Turkeys Are Safe Here

We spent 3 long hours at the doctors offices yesterday.  It seems fitting on the day before Thanksgiving that the focus was on swallowing.  If you are squeamish or about to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, you may want to stop reading at this point.  I am going to describe the medical procedures to highlight (OK, brag about) how courageous my husband is. 

First, Ernie did a swallowing study which is designed to determine if the food is going down the "right pipe".  This study entails having a flexible tube with a camera on the end stuck down your nose and into your throat (no sedation allowed).  Once this is done, you are expected to swallow various items such a water and applesauce while the Swallowing Specialist watches.  To make it all the more appetizing, all the items you must swallow have been dyed a vivid blue-green.  Yum. 

As if this was not enough fun, the swallowing study was followed by a trans-nasal endoscopy.  Normally, an upper endoscopy is done by a GI doc who knocks you out so he can put a scope down your nose, into your esophagus and see all the way to your stomach.  Turns out a trans-nasal endoscopy is the same thing except that is done while you are awake! As the doctor drolly said, "not everyone can tolerate this".  The benefits are speed--you don't have to have an IV or be knocked out--and you can watch if you want.  Thankfully, they do numb the nose.  Afterward, the doctor said he knew Ernie would do well because of how well he handled being intubated while awake prior to his surgery.  In fact, he said the whole OR team had been impressed at Ernie's calm demeanor under very unpleasant circumstances. 

Anyway putting these two studies together, the doctors determined that whatever Ernie swallows right now is at least partly going down the "wrong pipe".   If you get enough food and drink in your lungs, it can lead to aspiration pneumonia.  Food is going down Ernie's windpipe because the muscles at the back of the throat that close off the windpipe when you swallow are not working well enough.  The fibrosis and swelling in his neck have made these muscles less flexible and harder to move. 

To overcome this, the doctor gave Ernie a workout regime--a set of five exercises, 20 reps each, twice a day--that targets these muscles.  The net of all this is that Ernie will not be eating turkey (or any other food) today but, with some hard work,  he could be eating in 4 to 6 weeks.  Yipee!