurses of course - prolonged exposure has made for a very thick skin.

But I get into the ring everyday. One would think it is a genuine fight. But it's a known outcome everytime. I go into the rigged bout. A thrown match because of the payout. The hidden bonus.

Right from a very young age, I had severe bronchitis. My lungs would be clogged/ congested forever. Adrenaline/ penicillin injections were a common feature in our fridge growing up. There were no broncho-dialater sprays (like asthalin/ foracort etc) available in India then and had to be impoted if needed. 

One of my doctors adviced I play some rigorous sport - to keep the body/ lungs warm. That was the back story why I got into Basketball at a very young age.

As I got older - I don't know when it was, Asthalin inhalers were available in India - courtesy of Cipla. Since then, I have always had one in my pocket, a spare in my bag, next to my bed, etc. Many referred to it as my spare lung.

Later, I also learnt and began a very noisy and very unpleasant to me and unbearable to others exercise. I used to regularly do it every few days to bring out/ clear my lungs of excess congested phlegm.

So, when I realised my state - this angle was a big - very big worry. I was to be active and I was lying In bed all the time. I could not use my inhaler as I can't suck anything or hold the meds in. (Although the nebulizer helps). I am unable to voluntarily cough to do my trick and bring the phlem out...

It was a sure shot disaster.

Until I found this daily bout.

Very little goes into the oesophagus. Everything else goes into the trachia/ wind pipe. A violent cough is assured.

Viola - all the phlegm/ secretion comes out along with the soup.

I swallow almost nothing. How much we try to feed holds no bearing for me. I only stop when I can see no phlem/ secretion coming out..

And that's my trophy for the bout everyday... 🙂