Re: speech therapy to Kathy

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

Sorry for butting in, but my two cents are....

Each person who receives speech therapy may be given different

exercises/stimulation techniques depending on the problems. For a weak

voice quality, people usu. try the Lee Silverman voice exs. (a summary of

them is on the links site--under symptom management). For tongue/lip

weakness, mouth exercises are given and for swallowing issues cold

stimulation with a dental-type mirror may be used and/or mouth exs. and

changing diet consistencies and postures. Check out the link I mentioned to

see some mouth exs. too.

Consistency in doing the exs., etc. makes a BIG difference in how much

improvement you'll see. However, I know there are times when therapy does

not seem to help much. My suggestion is to get started right away and

hopefully you can improve or at least prevent further progression of

problems.

Rose

----Original Message Follows----

Reply-To: shydrager

To: " dave " <shydrager >

Subject: Re: Introduction

Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 23:19:40 -0500

Hi Tim,

I think my husband has progressed to the point of needing speech and

swallowing therapy. His voice has changed, seems weaker. Also I am very

concerned with the problems he is having with reflux and swallowing. We have

tried all kinks of reflux meds without any sucess. If you don't mind, will

you give me a brief summary of how this type of therapy works. I have never

seen it done before.

I was going to email you earlier,but I had problems for about four days with

my emails. MSN was down. Welcome to the group. Sorry you have to be here, we

are all here for you and will help in any way we can.

Take care, Kathy T

Introduction

I've been reading all of your posts since being diagnosed with MSA in

November 2000 but have yet to post. I'm a married 37 year old " retired "

pharmacist with two young children ages 9 and 3. Originally I was diagnosed

with PD in February 2000 but progressed too rapidly. After complaining of

incontinence and constantly increasing my PD meds my neurologist reevaluated

me and diagnosed me as having MSA. This was confirmed by a Movement

Disorder Specialist at Yale. I am fortunate that my wife is a nurse and has

worked in long term care facilities in the past so she is quite

knowledgeable about many difficulties of the disease. I also go to

speech/swallowing therapy. Right now I only have 1 or 2 decent days a week

where I can at least attend to my children's needs and walk upstairs to the

bathroom.

Just wanted you all to know how invaluable all of your information has been.

Thank You.

Tim Foley

tpfrph@...

Trumbull, CT

http://www.plwp.org - People Living with Parkinson's

http://cpwg.tripod.com - Connecticut Parkinson's Working Group