Last night whilst on my ventilator my tracheotomy tube opened and air was escaping from my throat. I buzzed a pager I have and my dad came in, I had enormous trouble telling him what happened because with an open tracheotomy I am barely able to speak. My mum then came in and again the same problem, eventually after shouting neck (it didn't come out as a shout) my mum heard and corrected my tracheotomy tube.
It's rarely mentioned in textbooks that communication issues may arise. I've been having talking problems lately as my tongue weakens, it's one of those unexpected DMD 'surprise's'.
Extract;
....Having my face enclosed in a mask presented an unforeseen problem, due to my voice being quite weak it was impossible for me to call my mother to help me out of bed. We solved this problem by purchasing a doorbell with a wireless button press unit. Unfortunately this was only a temporary measure as my hands became weaker and weaker meaning I could no longer press the chunky doorbell button. I now have an environmental control....
Find out more about the unexpected surprises rarely mentioned in textbooks in my book DMD LIFE ART & ME!
EBOOK available here; https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/69702
Available on Amazon USA here; http://www.amazon.com/DMD-Life-Art-Ian-Griffiths/dp/1907652337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288120811&sr=8-1
Available on Amazon UK here; http://www.amazon.co.uk/DMD-LIFE-ART-AND-ME/dp/1907652337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288105302&sr=8-1
Foreword
I’m Ian Griffiths from South Wales. This book is a story of my life so far up to the age of twenty five years. I live with and suffer from the ill effects of DMD which stands for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It is a severe muscle wasting disease and a life limiting terminal illness. It won’t kill you in six months in the traditional sense of ‘terminal’, but it’s far crueller than that, it steals every muscle in your body first and then kills you, anywhere up to the age of thirty. There have been cases of men living past that into their forties and fifties but only with drastic interventions such as ventilators and tracheotomies, more on this can be found by reading on.
I hope to cover a few things in this book, from a history of my childhood years to a more detailed history from sixteen years onwards and finally onto my current problems and triumphs. At times things I write may make you smile or may make you pause and think about the seriousness of life with this devastating disease. I really hope there will be a cure but currently for us supposedly ‘older’ guys with DMD (over twenty one), there seems very little hope. If I don’t see a cure in my lifetime, I hope my campaigning helps in some way bring it about for future generations, so another child won’t have to see their body wither and die before their time.
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