I have described here before how I use straws to drink. These days, I use firm clear rubber tubing which I usually get from plumbing shops. I have used them since I met Lyn, and I like them because I can carry one or two with me, wash and reuse them. I can usually drink through them very easily.

The problem comes when I have an ulcer. Mouth ulcers make sucking drinks through such rubber tubes far more difficult, and indeed painful; to be honest the process of sucking is quite agonising. I’m afraid I have one at the moment, and to be honest drinking is becoming frustrating.

It was at school where I was first encouraged to start using straws to drink. Back then I used normal disposable plastic straws which I found I tended to bite and flatten to easily. Before that, though, my mum had a technique of feeding me my drinks: she used to hold my chin with a teatowel and pour the drink directly into my mouth. Like this I could slurp down whatever I was drinking very quickly and easily. But of course, that meant I needed someone around me who could feed me whenever I was thirsty, which is why straws became my default drinking option.

I hadn’t drunk that way in a very, long time – not since before uni. Even when I’m around my parents, these days I use straws. I met my parents in Greenwich park today though, and they could see I was struggling to drink. It’s a hot day where taking on liquids is obviously essential, but Mum and Dad could see that trying to suck water through my straw was causing me quite a bit of pain. Naturally, parents being parents, dad grabbed my cloth and we started to do it the old way.

Frankly, it was wonderful. I was suddenly drinking again, feeling it flow refreshingly down my neck without any of the effort or pain I’ve experienced over the last few days. I felt so grateful to see them, to have their love and support when I most needed it.. In that moment, though, I decided that I now need to teach my PAs Serkan, Dominik and John how to feed me drinks like that. Straws will still obviously be my default option, but if I’m going to keep experiencing these ulcers, I’m going to need a way to drink without my mouth erupting into agony.