September 2021 Newsletter
With Great Respect,
We pay tribute to the creation of our nation’s strength, freedom and leadership….
The American Workers!!!
Back to school time for our kids!
And ….We are getting much closer to Fall! WOOHOOO!
Upcoming September Holiday
DiagnosTEX will be closed on Labor Day, Monday September 6.
Please consider this when scheduling your studies. We will operate Tuesday – Friday that week.
This Labor Day, we would like to give a shout out to our office staff, SLP’s, Techs, and MDs. Thank you for all you do and the quality in which you do it! The road to success is through commitment. Thank you for your commitment to DiagnosTEX, our customers and our patients, allowing us to endure the first half of 2020 into 2021 by continuing to provide the care needed to those who needed us!
AMPCARE CEU - *8 Hours Advanced ASHA CE Course
(Advanced level, Professional area)
Become Certified in ESP, the Most Comprehensive FDA-Cleared Treatment for Dysphagia!
Deciphering Dysphagia with Ampcare’s ESP™ (Effective Swallowing Protocol) Zoom Webinar Tuesday and Wednesday, September 21-22, 2021 4 - 7pm CST (5-8pm EST) *8 Hours Advanced ASHA CE Course Details:
- A comfortable location of your choosing
- Online/on-demand pre-course work - (2 hours)
- Two days of interactive webinar (3 hours each day)
DiagnosTEX ongoing COVID precautions in Round 3
As a medical facility, all patients vaccinated or non-vaccinated are screened prior to scheduling and also required to wear a mask and gloves upon entering the clinic. All mobile clinic staff are screened daily and required to operate in full PPP daily including but not limited to mask and gloves, at all times in contact with patients or other health care staff in the facilities. In addition, all mobile clinics are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after each and every patient seen, as has always been the policy for DiagnosTEX. As a vendor to local facilities, it is important to know that none of our DiagnosTEX staff enter any community or facility to evaluate or consult with a resident/patient, the resident/patient is transported to the front door by community/facility staff and then outside to the medical clinic as they would for any other outpatient procedure.
Dysphagia Tidbit App helps track progress
Researchers are working with newly developed sensors and a smartphone app to monitor patients’ swallowing at home as well. It’s a trial treatment for a life-threatening disorder that affects millions of Americans whose numbers are growing as the population ages — and as strokes, dementia and throat cancer become more common. To test and refine the swallowing sensors, the doctors are starting two new studies. One is aimed at military veterans at the Hines Veterans Administration Hospital with mouth and throat cancers, often developed from the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. The cancer strikes patients when they’re young, and can be treated successfully with chemotherapy and radiation. But that can result years later in fibrosis that damages tissues, causing devastating injuries to the muscles needed to swallow. The other study will focus more on the other end of the age spectrum, focusing on dementia patients who are losing the ability to swallow. They would like to get patients to wear the sensors at home to continue. monitoring how they’re doing, using a smartphone app to track the results both for patients and doctors. They can use the information to refine the patient’s exercise program and rehabilitation outcomes.
Choking leads to new diagnosis and treatment for people with swallowing disorders By ROBERT MCCOPPIN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE | MAR 23, 2019
Autoimmune disease is rising in the USA
A study published April 8, 2020 in Arthritis and Rheumatology, the researchers found that the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) was significantly increasing in the USA in adults 50 years and older as well as adolescents. The reasons for this increase is unclear. Th most common causes of CNS autoimmune dysphagia are demyelinating and inflammatory lesions in the brainstem (i.e. MS). Less common but often overlooked is cerebellar ataxia and gastrointestinal dysmotility syndromes. Many neurological autoimmunity’s, acute or progressive dysphagia is potentially a treatable condition, but this requires increased awareness, prompt diagnosis and early intervention. This is part of our job when using proper instrumental evaluation to diagnosis adequately.
Are SLPs Burned Out?
I think the pandemic has worn us all down personally and professionally. I hear it from so many in the field and the nightmare seem to keep going when we had such high hopes for 2021. I recently had someone ask me why I got into the field and what I love about it and I think it is important that we reflect on this during this confusing time. My answer was:
I did not know what direction I wanted to go, until I was a sophomore in college. I got my bachelor degree in the education of the hearing impaired. At the same time, I was also leading a sign language choir at the University. So, I entered my Master’s program with big plans on being the speech pathologist that worked with the hearing impaired. Then I had my first Neurology class…………… I was in awe of Dr. Delaina Batson (who is still teaching today!). She is a force of nature! She also told me the best way to study for her class was while drinking a glass a wine. We got along very well! 😊 She asked me to join her research project on CVAs and to do some of clinical work at the stroke center in Dallas, which was only about a year old at the time. I was taught to administer the PICA on the research participants at both the Stroke Center and at Parkland. This changed the whole trajectory of my career. I was forever hooked on medical speech pathology! I was amazed at how I could affect an adult’s life by helping them retrieve something they had lost. In addition to how much I could actually learn from them as well. My heart is with the geriatric population. Aging is not for the weak and weary, it can be the toughest most traumatic time of someone’s life. The Golden Years are not always golden. As I have always told people; I am in healthcare to serve others in their time of need. I always have the opportunity to make someone feel noticed and important. Reality is a question of perspective, we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are. What I love most about my job is that I can be the light in someone’s day, but I can also be the moon in their darkest of hours. The other great benefit of our profession is that speech pathology has so many areas of specialty and we get to blossom where our passion is. Mine became dysphagia. Yet, we also get to learn from each other, to help advocate for each other, including those who need us the most. There have been so many people in my career who have poured into me over the years and I love paying it forward, esp. to students and those new in the field! I am so honored to work in this field with all of you!
Instead of being a Worrier, be a Warrior! Keep your heads up, stay positive, better days on coming. No one injured their eye by looking on the bright side. SMILE, there are new days, new thoughts, new strength and new possibilities!
New educational handout booklet coming on dysphagia diets
This educational booklet will help patients, families and staff understand the various consistencies that are recommended to help prepare meals and beverages correctly!