Coffee Toast Friday!

THIS IS A BIG ONE! Today’s coffee toast Friday goes out to Hal! When I met Hal, he arrived in a wheelchair. He was very weak and barely said a word. He had a suction machine to manage his secretions and had a feeding tube to sustain nutrition. Hal was diagnosed with a very rare disorder and had some additional setbacks in the hospital/rehab that took a significant toll.

Hal’s wife was a beacon of support. They traveled an hour one way to come for therapy three times a week. She was determined to help him overcome. She revealed to me on our first visit that his last swallow study did not go very well. They had a specialist travel up from Orlando who stated that they felt uncertain if Hal would ever eat again.

Thankfully, one of their inpatient rehab SLP’s told Hal and his wife Carolyn about us, and his journey began at DSSS! As you see from the photos below, Hal just graduated from therapy and is eating again! In fact, his wife sent me a picture of him enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with a message of how thankful she felt.

Hal went from a quiet and frail man to the original Hal, known to be funny, talkative, and a real prankster! We will miss seeing them and having Hal play tricks on Makayla, our patient care manager, but we have so much joy in knowing that they have their quality of life back! Raise your cups up high, Hal and Carolyn, this one’s for you!

*Permission was given to share story and photos