Voices from the Front Lines: I help Covid-19 patients eat and drink again

As the fight against Covid-19 will be a long-drawn one, TODAY’s Voices section hopes to shine a light on the triumphs and struggles of Singapore’s front-line workers by publishing their first-hand accounts.

In this instalment of Voices from the Front Lines, Ms Mindy Chiang, a speech therapist at Changi General Hospital, writes about helping Covid-19 patients swallow food and drinks after medical complications or the use of breathing tubes.

“Water tastes so good.”

To most, drinking water is part and parcel of life.

But to my group of Covid-19 patients who face swallowing difficulties, the joy of taking a first sip of water is immense.

As a speech therapist who attends to them, I assess each patient’s condition carefully, design a care plan and journey with the patient to deliver optimum care during therapy.

To help patients overcome their difficulties, we employ an often-used therapy approach: Swallowing practices to strengthen the swallowing muscles.

For those who cannot immediately be fed orally, I will try to remember their favourite drink or food, and incorporate this into the next therapy session as an encouragement.

I vividly remember the jitters as I stood outside the rooms of the first few Covid-19 patients.

I reminded myself to make full use of the sessions, which must be kept short to minimise the risk of infection.

Preparation is more vital than ever. I have to ensure that I bring along everything, including food and fluids of different consistencies before entering their rooms garbed in personal protective equipment.

This reduces the need to re-gown each time we re-enter the rooms.

But nothing quite prepared me for the first encounters.

I quickly discovered during my attempts at feeding patients that most could not drink or swallow without coughing heavily or spitting out large amounts of saliva and sputum.

Owing to the nature of a typical swallowing assessment, I am generally positioned close to the patients.

Over time, I learnt to remind them to look ahead during feeding.

But traces of food or a beverage with their sputum can provide us with some clinical indication of their swallowing physiology. Often, I will open a crumpled tissue carefully to peek at what is inside before throwing it away.

Often, patients, especially among the older generation, believe that when they can eat, they become stronger and will have the energy to do more exercises and rehabilitation.

I cannot agree more. It helps that many of my patients are focused on food rather than the coronavirus.

As a therapist who can help them eat, I hope that my presence is welcoming.

For me, the best reward is to see patients being started on an oral diet and having their feeding tubes removed.

I am happy that I am in a position to give them that extra nudge towards improving their health and beating the virus during therapy.

I am even happier when they are on the road to recovery.

ABOUT THE WRITER:

Mindy Chiang is a speech therapist at Changi General Hospital. She conducts speech therapy sessions for Covid-19 patients who face communication and swallowing difficulties in their recovery because of the use of breathing tubes or other medical complications.  

Have views on an issue or a news topic you care about? Send your letter to voices [at] mediacorp.com.sg with your full name, address and phone number.