Last evening, at the request of my wife and en lieu of attending the free Friday Evening Music on the Square with the heat index at 100F, I got a take-out from Kentucky Fried Chicken, which we often get and eat while watching the concert. This time I brought it home.

While I was eating my fries and chicken breast something became lodged in my esophagus, blocking anything further from going down, including liquids. Swallowing was painful and resulted in a gurgling sound coming, I believe, from my stomach. Fortunately I could breathe, and I quickly rinsed out my mouth and throat, but it felt like something was lodged in the entrance to the esophagus, holding it open, and after about five minutes we decided that the most prudent course of action was to go to the local emergency room, about a mile away.

I took a box of tissues and a plastic grocery sack with me as I had to spit out saliva that I could not swallow. The hospital immediately admitted me and soon put me in a room. While giving my medical history I recalled that, while this had never happened before with food I had experienced similar sensations when I had taken more than one pill at a time, but that had passed and I had learned to stop doing that.

A bit after installing an I.V. a blood pressure cuff and a clip-on blood oxygen monitor the ER doctor came in to examine me. He disabused me of the fantasy that a piece of chicken was sticking up into my throat and that he could just grasp it with an appropriate implement and remove it. He said it must be further down, as he couldn't visualize it. He explained that they first would try a procedure that involved giving me a mix of Valium and Glucogon that would relax the smooth muscles and, in 3 out of 10 cases, allow the food to pass.

The nurse was surprised when I asked if the Glucogon depressed blood sugar and answered yes. I failed to ask if there was a terminal "e" on the name but I suspect not while thinking it was a bit of in inside joke. It turns out that Glucogon is a pancreatic hormone that raises very low blood glucose levels and is used in other GI treatments, and the name is not partly a joke.

In about 15 minutes I was asked to attempt to swallow water, but I still couldn't. The alternative was to have a Gastroenterologist use an endoscope to push the food on through to the stomach, but first they gave me another dose of Valium and Glucogon through the IV. Mercifully, in about another ten minutes I felt like the food had passed and asked for water again. This time I could swallow. My esophagus was sore, but again was working.

I asked the ER doctor if it was possible that I had a polyp in the esophagus. I told him I had been intubated through the esophagus during a previous intestinal surgery. He informed me that it was and that scar tissue could form and webb like structures could grow there, any of which could account for the problem. He gave me a referral to a Gastroenterologist for a follow up, which I intend to use.

All in all it was about a 1 1/2 hr. adventure in the ER, and Medicare plus my supplemental Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage should pay for the trip and any further expenses. I would prefer not to have a repeat of the experience.

I will note that, for another year and four months, should something like this happen to my wife, even though we carry medical insurance for her, we would likely pay at least $2,000 for the visit. Medicare is a good thing and the supplemental is worth its cost.  

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."