Sixteen years after we noticed I slurred some words at the dinner table in January 2008, this is my current medical situation:
Progressive Bulbar Palsy (PBP)
Speech: I can’t speak intelligibly. I communicate by typing on my iPad, mostly via text message but sometimes with a text-to-speech app.
Swallowing: I can’t swallow well enough to eat. I get nutrition from a Nestle Science formula pumped by a Kangaroo Joey continuous feed pump directly into my stomach through a g-tube inserted from outside the abdomen through the stomach wall.
Excessive salivation: I use a suction machine and a medicine called Cuvposa. The combination of excessive salivation, impaired swallowing, and the fact that Progressive means it gets worse with time causes me to use the noisy suction machine much more often than I used to, even though I have doubled the dosage of Cuvposa.
Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS)
Spasticity (tightness) of muscles leading to limited range of motion. I can’t dress myself without assistance or stand up, even with a walker. To transfer me from bed to wheelchair or commode requires a Hoyer lift.
Sleep Apnea
Arthritis
Hip replacements both sides
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Difficulty urinating corrected somewhat by medication
Inguinal hernia
Much of intestine has protruded into and distended the scrotum. No functional problem, I just have to be careful not to further strain the area. It suddenly worsened in November 2022. I had an emergency surgery which completely took care of it. No longer a problem.
H numbers in the links below indicate the nine hospitalizations since I retired. The notation 2008-01 means January 2008. I haven’t created pages for the most recent three links below yet.
2022-11 Emergency hernia surgery and complications (H9)
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