The Fat Lady Isn’t Singing

Ha. In my last post I said that by this time next year I’ll have nothing to write about. Ha. With this condition I’ll always have something to write about.

The doctor finally gave me the right medication but I guess it was so long since I had been without it that I had a coughing bout anyway. I coughed for a week straight. I haven’t been compliant with my diet. So I have to take some blame. Now when I cough I have phlegm too. During my recent coughing fit I actually coughed out a huge hunk of the stuff. (That’s the end of the grossness, I promise.)

I hate to say what I’m scared of because I know that will make it come true. I don’t want to drink thickened liquids when I am old. Thin liquids make me cough sometimes. There. I’ve said it. I’m sure some dumb, but well-meaning speach therapist in my future will order thickened liquids. I’ll have to get a tatoo that says, “I have LRD and don’t need thickened liquids” in case I can’t speak for myself.

Only her hairdresser knows for sure

So, do I have GERD or LRD? Did one cause the other? Are they the same thing, just different? Inquiring minds want to know.

GERD stands for GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease. LRD stands for Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease. So they are both a reflux disease. But one happens in the Esophagus and one happens in the Larynx.

How much they are alike and how much they are different is something I want to know. I’ve Googled and read and read. The problem is, I don’t trust what I am reading. I remember when my cousin’s daughter got brain cancer. Everything you read was bad news. The internet is skewed with sensational stories, not real information. Or I should say, the sensational stories are mixed in with the real information to the point where you don’t know which is which.

Here’s what sounds right so far: you have two reflexes. One just above your stomach (esophagus) and one in your throat (larnyx). If your stomach acid rides up out of the first one and burns your esophagus, you have GERD. But if it makes it all the way up to your throat, you have LRD.