It occurred to me that most of you are—like I once was—totally unaware of the myriad of processes involved in “simply” swallowing. Around this time in 2018, a registered dietitian at Forbes Norris ALS Clinic in San Francisco shared an informative two-page printout titled “Swallowing Tips” (attached below for you).
Things have progressed since the dietician put x’s in some of the boxes. For example:
“Drink with a straw. This keeps your chin tucked and helps you control how much liquid you are taking in each sip.”
Drinking with a straw is no longer an option for me. The muscles controlling my lips have weakened, and I am not able to achieve the necessary suction to suck from a straw. Sad reality . . . I can no longer smooch Jon nor kiss our dogs. 😙
As referenced in my November 14 “Counting our many blessings . . .” post:
Something as seemingly insignificant as [chewing and swallowing] shouldn’t be taken for granted.