A Taste for Something Different

my friend Anna tasting her barium juice

One of the classes that I am currently taking is called Clinical Management: Adults. This class is taught by a speech pathologist who works in the adult setting, helping stroke patients learn how to swallow again and teaching people with aphasia strategies to help them comprehend what they hear, read, say, and write. To help us students really get a grasp of what it is like to treat a stroke patient, the other day our professor brought to class an assortment of different foods and beverages. When a person is having trouble swallowing, the have to begin practicing with thin liquids and then gradually work their way up to thicker consistencies. Our professor began class by pouring barium into juice. Barium is a substance that is mixed with other foods, and that shows up when giving a person an X-ray. This allows clinicians to see how a person swallows and if any substances get left behind somewhere along the process. It was a great experience seeing how barium is mixed into juice so that a swallow study can be performed. However, the fun didn't stop there. Not only did we mix it, but we had to try it. Stroke patients don't have too many options of what they get to eat, so our professor was helping us to see what it's like in their shoes. And after trying the barium juice, I must say I have compassion for them. The texture of the juice was strange, and the barium took away from the sweetness of it. After finishing our juice, we also blended up chicken alfredo so that we could try a thicker consistency. The texture felt so weird that I mentally had to remind myself that it still tasted delicious.
I really appreciate our professor engaging us in this activity. I feel like I learn best through hands-on assignments, and this activity really brought home how difficult the whole "relearning how to swallow process" must be for our patients.