Dysphagia: it’s like being waterboarded 24 hours a day

One morning, completely unexpectedly, Samantha Anderson woke to find that she could no longer swallow. Three-and-a-half years and many medical appointments later, she’s finally regaining her ability to eat. Bryn Nelson finds out more.

Toast is an unlikely agent of death. But there you are in your kitchen on a Saturday morning, inexplicably choking on a mouthful, trying not to panic.

The day begins like any other for Samantha Anderson, a goldsmith and mother of three from Brisbane, Australia. She has made her usual breakfast of tea and toast with peanut butter and lets her mind wander as she takes her first bite.

And then, nothing. Wait, why didn’t I swallow?

She tries again, pressing her lips together and pushing the food back further in her mouth where her throat can take over. But it doesn’t, and now she’s choking.

Don’t panic, she tells herself. She manages to slowly suck a bit of air past the blockage until she can muster up a forceful cough. And again. And again, finally dislodging the toast on the third try.

She is temporarily jolted by the episode, her heart racing. That was odd, she thinks, though it doesn’t stop her from having another bite. She has absolute faith that it won’t happen again. But it does, over and over.

Seemingly overnight, at the age of 39, Anderson has lost her ability to swallow.