Wednesday 7 January 2015

No.139. The thick of it.

The speech therapist called at home today. The people from The Dame Hannah Trust were supposed to be here today too to set up the Tobi i and Eyegaze, but there was a fault in the tablet they had ordered for him and the company had run out of stock, so they will come down again in a couple of weeks.

The speech therapist tested Chris's swallow and said she could feel it was weaker and uncoordinated which is why he has been choking more. Because of this and his choking incident the other day, the speech therapist brought along a drink thickener for Chris to try. As he took a sip of thickened water Emma asked him how it was. I had to laugh because Chris's face spoke volumes and he wasn't impressed with it. Emma said he would get used to it and that he didn't have to use it all of the time, just when he felt he needed to for now. She also said he had signs of thrush in his mouth, again caused by the weakened muscles not being able to swill the mouth around properly. What a bugger this disease is. Chris's speech is worse today and Emma said it showed signs of fatigue. God I hate MND so much. 

This time last year Chris just had a limp and I was nagging him to go to the GP. I can't believe what a difference 12 months has made and it makes me a little scared to think what things will be like this time next year, so the only way to cope is to not go there. 

Let's hope there will be some progress soon as far as better treatments or a cure are concerned. Just have to keep hoping and praying on that front. What else can we do?