[Shannon Ward]

Now that my husband cannot eat or speak this year’s Thanksgiving will be low key. I’ll buy some deli turkey for an open face sandwich along with a small batch of cornbread. We will be together and that is enough to be thankful for in itself. We are in our late sixties so we’ve seen and celebrated some wonderful Thanksgiving holidays. We’ll be okay.

[Shannon Ward]

This is a good tool but only if the doctors who use it have the courage to share their concerns with the patient. Our experience was less than ideal. We had a speech therapist and an ENT doc both suspect a neurological problem but neither were brave enough to refer us to a neurologist. We lost precious time (when my husband could have been banking his voice) between January and May when we finally saw a neurologist and got the diagnosis. Nobody wants to deliver this news but the patient and family need it nonetheless.