Haven't had any work stories lately, have we?

As I pulled up my blog today, I realized that I haven't posted any work stories lately, which is the true purpose of this blog. Honestly, I don't have any recent funny ones, so I'll tell a sappy one today.

There are patients you treat who will always stay with you, even if they have passed on. For example, my denture man (see archived post). I was reminded of one of those patients today when I ran into his wife (CS is a small town...). Ok, here I go trying to be all sappy and this turns into a funny one, but I'll tell the sappy part first...

My patient, Mr. H, had Parkinson's Disease. Now, even if you're familiar with Parkinson's Disease, you may not realize what implications it has on your speech and swallowing (most importantly). In patients with Parkinson's Disease, the swallowing muscles, just like the other muscles of the body, become weak. Weakened swallowing muscles result in unsafe swallowing, in which food or liquid goes into the lungs, resulting in aspiration pneumonia. Aspiration pneumonia is deadly. Most people with Parkinson's Disease don't die from Parkinson's; they die of pneumonia. Anyway, Parkinson's Disease also weakens the respiratory muscles and impairs a person's perception of speech volume. Thus, a person with Parkinson's Disease speaks with very poor breath support and a very soft voice.

So, I was working with my patient, and his wife of nearly 60 years, trying to make him more aware of his very soft speech. The following conversation ensued:

• Me: Mr. H, has there ever been a time where you needed to use your voice to get something and didn't get it because your voice was too soft?
• Mr. H: Well, yes.
• Me: Ok, can you tell me what happened?
• Mr. H: Well, we were getting ready for a trip and I was in the bathroom reaching for something in the tub when I accidentally fell in.
• Me: You fell into the bathtub?
• Mr. H: Yes
• Me: Were you hurt?
• Mr. H: No, but I couldn't get out of the tub.
• Me: So what did you do?
• Mr. H: I tried to yell for my wife, but she couldn't hear me.
• Me: So then what did you do?
• (Side note: Mr. H was a brilliant aeronautical engineer for the Air Force)
• Mr. H: I couldn't get out and my wife couldn't hear me, so I wedged my foot under the toilet seat (which was apparently next to the tub), lifted the toilet seat with my foot, let it go, and let the lid slam down. I did that about 10-12 times before my wife came to see what all the noise was about.
• Me: (Trying so hard not to laugh) So, you slammed to toilet seat with your foot so your wife could hear you?
• Mr. H: Yes
• Me: Well, I'm glad that worked, but don't you think that since your voice is so soft you and your wife may need a personal alarm button you could wear and push in just a situation like that?
• Mr. H: Well, I suppose that beats sticking your foot in the toilet!

Mr. H was the sweetest patient and had the most loving and caring family. He passed away a while ago, but I often see his wife working out in our gym. Whenever I run into her, I am in awe at the love she had for her husband for over sixty years and I can't help but remember that story!