A few weeks ago, I spent the night without the ability to swallow water. It lasted for at least 8 hours. Every time I try to swallow it is
like I have to keep swallowing to keep it down, until it doesn’t.
I remember the first time this happened, Bart came to eat lunch with me at McDonald’s during a break from work. I took a bite of a french fry and it didn’t enter my stomach. It was not a comfortable situation in a restaurant. My first thought was I am glad it stuck below my wind pipe so I could breath. Drinking water helped in the beginning.
My thoughts went to all the times I spent in the hospital with tubes down my throat. It has been a few years, but now that I turned 40 maybe, it was part of life. After visiting my aunt, I have found that it is something to do with my family history. What really made it come to the forefront is hearing my younger brother and sister have the same problem.
Usually the difficulty is swallowing french fries or dry meat, but that night at dinner the chicken went down and it was the milk that stuck and it took 15 minutes to clear my esophagus so I could continue eating. Later about an hour before bed, I couldn’t swallow water! This is something different.
Thoughts turn to a friend on Facebook who was not able to drink water for 3 days. I know how important water is to keep infection away, migraines, and for life to continue. I was doing my best to not panic.
After trying for hours to clear my throat, I finally went to bed and tried to sleep. I got about 4 hours sleep but the morning brought no relief.