I trained in the gym – chest/bicep primary, and then Sharon and I went to the Cleveland Clinic main campus for medical procedures. Hers was routine; mine was swallowing. For years, I have been complaining to my PCP about swallowing issues. A few years ago, he had me do a test which resulted in recommendations for GERD but not swallowing.
Last visit I complained again, explaining that the problem had a psychological aspect: “fear of choking” .
Apparently tired with my nagging, he scheduled a procedure at Cleveland Clinic Main, and an ENT visit.
At the Clinic (which is so large it would make the Pentagon look like a phone booth), when the RN (cute!) took me back to the changing room, I explained how I felt, and wondered if I needed a speech pathologist.
She came and took me to a lab room, and said they had decided to have a speech pathologist see me. The latter came in (also cute), and told me she was going to watch me swallow. I stood in front of a machine, and after liquids, pudding, and a graham cracker, she gave me a barium pill: it stuck in my esophagus, for all the world to see – vindication! I tried consuming a little food – pudding – but it did not move.
The SP encouraged me to use the techniques I have been using, and to grind up pills and take in applesauce (daughter had already had me do same).
She also told me that this was well past the airway, and my anxiety was revieved.
The pill dissolved, and they ran a series of test on a machine that rotated.
Miracles never cease, when providers actually listen!
Charles' Life 