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December 2023 Newsletter

Dec 01, 2023 Posted by: Ronda Polanksy

Merry Christmas!

We know you have options for dysphagia evaluations 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 2024.

Happy Birthday DiagnosTEX

DTEX turns 20 years old this year! Pam and I would like to thank not only our customers and those who have supported us all of these years in DFW. We would also like to thank all of our employees for the many years of friendship, belly laughs, and so many priceless memories! Thank you for your hard work and commitment to what DiagnosTEX stands for! We truly treasure each and every one of our customers and employees and are blessed to have you all 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!

It’s a Giving Time of Year

In this upcoming holiday season and every day of the year, we are grateful to you not only for giving us the opportunity to work with you as a team and provide dysphagia evaluation and management services but for your loyalty and friendship for the last 20 years! It is always better to give than to receive and we enjoy giving back to you for teaming with us every year! Look for your Christmas gifts as December rolls in. The 2024 DiagnosTEX Dysphagia Calendar including DiagnosTEX Christmas pens! You will get yours next time we see you! Merry Christmas from us to you!

DiagnosTEX December Holiday Schedule

DiagnosTEX will close earlier on Friday December 2nd to celebrate our company’s birthday! DiagnosTEX will be closed Monday the 25th for an extended Christmas holiday and we will operate Tuesday-Friday that week. We will be closed New Year’s Day and operational on Tuesday January 2nd, as we start 2024. We want to meet all of your MBSS needs; after all these years, we understand that 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).

 

Holiday thickened liquid recipes with Simply Thick

Thickened Spiced Apple Cider Hot Cider is easy to make and will fill your house with a wonderful aroma! Wash hands before beginning preparation. SANITIZE surfaces & equipment.

  1. In a saucepan, add 4 cups (32 oz) of Apple Juice.
  2. Add the appropriate amount of SimplyThick® EasyMix™, based upon desired consistency. 1. Mildly Thick (Level 2) Consistency: 1-(48g) Nectar Packet OR 8 pump strokes. 2. Moderately Thick (Level 3) Consistency: 1-(96g) Honey Packet OR 16 pump strokes
  3. Stir for 30 seconds, until thickened.
  4. Add 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves to Thickened Apple Juice.
  5. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not bring to a boil.
  6. Allow beverage to cool below 150 degrees before serving.
  7. Ladle into mug and garnish with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon, if desired.

Enjoy! *Whipped topping may need to be thickened to desired consistency.

Need December CE’s before the end of the year?

Deciphering Dysphagia with Ampcare’s ESP™ (Effective Swallowing Protocol) On-Demand + Zoom Webinar

Tuesday & Wednesday, December 5-6, 2023 4-6 pm CT (5-7 pm ET) *8 Hours Advanced ASHA CE. To register online go to: https://swallowtherapy.com/product/webinar-course/

Dysphagia Tidbit - UC Davis Health researchers developing therapy that uses muscle stem cells to treat patients with swallowing difficulties. UC Davis Health researchers have launched a groundbreaking study utilizing cell therapy to increase tongue strength for patients with swallowing difficulties known as dysphagia. The project is funded by an $11 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Peter Belafsky, director of the UC Davis Health Center for Voice and Swallowing and the principal investigator of the study

Researchers will take autologous muscle derived progenitor cells (AMDCs) from a biopsy of the patient’s thigh muscle and inject the cells into the patient’s tongue. The cells will fuse with existing muscle fibers to increase tongue strength and ability to swallow. “For this study, we are developing a therapeutic approach using autologous muscle derived progenitor cells to see if there are any benefits to swallowing function for patients with dysphagia,” explained Peter Belafsky, director of the UC Davis Health Center for Voice and Swallowing and the principal investigator of the study. “This therapy could be a game-changer for our patients who suffer from difficulty swallowing, many of whom are cancer survivors living with the consequences of radiation toxicity.” Study seeking patients struggling with swallowing disorders

The researchers are working to identify and recruit patients who: are 18 years of age or older,

have moderate symptoms of tongue-related swallowing difficulties following surgery, chemo or radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, have completed treatment over 24 months before enrollment, have problems swallowing that have not improved following current therapies.

The study will enroll 62 patients at two clinical sites (UC Davis and UC San Francisco). The patients will receive either two intramuscular injections of 150 million AMDC cells into the tongue or placebo injections. They will be followed for 24 months post-treatment. “We are recruiting patients who are highly motivated to be part of a study that could lead to a cure of this ailment,” said Belafsky. For more information, contact study coordinator Randev Sandhu at 916-734-2863 or HS-ENTStemCell@ucdavis.edu.