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Saga of the bite valve
Sep. 15th, 2022 09:04 pmAt night I have a water bottle hydration tube system set up so I can, well, have water at night. I'm in bed for 16 hours, so it's kind of important.
There's a water bottle suspended from an overhead bar, and a long flexible tube that comes out of the bottle. At the other end of the tube is a bite valve, which keeps the tube closed unless the valve is squeezed into open position by biting down. Without the bite valve, water would just flow out onto my bed, because gravity.
Standard procedure used to be that during the time I was in bed but awake, I'd just chill with the bite valve in my mouth, drinking when I wanted. (Adhd tip: it's a lot easier to hydrate if the water is right there. I did a fair amount of "automatic" drinking.)
At the beginning of the FOP jaw flareup, I couldn't fit the (1.5cm) bite valve between my front teeth. Then I could. Then I couldn't, unless I wedged it in from the gap where I had a tooth removed. Then I could but it hurt to transition between in/out (so I was ok with it between my teeth but getting it in hurt and pulling it back out hurt).
Today, the problem is swallowing.
The only position I can be in, in bed, is on my back. This is not great for swallowing, but until now I've been able to do it fine. Now, if my jaw is open at all, I cannot swallow properly; part of it tries to go down the bra thing tube. (I suspect the bone growing under my jaw is pushing things out of alignment so the mechanisms don't work the same.) If I close my mouth, it's easier, but I still have to concentrate.
So now, to drink, I have to: put the bite valve between my teeth, bite, draw out a mouthful of water, take the bite valve out, close my teeth together, and swallow.
It's... slow and frustrating and so new that I *keep forgetting*, which so far only means annoying coughing fit.
Sigh.
There's a water bottle suspended from an overhead bar, and a long flexible tube that comes out of the bottle. At the other end of the tube is a bite valve, which keeps the tube closed unless the valve is squeezed into open position by biting down. Without the bite valve, water would just flow out onto my bed, because gravity.
Standard procedure used to be that during the time I was in bed but awake, I'd just chill with the bite valve in my mouth, drinking when I wanted. (Adhd tip: it's a lot easier to hydrate if the water is right there. I did a fair amount of "automatic" drinking.)
At the beginning of the FOP jaw flareup, I couldn't fit the (1.5cm) bite valve between my front teeth. Then I could. Then I couldn't, unless I wedged it in from the gap where I had a tooth removed. Then I could but it hurt to transition between in/out (so I was ok with it between my teeth but getting it in hurt and pulling it back out hurt).
Today, the problem is swallowing.
The only position I can be in, in bed, is on my back. This is not great for swallowing, but until now I've been able to do it fine. Now, if my jaw is open at all, I cannot swallow properly; part of it tries to go down the bra thing tube. (I suspect the bone growing under my jaw is pushing things out of alignment so the mechanisms don't work the same.) If I close my mouth, it's easier, but I still have to concentrate.
So now, to drink, I have to: put the bite valve between my teeth, bite, draw out a mouthful of water, take the bite valve out, close my teeth together, and swallow.
It's... slow and frustrating and so new that I *keep forgetting*, which so far only means annoying coughing fit.
Sigh.