Work Matters

I had a 'moment' today, as my brother would say.

I came to realize that the work I do as a speech-language pathologist does indeed matter. At least sometimes.

Because dysphagia (swallowing disorders) remain my weakness as a clinician, particularly reading and interpreting modified barium swallow studies (moving x-rays of the swallow), I have been watching old videos to practice my analysis and treatment recommendations, then comparing my interpretation to the actual clinician note.

Turns out, SLPs are kind of badass. Like, really awesome superheroes. They can be geniuses who catch cancer and save lives! Seriously.

One of the videos, a MBSS by my supervisor Annmarie from a few months ago, was of a 60-something man with no tobacco or alcohol history, complaints of 'globus sensation' (something stuck in the throat area) and reflux. I assumed he was going to be one of our typical GERD (reflux or heartburn) patients whose swallow function, as far as we are concerned, is totally fine; they usually get a referral back to GI. Turns out this guy had some funky lingual movement, restricted hyolaryngeal excursion, etc. I was pleased with myself that I, too, made note of these mild swallow impairments. But then I got to the part of Annmarie's write-up where she talked about referring the patient to ENT. Turns out he had a major tumor in his base of tongue!

My mind was blown. Essentially, she just bought this guy some time. Had she not thought to make a referral based on slightly funky tongue motion, this guy would have likely gone several more weeks before complaining to his PCP of pain while swallowing. Taking that much longer to get through the referral process. And that much longer to get a biopsy, a cancer diagnosis, and treatment initiation. Seriously, she theoretically just saved his life.

Turns out another one of my colleagues, Bethany, made a similar discovery week before last. That's a lot of pressure. No one prepared me to have to be a lifesaver!