December 2020 Newsletter
As we turn 17 years old on December 3rd, our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our success here in D/FW possible. We know you have options and we appreciate your trust and support of our service and staff over the years. DFW area is a big place but small at heart and the friendships we have developed over the years mean the most to us! This festive season, we wish all of you the priceless gift of peace that surpasses all understanding, as well as indescribable joy, quality health and blessings of prosperity at Christmas and throughout all of 2020. Everyone at DiagnosTEX wish you ALL a very Merry Christmas!
Happy Birthday DiagnosTEX
DTEX turns 17 years old this year! Pam and I would like to thank not only our customers and those have supported us all these years in DFW, but we would also like to thank all of our employees for the many years of friendship, belly laughs, and precious memories! Thank you for your hard work and commitment to what DiagnosTEX stands for! We truly treasure each and every one of you (customers and employees) and are blessed to have you as a part of our daily lives! To love what you do and the people you do it with is the true definition of success and happiness!
We have moved from Hurst to North Richland Hills
Our contact information remains the same. There were some anticipated stumbling blocks with phone and faxes with the move but we feel we have most of them worked out. We so appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding with the things that fell out of our control. Our new address is 8913 Mid Cities Blvd, Suite 100. Sometime in 2021, we hope to begin outpatient MBSS at our new office.
It’s a Giving Time of Year!
It is better to give than to receive and we enjoy giving back to you for teaming with us every year! Look for your Christmas gift as we get closer to the holiday. The 2021 DiagnosTEX Dysphagia Calendar will be ready in January.
DiagnosTEX December Holiday Schedule
This year Christmas and New Year’s fall on Friday. We like long weekends! DiagnosTEX will be closed Friday the 25th for Christmas as well Friday January 1 and we will operate Monday - Thursday, but Thursday will be a 1⁄2 day only on both of those weeks. We want to meet all of your MBSS needs; we know PO feeding becomes very important on several levels to many patients and their families around the holidays. The days prior to the holidays are long for us as we work very hard to get everyone’s requests completed. We must also be considerate to all of our
DiagnosTEX employees and their families. Please keep these holiday schedules in mind when scheduling your MBSS in December!
******Please take note during this busy time of year******
ASAP requests often cannot be accommodated to the satisfaction of those requesting it. Specific requests for specific times and/or days become exponentially difficult to accommodate and therefore, we may be unable to quickly schedule your patient with any specific time and day requests.
Please notify your staff, patients, and families as such. Being mobile allows the convenience of the service coming to you – not for the customized flexibility of schedules and times. We are a venue option for an MBSS and we must schedule our mobile clinics for efficiency and cost effectiveness. .If you or the patient and family require a specific time and/or day with limited flexibility, please consider a free-standing outpatient facility (e.g., a hospital).
COVID numbers have spiked and we will be seeing more recovering COVID patients
Our job as speech pathologists in this pandemic is to provide a timely diagnosis of dysphagia and treatment to all patients, including recovering COVID, as timely evaluations and treatment will positively influence the prognosis and reduce mortality. Treatment should include a multi-modality, sensory and motor therapy regimen that will target the oropharyngeal function to reduce dysphagia. The Ampcare Effective Swallowing Protocol (ESP) has received an extended clarification from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the Intended Use in the prevention and treatment of swallowing disorders following post-traumatic conditions, including the coronavirus (COVID-19). The FDA clarification confirms that the Ampcare Effective Swallowing Protocol (ESP) is indicated for the prevention and treatment of post-extubation dysphagia (PED), due to disuse atrophy resulting from ventilator support and/or feeding tube support. The FDA clarification specifically includes the COVID-19 patient population. Check out the link for the full press release: https://www.swallowtherapy.com/covid-19-post-extubation. Give you patients the best options in dysphagia treatment.
Dysphagia Holiday Sweet Treat
Peppermint Pattie Smoothie
1cup vanilla almond protein milk
1-2 Tablespoons cocoa powder or chocolate protein powder 1 handful spinach (try it, it is delicious AND nutritious!)
1⁄2 cup dry milk
1⁄2 cup plain Greek yogurt, or vanilla for extra flavor
1⁄2 cup mint choc chip ice cream
1 small banana
4 - 6 ice cubes
Blend/Mix the milk, cocoa powder or protein powder, spinach, yogurt and ice cream in the blender. Add banana and ice, blend again until smooth. Garnish red and green sprinkles for the holidays.
2020 has been historic in ways we all wish we could forget. DiagnosTEX was honored to team with the facilities in DFW to continue to see patients throughout the pandemic for both MBSS and COVID testing. We love our DFW community and we care very much for the safety of all of the healthcare staff and the patients. Thank you for teaming with us as we all worked through the difficulties of 2020 and we link arm and arm with you as we say good-riddance to 2020 and walk bravely into 2021.