Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Day 25 of Recovery - The corner has been turned!

10:00 am Tuesday, July 7, 2009: I went for what I thought would be a quick morning visit, but when I asked Tesfaye what was up for the day and if he knew whether a swallow test had been scheduled, he told me that he was going for a back x ray and then he thought he was supposed to have a swallow test around 10:45. He wanted me to be there for it, so I said I had a couple of things I had to do in the meantime but would come back. Upon my return at 10:45 I saw John the Occupational Therapist, one of the people in charge of the swallow test, about to enter the elevator. I asked him if the swallow test was happening and he said that is where he was off to and Tesfaye is on his way there, and that I am welcome to attend it with him. I was keen to attend for a couple of reasons: I was anxious to see if Tesfaye would pass and be given the green light to start eating; and, I was interested in seeing the actual barium swallow test which traces the path of the food or liquids as it goes down his throat.

As John and I waited at the x ray unit for Tesfaye's arrival, it turns out that he is friends with Daniel, a server at Quattro's that I had come to know well over the years, and when they were out John was surprised that he knew the story of a young Ethiopian (Tesfaye) that had come over for major spine corrective surgery at VGH - one of those "it's a small world" stories. Finally, Tesfaye arrived at the unit and preparations began for the test. After putting on our lead lined protective gear for our bodies and throats, we entered the room for the test. I really found it quite fascinating as you first see the skull, jaw and throat on the screen, and then track in real time view the path the various food or drink items given to Tesfaye to swallow take as they make their way from the mouth down through the throat. John and Tracy, the Occupational and Speech Therapists, guided the testing - he was tested on food and drink items of various consistencies, ranging from thin to thick, and with Tesfaye trying out different positioning of his head for swallow purposes, from straight on to turning his head sideways.

Video of Swallow test: interesting to watch


After completing what appeared to be quite a positive swallow test we made our way back to the spine ward to await the official decision from John and Tracy. Their conclusion was that he can now start eating and drinking so long as his head is turned sideways when swallowing ( this seems to operate as a better safeguard against potential aspiration) and so long as he does not consume thin liquids for now! A follow up swallow test will be done in about a month to see if the thin liquid restriction can be removed. The good news was carefully explained to Tesfaye and he was told the feeding tube extending through his nose down to his stomach could now finally be removed and he could start eating. For some reason, at that time, Tesfaye did not display as much outward happiness towards the news as Lise and I may have expected, but he did later. It was such a great feeling for me to see Tesfaye with the feeding tube removed, so I can imagine how wonderful it had to feel for Tesfaye. I just had to get a picture of Tesfaye without the tube as well as see him walk without needing to have the fluid machine as a walking companion at his side.
Soon thereafter, his first meal to be ingested through his mouth since June 11th, the evening before surgery, was brought to his room: an egg salad sandwich, accompanied by thickened water or juice. Maybe not too exciting for you or me, but Tesfaye probably savoured it as though it were a meal fit for a king.


6:00 pm Tuesday, July 7, 2009:

I returned at 6:00 pm with Melaku and met Nanci and Haley there as well; they had not seen Tesfaye as yet without the feeding tube. Tesfaye looked terrific all dressed up in civilian clothes instead of a hospital gown. Tesfaye had just started eating the hospital dinner, but Nanci also brought some home made pasta for Tesfaye to eat and I am pretty sure (wink,wink) that Tesfaye enjoyed it even more than the hospital meal. Melaku also made sure to go over in Amharic all of the rules for eating that Tesfaye must abide by until the next swallow test.


Haley drew on the white board a couple of pictures showing how Tesfaye is going to look once he comes home to Nanci's cooking, as compared to his current extremely thin state. This certainly drew a chuckle from all of us.

When he finished eating I made sure to get my first picture of him standing up in normal clothing. Thumbs up - we've turned the corner!