Speech pathologist appointment

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Laralyn
Laralyn Member Posts: 532
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I called for my speech pathologist appointment today, and the first available opening was 7/19... more than two weeks away. Apparently the guy is only in one day a week. Ugh!

In the hospital (something like 6 weeks ago now), which was during treatment, I failed on swallowing water but passed for at least pureed foods, so hopefully that's still true! Sucks to wait so long to find out, though, and I think it means I can't go back to work until afterward either. Otherwise I have to try to lug 3+ cans of food on public transit, and find a place at the office to use my tube.

At any rate, I was wondering if folks could tell me what happens in the appointment. I was told they don't usually do a barium swallow test... so what do they do, exactly?

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  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #2
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    speech
    Hi Laralyn,

    I am sorry about your situation, just wanted to wish you good luck with your speech and swallowing. It sure a lot easier when we can keep our tricks a home, but I am sure if you have to, you can be discrete at work and hopefully you work with understanding people.

    Best,

    Matt
  • Grandmax4
    Grandmax4 Member Posts: 723
    #3
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    my first
    swallow training was started while I was still in the hospital, just s few ice chips...when I was released I started going to my Dr/surgeon and the speech therapist was there, as He scoped me, she fed me apple sauce (dyed blue)and ensure...we all watched on the moniter where the food and drink was going..at that time I was asperating so they decided to do a barium swallow xray. It showed if I tucked my chin, I asperated, if I didn't I was fine. I went back once a week for about 10 weeks, worked on the swallowing over and over also, learned several different exercises. Finally, my therapist was confident enough in my swallowing talent that she released me to a therapist at our General Hospital to work on my voice(8 miles away instead of 60)...that only took 3 appointments and my voice was back clear and strong.

    At first, I was quite nervous when eating, afraid I would asperate, but, it's gotten easier, even though 8 months out(tomorrow) I'm still on soft foods and may be for a long time, but that's okay, I get all the nourishment I need in what I do eat. I also take a vitamin B complex with vitamin C, gives me energy.

    Sorry, to rattle on so long..hope this helps
  • Laralyn
    Laralyn Member Posts: 532
    #4
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    Grandmax4 said:

    my first
    swallow training was started while I was still in the hospital, just s few ice chips...when I was released I started going to my Dr/surgeon and the speech therapist was there, as He scoped me, she fed me apple sauce (dyed blue)and ensure...we all watched on the moniter where the food and drink was going..at that time I was asperating so they decided to do a barium swallow xray. It showed if I tucked my chin, I asperated, if I didn't I was fine. I went back once a week for about 10 weeks, worked on the swallowing over and over also, learned several different exercises. Finally, my therapist was confident enough in my swallowing talent that she released me to a therapist at our General Hospital to work on my voice(8 miles away instead of 60)...that only took 3 appointments and my voice was back clear and strong.

    At first, I was quite nervous when eating, afraid I would asperate, but, it's gotten easier, even though 8 months out(tomorrow) I'm still on soft foods and may be for a long time, but that's okay, I get all the nourishment I need in what I do eat. I also take a vitamin B complex with vitamin C, gives me energy.

    Sorry, to rattle on so long..hope this helps

    Thanks for the info!
    My appointment with the speech therapist was moved up to 7/13, a week from today. I'm a little better at swallowing water than I was when I first posted, and thickened water gives me no problem at all. I have my fingers crossed that I will get the OK for at least soft foods.
  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    #5
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    Laralyn said:

    Thanks for the info!
    My appointment with the speech therapist was moved up to 7/13, a week from today. I'm a little better at swallowing water than I was when I first posted, and thickened water gives me no problem at all. I have my fingers crossed that I will get the OK for at least soft foods.

    swallow test
    Of course I failed the original swallow test. I'm told most everyone does. My ENT said his speech therapist was better than any swallow test. Only had 1 appt. where she had me eat apple sauce and pudding and sent me on my merry way. Funny, I was all about tapioca, chocolate pudding, smoothies, etc. then all of a sudden something wouldn't work for me and I'd move on to something different. If something quits working try something different. Scrambled eggs and rice krispies were always consistent for me.
    I hope you get the "go ahead" on the 13th. I worked my own way up to the foods I am eating now. I only used the blender a couple of days. Craved a burger, amazing that when it came out of the blender I could actually taste the meat and pickle. Be creative when the time comes!
  • Laralyn
    Laralyn Member Posts: 532
    #6
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    hwt said:

    swallow test
    Of course I failed the original swallow test. I'm told most everyone does. My ENT said his speech therapist was better than any swallow test. Only had 1 appt. where she had me eat apple sauce and pudding and sent me on my merry way. Funny, I was all about tapioca, chocolate pudding, smoothies, etc. then all of a sudden something wouldn't work for me and I'd move on to something different. If something quits working try something different. Scrambled eggs and rice krispies were always consistent for me.
    I hope you get the "go ahead" on the 13th. I worked my own way up to the foods I am eating now. I only used the blender a couple of days. Craved a burger, amazing that when it came out of the blender I could actually taste the meat and pickle. Be creative when the time comes!

    Thanks for the info!
    I discovered today that I can drink water now, usually without even having to do the chin tuck to get it down. It's a welcome change! Either the swelling is going down, or I taught myself how to swallow it again.

    I got some pre-thickened water to see if that would help, and it went down fine so I am hoping I do get the all clear for at least soft foods on the 13th. I know it will be slow going, because of my dry mouth, but it will make work MUCH easier if I can eat by mouth.
  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    #7
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    Laralyn said:

    Thanks for the info!
    I discovered today that I can drink water now, usually without even having to do the chin tuck to get it down. It's a welcome change! Either the swelling is going down, or I taught myself how to swallow it again.

    I got some pre-thickened water to see if that would help, and it went down fine so I am hoping I do get the all clear for at least soft foods on the 13th. I know it will be slow going, because of my dry mouth, but it will make work MUCH easier if I can eat by mouth.

    Water
    Getting the water down is wonderful news! Wish you didn't have to wait so long for your next appt. but at least they did move it up. Once I started eating more than just soft foods, I found that an ice cold glass of chocolate milk helped everything go down. Funny how I always liked my water ice cold and now find it goes down easier at room temp. The last few days I have noticed that I am actually drinking my water and not just sipping it. I've got a good feeling about your appt. :-)

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