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Welcome to the Swallow Your Pride podcast. I'm

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your host, Teresa Richard. I'm a board certified

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specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders

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and founder of the MediSLP Collective and MediSLP

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Education.

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This podcast is dedicated to delivering the latest

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evidence based practice to

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SLPs everywhere while also recognizing that medical SLPs

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everywhere are doing the best with what they've

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got. Whether you're a new clinician seeking tangible

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tools for therapy or a seasoned vet stuck

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in a rut, my goal is simple, to

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help you advance your practice without feeling overwhelmed

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or underappreciated.

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This means that together, we'll build confidence, broaden

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your knowledge, and reignite your passion for our

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fields. So if you're listening, I encourage you

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to swallow your pride and be open to

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new ideas because at the end of the

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day, you and your patients deserve that kind

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of support. Just a quick disclaimer that all

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statements and opinions expressed in this episode do

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not reflect on the organizations associated with the

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speakers and are their own opinions solely. With

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that, let's dive in. Hello, my friends.

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Okay. So welcome, welcome, welcome back. As you

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might have noticed, we took a little bit

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of a hiatus this summer.

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The Swaddler Py podcast has been going strong,

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weekly,

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consecutively

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since

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02/2017.

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So it's been almost eight years over 5,000,000

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downloads, which I'm so, so, so grateful for.

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But just this summer, I decided I wanted

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to take a little bit of time off

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and just redo some systems and processes we

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had on the back end, and the hiatus

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lasted a little bit longer than I anticipated,

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but we are back. And so to kick

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off, this new season of the Swaddler Pride

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podcast, I've got so many, so many amazing

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guests lined up for you guys, this this

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semester this this semester. Clearly, I have school

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on the brain.

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This year, this this whatever coming up soon.

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But all that to say, I wanted to

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start off with a solo episode.

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This is something that's been going on in

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my personal life over the last few months,

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and also bleeds into my professional life heavily.

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I've I've shared a little bit about this

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on social media,

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but just wanted to give you the the

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full context, the full rundown, the full everything.

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So before we dive into that, there's just

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a lot of good updates I wanna catch

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you guys up to date on, which I'm

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so, so, so excited. I am in the

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home stretch of finishing up my dissertation, which

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I, in a million years, can't believe I'm

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saying that, which is just crazy.

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So I'm I'm researching

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fees and

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accessibility

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and just different,

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SLPs and different other medical professionals' perceptions of

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fees.

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And if you're listening to this podcast,

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you are already in the know, and you

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probably think that's such a strange foreign concept.

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But in some facilities, fees is not widely

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accepted, and it's something that I'm so passionate

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about getting

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this tool accessible to patients everywhere, to our

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rural patients, to patients that,

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aren't able to come into hospitals and get

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modified. And just I've seen the good that

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this procedure can do, and so that's, you

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know, just a little snippet of my dissertation.

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I've gotten some questions about what I'm doing

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for that project, and, I'm actually gonna be

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presenting,

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at ASHA at the ASHA convention

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about some

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some data that I've got. So I'm excited

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about that and, hopefully, some other, conferences and

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conventions coming up as well.

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And then in other other great news, we

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officially have a few graduates of our MedSLP

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certification

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program.

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And if you've been listening along for years,

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you know, this is a program that I

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started about four years ago. Just a need

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that we discovered in a lot of the

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major medical centers have clinical ladders for their

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SLPs

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and have other accredited certifications for other professionals

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such as PT and OT, and nothing like

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this exists for med SLPs.

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So I wanted to put together a real

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rigorous med SLP certification

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program,

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that basically helps medical SLPs feel more prepared,

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more supported in their settings.

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It has been a grueling process.

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So the the program participants that have completed

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the program,

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have taken a 128

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of advanced Met SLP coursework.

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They've worked closely with mentors. They've gotten on

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weekly calls with mentors, and they completed and

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passed our

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Met SLP exam. And that exam has just

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been the death of me the last

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I'd say two years mostly. There is so

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much that goes into that. I believe I'll

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I'll have to get the exact number. I

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believe we had about 50 different SLPs involved

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in the writing and reviewing

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of that exam. So,

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we're going through accreditation with the NCCA, which

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is an arm of ICE, which is, the

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accreditation body for ASHA. And so it was

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recommended to me to go through the NCCA

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because they focus on a lot of medical

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certifications, and that's really what we're going after.

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So in following all of their protocols to

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have this exam,

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you know, approved by an accrediting agency,

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there's just so many different committees that had

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to be involved. So anybody that served on

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any of those committees that review test questions,

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that help us write test questions, that threw

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out test questions,

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thank you for your help and your support,

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and those people were not allowed to be

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paid.

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They just had to be on a volunteer,

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basis just to to prevent bias. So thank

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you for everyone who participated in that time

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and energy, and we also,

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had to have a big group of beta

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testers. So thank you to everyone that was

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our beta testers for that. So,

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all that to say,

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we hopefully should be fully accredited in the

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next few months. We've done all of the

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paperwork and and met all of the components.

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Now it's just a a finishing loose ends

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thing up and and submitting. So thank you

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to everyone for your support with that. So

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some days, I feel like I'm not doing

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anything behind the scenes here, and then I

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realized I'm running around like a chicken with

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my head cut off. So that's that's where

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we've been. And then we also have some

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brand new things going on in the Medisal

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Peak Collective.

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We in in going through my or going

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through my PhD coursework,

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I decided to

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and not really pivot, but expand what I

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was researching in in PhD school. And, you

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you know, obviously, swallowing is is near and

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dear to my heart, and I'm I'm board

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certified in swallowing, and that's really my passion.

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And I, you know, wanna continue to help

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tons and tons of patients with that. But

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in growing these other education companies, I just

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realized I had a real passion for for

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health care education. And so one of the,

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one of the concentrations that you could have

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in in my doctorate program was health care

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education. So I took on that concentration. I

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completed all of those requirements.

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And I just really love the courses on

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adult learning theories, and I just found that

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really, really fascinating, especially for health care professionals

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and

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specifically medical SLPs. So I've taken a lot

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of that knowledge and integrated that into what

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we are doing at the MediSLP Collective, and

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we have really revamped,

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our entire program,

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the entire website. So, if you're interested in

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checking out, MediSLP Collective, we are open for

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enrollment right now through August 31. But I

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will just share with you that we've really

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shifted from a passive learning model to an

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active learning model. So we have hundreds and

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hundreds of resources in there that are PDFs

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that you could listen to. We have webinars

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that you can listen to.

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But the more that I'm I'm learning and

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learning is that adult learners need active learning.

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And so what that is is mostly learning

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by doing, and that's hard. That's very, very

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hard to get as an adult who is

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working full time, juggling families. You know, how

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do you get this quote, unquote, hands on

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experience? So we integrated a lot of new

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technology into this. This year, we have new

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clinical simulations.

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Our our tech team behind the scenes, I

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thought, was gonna rip their hair out or

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really,

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quit maybe because it was just really difficult.

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Each of these simulations took about thirty hours

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to create,

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which is just a lot a lot of

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tech time behind the scenes, but I'm so

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grateful for how they came out.

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We set really high standards for these so

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you can go in and and really just

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go through an entire clinical simulation and get

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feedback on why that's, you know, a a

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good way to look at it, why that's

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not, if there's a different alternate route you

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should take. So really happy with how those

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came out. We also have new demo and

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discuss sessions. So we have actual SLPs coming

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on and showing and doing the thing that

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they do. So whether it's doing a fees,

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whether it's doing video stroboscopy, whether it's, showing

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how to do vocal exercises. We just were

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getting a lot of feedback about, like, I

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wish I could just watch someone do the

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thing. So now you can watch someone do

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the thing, ask questions, get feedback on it.

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We also have implementation hours where we are

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taking things like report writing or, you know,

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are taking things like report writing or, you

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know, smart phrases, and we are helping you

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walk through revamping those systems to make your

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workflow a little bit better.

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And, you know, I'd be remiss if I

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didn't say, you know, how, you know, wonderful

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AI is, but it's also confusing a lot

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of people. And AI is absolutely fantastic for

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information. You can get so much information there.

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So what can we offer in the collective

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that you can't get through AI? And so

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that's why we've really changed a lot of

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our offerings to have people, actual people, real

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live humans, behind the scenes helping you do

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this. So, we've also totally revamped our mentorship

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program. We've got a lot of brand new

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mentors within inside the MetasLP Collective.

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Just want to help you become the best

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SLP that you can be in a safe,

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supportive community and environment, and we just have

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incredible incredible team that truly cares about your

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patients. Your patients are our patients. We're all

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in this together,

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and I couldn't be happier with the team

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that we have behind the scenes. So I

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think I just caught you up on all

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of my professional life the last few months.

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So that, you know, that was kind of

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why the podcast took a little bit of

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a hiatus, but I am glad to be

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back. I do wanna clue you in a

266
00:09:20,299 --> 00:09:21,740
little bit on my personal life, and I

267
00:09:21,740 --> 00:09:23,659
will say because this ties into what this

268
00:09:23,659 --> 00:09:24,559
entire episode

269
00:09:24,945 --> 00:09:26,785
is about. And I just wanna really lay

270
00:09:26,785 --> 00:09:28,945
the land. I'll probably get a little vulnerable

271
00:09:28,945 --> 00:09:30,165
and overshare here,

272
00:09:30,625 --> 00:09:32,804
but I believe that context is really important

273
00:09:32,945 --> 00:09:35,105
to getting to the decisions that we came

274
00:09:35,105 --> 00:09:36,165
to as a family,

275
00:09:36,785 --> 00:09:38,545
and why we went this route and why

276
00:09:38,545 --> 00:09:41,940
it just totally shook my professional SLP brain

277
00:09:41,940 --> 00:09:43,320
to the core as well. So,

278
00:09:43,779 --> 00:09:45,720
I will share that about,

279
00:09:46,660 --> 00:09:48,100
gosh, a year and a half ago, almost

280
00:09:48,100 --> 00:09:48,840
years ago.

281
00:09:49,620 --> 00:09:51,779
My ex husband and I got divorced, and

282
00:09:51,779 --> 00:09:53,779
we were together for twenty years. It was,

283
00:09:54,545 --> 00:09:56,465
we had a wonderful marriage. Just things did

284
00:09:56,465 --> 00:09:57,904
not align. You know, we were not aligned

285
00:09:57,904 --> 00:09:59,184
on a lot of things, and and we

286
00:09:59,184 --> 00:10:01,345
are still dear friends to this day, and

287
00:10:01,345 --> 00:10:02,785
we talk every day. And I I think

288
00:10:02,785 --> 00:10:04,625
we co parent wonderfully. Yeah. We live around

289
00:10:04,625 --> 00:10:06,384
the corner from each other. Our kids go

290
00:10:06,384 --> 00:10:08,940
back and forth, you know, very, very freely.

291
00:10:09,399 --> 00:10:11,000
So I just I I want to say

292
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,840
that because I I respect him very much

293
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:14,759
as a as a as a co parent

294
00:10:14,759 --> 00:10:16,860
and also as my father of my children.

295
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,559
But that being said, that brought on some

296
00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:22,059
different life changes that I was not expecting.

297
00:10:22,154 --> 00:10:23,835
So like I said, we we live in

298
00:10:23,835 --> 00:10:25,455
houses around the corner from each other.

299
00:10:25,915 --> 00:10:27,115
You know, the kids go back and forth

300
00:10:27,115 --> 00:10:29,274
on the weekends. We usually just split days,

301
00:10:29,274 --> 00:10:31,754
and and it's very nonstructured, which which we

302
00:10:31,754 --> 00:10:33,855
both appreciate. And, you know, what's what's

303
00:10:34,315 --> 00:10:35,940
interesting is, you know,

304
00:10:36,659 --> 00:10:38,519
you've all been here through my,

305
00:10:39,059 --> 00:10:41,139
you know, experiences with my son. And if

306
00:10:41,139 --> 00:10:43,379
you're new to this podcast, my son, he

307
00:10:43,379 --> 00:10:45,620
is almost 10 now, which is just crazy

308
00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:47,379
to say, was one of the very rare

309
00:10:47,379 --> 00:10:50,174
chromosomal abnormalities. So not something that,

310
00:10:50,735 --> 00:10:52,815
it's a unbalanced translocation of the ninth and

311
00:10:52,815 --> 00:10:56,115
thirteenth chromosomes. So there was only nine documented

312
00:10:56,174 --> 00:10:58,514
cases in the world when he was born.

313
00:10:59,294 --> 00:11:01,214
I believe there's upwards of maybe twenty to

314
00:11:01,214 --> 00:11:03,375
thirty now, but that being said, there's not

315
00:11:03,375 --> 00:11:05,199
enough to give us a name or a

316
00:11:05,199 --> 00:11:07,860
club. Like, we it's not Down syndromes or

317
00:11:08,159 --> 00:11:10,480
Down syndrome or Angelman's or anything like that.

318
00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,000
We we don't have a name. We don't

319
00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:13,360
have a support group. We don't have a

320
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:13,860
community.

321
00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:16,980
So that has just had its own challenges

322
00:11:17,199 --> 00:11:19,434
in, you know, working with different doctors and

323
00:11:19,434 --> 00:11:21,115
different therapists. You know, they would always ask

324
00:11:21,115 --> 00:11:22,634
me, well, tell me about his condition, and

325
00:11:22,634 --> 00:11:24,075
what do we know about this, and what

326
00:11:24,075 --> 00:11:26,394
are the characteristics, and they're just all vastly

327
00:11:26,394 --> 00:11:29,035
different. And we had a wonderful neonatologist when

328
00:11:29,035 --> 00:11:30,315
he was in the NICU when he was

329
00:11:30,315 --> 00:11:30,750
born,

330
00:11:31,230 --> 00:11:33,710
but she basically handed me nine case studies

331
00:11:33,710 --> 00:11:36,269
of the other nine documented kids with this

332
00:11:36,269 --> 00:11:38,669
condition in the world, and the kids varied

333
00:11:38,669 --> 00:11:41,330
widely from, you know, being having

334
00:11:41,710 --> 00:11:44,095
severe cardiac conditions, trachs and vents all the

335
00:11:44,095 --> 00:11:46,095
way to, you know, living a very full

336
00:11:46,095 --> 00:11:48,274
life, work working at Walmart, working at Target.

337
00:11:48,335 --> 00:11:50,014
So what I loved about that was that

338
00:11:50,014 --> 00:11:52,175
she basically did not put any limitations on

339
00:11:52,175 --> 00:11:54,014
my son and his capabilities. And she just

340
00:11:54,014 --> 00:11:55,455
said, you know, the sky's the limit. Get

341
00:11:55,455 --> 00:11:57,134
him early intervention. Get him as much help

342
00:11:57,134 --> 00:11:58,595
as as you possibly can.

343
00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:00,580
And so we did. And,

344
00:12:01,379 --> 00:12:03,139
so he was in the NICU for feeding

345
00:12:03,139 --> 00:12:06,120
issues for fifteen days and just was not

346
00:12:06,179 --> 00:12:08,019
wanting to eat. You know, some days he

347
00:12:08,019 --> 00:12:10,179
would you know, at that time, volume driven

348
00:12:10,179 --> 00:12:12,595
feeding was the thing. And and now we

349
00:12:12,595 --> 00:12:14,434
know now that that is not the thing

350
00:12:14,434 --> 00:12:15,014
to do,

351
00:12:15,554 --> 00:12:17,634
but he had to drink so many cc's

352
00:12:17,634 --> 00:12:18,754
in order for us to get him out

353
00:12:18,754 --> 00:12:20,115
of the NICU, and it was just it

354
00:12:20,115 --> 00:12:22,115
was awful. Awful. Awful. So all that to

355
00:12:22,115 --> 00:12:25,154
say, feeding has always been tough for him,

356
00:12:25,154 --> 00:12:27,009
for us, for us. I will say we

357
00:12:27,009 --> 00:12:28,529
do have a nanny that we've had. I

358
00:12:28,529 --> 00:12:29,730
think I think she's been with us for

359
00:12:29,730 --> 00:12:31,649
three, four years now. She's just an angel

360
00:12:31,649 --> 00:12:33,250
on earth, and she goes back and forth

361
00:12:33,250 --> 00:12:35,970
between my husband, my or between my house,

362
00:12:35,970 --> 00:12:37,670
my ex husband's house, and,

363
00:12:38,204 --> 00:12:40,605
you know, she's a very stable caregiver for

364
00:12:40,605 --> 00:12:42,944
my children. And we love her to pieces.

365
00:12:43,084 --> 00:12:45,324
She is so wonderful with my son.

366
00:12:45,964 --> 00:12:48,365
She feeds him. She she does, you know,

367
00:12:48,365 --> 00:12:50,649
most of his care for him. And, you

368
00:12:50,649 --> 00:12:52,649
know, the the tough part is the reality

369
00:12:52,649 --> 00:12:54,809
is for him to eat a meal takes

370
00:12:54,809 --> 00:12:57,049
about forty five minutes to an hour. So

371
00:12:57,049 --> 00:12:58,730
a lot of her job is just feeding

372
00:12:58,730 --> 00:12:59,389
this kid.

373
00:13:00,250 --> 00:13:02,490
And we about stand on our heads trying

374
00:13:02,490 --> 00:13:03,549
to feed this child.

375
00:13:04,169 --> 00:13:06,284
It's a lot of time to to be

376
00:13:06,284 --> 00:13:08,605
honest. You know, he he probably eats, I

377
00:13:08,605 --> 00:13:10,764
would say, about four meals a day, and

378
00:13:10,764 --> 00:13:12,365
each meal, like I said, takes about forty

379
00:13:12,365 --> 00:13:13,804
five minutes to an hour. Just,

380
00:13:14,284 --> 00:13:17,485
just very slow to eat. Takes him a

381
00:13:17,485 --> 00:13:19,105
very long time to chew.

382
00:13:19,649 --> 00:13:22,449
We've had swallow studies. He does not have

383
00:13:22,449 --> 00:13:25,269
really any swallowing impairment other than just being

384
00:13:25,329 --> 00:13:27,569
very slow. And, you know, we can give

385
00:13:27,569 --> 00:13:30,049
him meats. We we don't just because it's

386
00:13:30,209 --> 00:13:31,809
we we give him chopped up meats. We

387
00:13:31,809 --> 00:13:33,914
don't give him give him whole meat. Don't

388
00:13:33,914 --> 00:13:35,215
want him to choke. But,

389
00:13:35,754 --> 00:13:37,995
we we try to be strategic in what

390
00:13:37,995 --> 00:13:41,115
is the magic recipe of giving him foods

391
00:13:41,115 --> 00:13:42,794
that are soft enough to eat, that he

392
00:13:42,794 --> 00:13:45,914
can eat enough quality quantity of that has

393
00:13:45,914 --> 00:13:46,735
enough calories

394
00:13:47,330 --> 00:13:49,090
to get some muscle mass on him, but

395
00:13:49,090 --> 00:13:51,029
not enough that we overstuff him.

396
00:13:51,649 --> 00:13:53,490
And so it's just it's been a challenge,

397
00:13:53,490 --> 00:13:55,330
really, really, really been a challenge. And I

398
00:13:55,330 --> 00:13:57,169
think as you know, here's where my professional

399
00:13:57,169 --> 00:13:59,410
brain comes in. As an SLP who's board

400
00:13:59,410 --> 00:14:00,790
certified in swallowing disorders,

401
00:14:01,485 --> 00:14:03,804
I took a lot of pride in how

402
00:14:03,804 --> 00:14:05,644
far we had come with him. You know,

403
00:14:05,644 --> 00:14:08,125
we've had some wonderful SLPs that have worked

404
00:14:08,125 --> 00:14:10,544
with him. Just they'll be lifelong dear friends.

405
00:14:11,085 --> 00:14:12,845
And, you know, he even was discharged from

406
00:14:12,845 --> 00:14:15,085
feeding therapy about two years ago just because

407
00:14:15,085 --> 00:14:16,365
he was doing well. You know?

408
00:14:17,179 --> 00:14:18,620
He would eat you know, he'll eat chicken

409
00:14:18,620 --> 00:14:20,299
fingers and french fries if, you know, they

410
00:14:20,299 --> 00:14:22,059
go out on a field trip. And, you

411
00:14:22,059 --> 00:14:24,459
know, there really wasn't there wasn't much more

412
00:14:24,459 --> 00:14:26,299
progress we could make other than how do

413
00:14:26,299 --> 00:14:28,059
you get the kid to eat faster who

414
00:14:28,059 --> 00:14:30,654
overall has just very low tone, very poor

415
00:14:30,654 --> 00:14:32,495
tone. So, you know, we were at a

416
00:14:32,495 --> 00:14:34,415
good place, or so I thought. You know,

417
00:14:34,415 --> 00:14:35,375
I I thought we were at a good

418
00:14:35,375 --> 00:14:37,375
place. He he does have GI issues. He

419
00:14:37,375 --> 00:14:38,595
is followed by a GI.

420
00:14:39,455 --> 00:14:42,014
Again, they you know, we've had endoscopies on

421
00:14:42,014 --> 00:14:44,200
him, have not found anything, but he does

422
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,120
have reflux. He he does vomit at times.

423
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:46,620
So,

424
00:14:47,159 --> 00:14:49,960
just just some some interesting funky things that

425
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,919
we just can't tie together sometimes. So I

426
00:14:52,919 --> 00:14:55,559
wanted to lay that foundation down. I wanted

427
00:14:55,559 --> 00:14:56,715
to give you all the context

428
00:14:57,195 --> 00:14:59,434
for where we went this summer and and

429
00:14:59,434 --> 00:15:01,274
why we got there. So all that to

430
00:15:01,274 --> 00:15:01,774
say,

431
00:15:02,315 --> 00:15:04,415
it's it's tough to feed him. And

432
00:15:05,035 --> 00:15:06,875
as, you know, we now are a two

433
00:15:06,875 --> 00:15:09,675
household family, and sometimes on the weekends, you

434
00:15:09,675 --> 00:15:12,009
know, it it's as my daughter's getting older

435
00:15:12,009 --> 00:15:14,649
too, she's five now. She loves having little

436
00:15:14,649 --> 00:15:16,649
neighborhood friends over, and and I love that,

437
00:15:16,649 --> 00:15:18,330
you know, we we have friends in our

438
00:15:18,330 --> 00:15:19,930
house, and that just makes me happy that

439
00:15:19,930 --> 00:15:21,769
we have a fun, loud house full of

440
00:15:21,769 --> 00:15:23,370
friends on the weekend. But the thing that

441
00:15:23,370 --> 00:15:25,769
became challenging is, you know, sometimes this summer,

442
00:15:25,769 --> 00:15:26,865
she'd be in the pool with her friends

443
00:15:26,865 --> 00:15:28,144
and I'd have to say, you know, hey.

444
00:15:28,144 --> 00:15:29,585
Oh, everybody's gotta get out of the pool.

445
00:15:29,585 --> 00:15:30,945
I gotta go in and feed Cam. You

446
00:15:30,945 --> 00:15:32,544
know, we and it would take me about

447
00:15:32,544 --> 00:15:34,625
an hour, and it just became you know,

448
00:15:34,625 --> 00:15:36,065
my daughter would say, well, that really stinks.

449
00:15:36,065 --> 00:15:37,504
Like, I just wanna keep playing with my

450
00:15:37,504 --> 00:15:39,539
friends. You know, why why can't you just,

451
00:15:39,699 --> 00:15:41,299
you know, why can't Bubba eat later or

452
00:15:41,299 --> 00:15:42,980
something like that? And it just those sort

453
00:15:42,980 --> 00:15:44,899
of things little just weighed on me, like,

454
00:15:44,899 --> 00:15:46,579
as a as a sister of someone with

455
00:15:46,579 --> 00:15:48,740
special needs. I just my heart hurt for

456
00:15:48,740 --> 00:15:50,419
her a little bit. But that being said,

457
00:15:50,419 --> 00:15:52,995
she's the most amazing sister to him, and

458
00:15:53,134 --> 00:15:54,495
they they're not in the same school this

459
00:15:54,495 --> 00:15:55,615
year, but they were last year and they

460
00:15:55,615 --> 00:15:57,774
were in camp together. And she loves him.

461
00:15:57,774 --> 00:15:59,294
She takes such good care of him. She

462
00:15:59,294 --> 00:16:01,534
tells all the teachers and and friends things

463
00:16:01,534 --> 00:16:02,814
that he needs to know. And and she's

464
00:16:02,814 --> 00:16:04,589
a great sister, but she's also five, and

465
00:16:04,589 --> 00:16:06,589
she, you know, wants to to have her

466
00:16:06,589 --> 00:16:08,589
own her own free time. So it became

467
00:16:08,589 --> 00:16:10,350
a little more difficult to, you know, how

468
00:16:10,350 --> 00:16:12,429
do we juggle this as a, you know,

469
00:16:12,429 --> 00:16:15,149
single parent home? And, you know, sometimes my

470
00:16:15,149 --> 00:16:16,589
ex husband would call and say, you know,

471
00:16:16,589 --> 00:16:18,190
I'm I'm trying to do something with my

472
00:16:18,190 --> 00:16:20,485
daughter. It's just hard for me to to

473
00:16:20,485 --> 00:16:22,404
feed our son too. And, you know, we

474
00:16:22,404 --> 00:16:24,085
don't have our nanny all the time. So

475
00:16:24,085 --> 00:16:25,684
it's just the two of us try to

476
00:16:25,684 --> 00:16:27,445
juggle it on weekends. And so sometimes I

477
00:16:27,445 --> 00:16:29,684
would go over there just to feed my

478
00:16:29,684 --> 00:16:31,445
son, and and it's like, you know, how

479
00:16:31,445 --> 00:16:33,845
how practical is this? And and it it

480
00:16:33,845 --> 00:16:36,160
stinks that, you know, it's something that we

481
00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,320
struggled with, but it also we didn't think

482
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:39,600
about it or talk about it because that

483
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:41,200
just is the reality of our situation. And

484
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:42,160
it and it is what it is. You

485
00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:43,200
know, you do what you have to do

486
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:44,960
for your kids. And, you know, I love

487
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,120
my little munchkin more than anything. He's the

488
00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,040
cutest little Bubba. So all that to say,

489
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,345
we were, I was talking with a friend,

490
00:16:51,725 --> 00:16:53,245
and it was someone that was introduced to

491
00:16:53,245 --> 00:16:54,044
me this summer.

492
00:16:54,445 --> 00:16:56,044
I have have a friend here in our

493
00:16:56,044 --> 00:16:58,284
neighborhood who is also friends with this family.

494
00:16:58,284 --> 00:16:59,245
And they said, oh, do you, you know,

495
00:16:59,245 --> 00:17:00,845
do you know this family? They they have

496
00:17:00,845 --> 00:17:02,684
a a son with special needs about the

497
00:17:02,684 --> 00:17:04,125
same age as your son. I said, no.

498
00:17:04,125 --> 00:17:05,529
I I don't know them. So, you know,

499
00:17:05,529 --> 00:17:07,289
we had mutual friends introduce us. So I

500
00:17:07,289 --> 00:17:08,890
got talking to this mom and, you know,

501
00:17:08,890 --> 00:17:10,410
tell me about your son's situation. I'll, you

502
00:17:10,410 --> 00:17:12,009
know, tell you about mine. And, you know,

503
00:17:12,009 --> 00:17:13,529
I was just telling her, you know, just

504
00:17:13,529 --> 00:17:15,130
just a little bit about him. And and

505
00:17:15,130 --> 00:17:16,910
she says, oh, yeah. You know, we we

506
00:17:16,970 --> 00:17:18,924
we don't feed him by mouth anymore. We

507
00:17:18,924 --> 00:17:20,125
use a feeding tube. And she said, well,

508
00:17:20,125 --> 00:17:21,484
you guys have a feeding tube. Right? And

509
00:17:21,484 --> 00:17:23,004
I said, no. We we don't. You know,

510
00:17:23,004 --> 00:17:25,325
I said as as an SLP who is

511
00:17:25,325 --> 00:17:27,724
board certified in swallowing, I take so much

512
00:17:27,724 --> 00:17:29,724
pride in my child being able to eat

513
00:17:29,724 --> 00:17:32,120
by mouth. And it was just this real

514
00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,279
hit to my ego to say. And she

515
00:17:34,279 --> 00:17:36,440
said to me, getting a feeding tube for

516
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,180
my son has been the absolute best decision

517
00:17:39,559 --> 00:17:42,059
for our family. It has been the biggest

518
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:44,620
blessing that our family could have ever endured.

519
00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:46,940
And that was, like, the biggest

520
00:17:47,565 --> 00:17:49,724
shock to my heart. Like, just the biggest

521
00:17:49,724 --> 00:17:52,524
shock ever. I, in a million years, never

522
00:17:52,524 --> 00:17:54,625
thought a feeding tube would be a blessing

523
00:17:54,684 --> 00:17:56,684
for my son, and I never looked at

524
00:17:56,684 --> 00:17:58,544
that looked at it that way. And

525
00:17:59,005 --> 00:18:00,784
I just it was such a interesting,

526
00:18:01,244 --> 00:18:02,144
like, professional

527
00:18:02,524 --> 00:18:05,319
ego death for me to say, holy cow.

528
00:18:05,319 --> 00:18:07,079
Like, how have I had my blinders on

529
00:18:07,079 --> 00:18:09,160
for so long that I didn't realize that

530
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,319
feeding tubes could be good? And, you know,

531
00:18:11,319 --> 00:18:13,559
all all I think about is SLPs and,

532
00:18:13,559 --> 00:18:15,559
you know, medical SLPs. We just wanna get

533
00:18:15,559 --> 00:18:17,085
patients off feeding tubes. We wanna get them

534
00:18:17,085 --> 00:18:18,765
meeting by mouth. That is what we do.

535
00:18:18,765 --> 00:18:20,285
That is our job. That is our sole

536
00:18:20,285 --> 00:18:22,285
purpose. And, you know, now I know you

537
00:18:22,285 --> 00:18:23,644
know, I I know that patients with head

538
00:18:23,644 --> 00:18:25,085
and neck cancer, you know, yes, they get

539
00:18:25,085 --> 00:18:27,005
feeding tubes while, you know, they're going through

540
00:18:27,005 --> 00:18:28,765
chemo, radiation, and, you know, but the goal

541
00:18:28,765 --> 00:18:30,845
is to eventually, once they're cancer free, to

542
00:18:30,845 --> 00:18:32,204
get the tube out so they can go

543
00:18:32,204 --> 00:18:33,670
on and continue with their quality of life.

544
00:18:33,670 --> 00:18:35,350
And so for me, the thought of a

545
00:18:35,350 --> 00:18:37,430
feeding tube being a blessing for my son

546
00:18:37,430 --> 00:18:39,450
who does eat by mouth, mind you,

547
00:18:40,150 --> 00:18:42,710
just like I said, it just was shocking

548
00:18:42,710 --> 00:18:44,309
shocking to me. And so I started looking

549
00:18:44,309 --> 00:18:46,009
into it more and and me

550
00:18:46,545 --> 00:18:48,465
as as a medical SLP, you know, who's

551
00:18:48,465 --> 00:18:50,545
worked in hospitals, who's worked in skilled nursing,

552
00:18:50,545 --> 00:18:52,625
I just think of, okay, there's this IV

553
00:18:52,625 --> 00:18:54,065
pole and we hang the bag and he

554
00:18:54,065 --> 00:18:55,904
has this tube and it goes into his

555
00:18:55,904 --> 00:18:58,065
stomach. And I just think of my wild

556
00:18:58,065 --> 00:18:59,670
and crazy little man, and he would rip

557
00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:01,377
that tube out so fast. And so I

558
00:19:01,377 --> 00:19:03,085
just, you know, I said, I don't think

559
00:19:03,085 --> 00:19:04,792
there's a way that we could do that

560
00:19:04,792 --> 00:19:06,713
for him. Like, that just there's no way

561
00:19:06,713 --> 00:19:08,421
he would allow a tube to be hooked

562
00:19:08,421 --> 00:19:10,128
up to him without ripping it out. And

563
00:19:10,128 --> 00:19:11,836
she said, well, we just do bolus feeds.

564
00:19:11,836 --> 00:19:13,544
We just do gravity bolus feeds. And and

565
00:19:13,544 --> 00:19:15,251
I said, okay. But doesn't that take forever?

566
00:19:15,251 --> 00:19:17,384
Like, to me, it was kinda like, if

567
00:19:17,384 --> 00:19:19,325
if a tube feeding is gonna take forever,

568
00:19:19,625 --> 00:19:20,904
why wouldn't I just feed in my mouth

569
00:19:20,904 --> 00:19:22,505
if that takes forever as well? And she

570
00:19:22,505 --> 00:19:24,345
said, no. It takes a minute and a

571
00:19:24,345 --> 00:19:26,825
half to put down all of his calories

572
00:19:26,825 --> 00:19:28,424
for the meal, and I was I was

573
00:19:28,424 --> 00:19:30,779
just shocked to hear that. And, you know,

574
00:19:30,839 --> 00:19:32,680
if all of you out there listening knew

575
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:34,920
all of this and and and this is

576
00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,400
news to me, then it's just crazy. Crazy

577
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:38,920
to think that I didn't know all of

578
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,160
these things. And so I just got talking

579
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:42,413
to her more and more, and she said,

580
00:19:42,413 --> 00:19:44,164
you know, it really might be a blessing

581
00:19:44,164 --> 00:19:45,915
for you guys too. And she said it

582
00:19:45,915 --> 00:19:47,665
just gives us freedom. Like, it gives us

583
00:19:47,665 --> 00:19:49,416
time freedom to not have to worry about,

584
00:19:49,416 --> 00:19:51,167
you know, do we have to stop? Do

585
00:19:51,167 --> 00:19:52,917
we have to pull over and feed him?

586
00:19:52,917 --> 00:19:54,668
Do we have to interrupt our day to

587
00:19:54,668 --> 00:19:56,419
feed him? You know, can we just get

588
00:19:56,419 --> 00:19:58,490
him new his nutrition quickly and easily? And

589
00:19:58,490 --> 00:20:00,009
everyone moves on with their day. And I

590
00:20:00,009 --> 00:20:02,650
just instantly thought, like, that would be a

591
00:20:02,650 --> 00:20:05,210
godsend, not only for mornings because mornings are

592
00:20:05,210 --> 00:20:06,109
rough. I,

593
00:20:06,650 --> 00:20:08,410
you know, I'm I'm a single parent household

594
00:20:08,410 --> 00:20:09,769
now and trying to get my son out

595
00:20:09,850 --> 00:20:11,210
ready and out the door, get my five

596
00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:12,910
year old daughter ready and out the door.

597
00:20:12,994 --> 00:20:14,595
Mornings are tough. And then you add in,

598
00:20:14,595 --> 00:20:16,035
you know, trying to feed him for about

599
00:20:16,035 --> 00:20:18,035
forty five minutes, and it's it's tough. So

600
00:20:18,035 --> 00:20:19,394
I just thought, oh my gosh. If I

601
00:20:19,394 --> 00:20:21,315
could just give him a tube, tube feeding,

602
00:20:21,315 --> 00:20:22,674
that would take a minute and a half.

603
00:20:22,674 --> 00:20:24,355
That would just be insane. And then thinking

604
00:20:24,355 --> 00:20:26,190
about our weekends too, as I shared,

605
00:20:26,570 --> 00:20:28,410
you know, just wanna do things with my

606
00:20:28,410 --> 00:20:30,330
daughter and let her play and, you know,

607
00:20:30,330 --> 00:20:32,250
not have to take tons of time out

608
00:20:32,250 --> 00:20:34,090
to to feed my son. We could just,

609
00:20:34,090 --> 00:20:36,170
you know, get him nutrition quickly and easily

610
00:20:36,170 --> 00:20:37,930
and effectively and and move on with our

611
00:20:37,930 --> 00:20:38,750
day. And

612
00:20:39,085 --> 00:20:40,365
so I just got thinking about it. I

613
00:20:40,365 --> 00:20:41,805
got thinking about it. You know, I brought

614
00:20:41,805 --> 00:20:43,404
it up to my ex husband. Like I

615
00:20:43,404 --> 00:20:45,005
said, he and I have a great great

616
00:20:45,005 --> 00:20:46,765
relationship and, you know, we talk about all

617
00:20:46,765 --> 00:20:48,205
these things with both of our kids and,

618
00:20:48,205 --> 00:20:50,765
you know, he wasn't wasn't set on it

619
00:20:50,765 --> 00:20:52,785
at first. He didn't see all the benefits

620
00:20:52,845 --> 00:20:54,539
that I saw at first, and and he

621
00:20:54,539 --> 00:20:55,819
had the same exact concerns I did. He

622
00:20:55,819 --> 00:20:57,259
said, well, Tracy, he's gonna rip the thing

623
00:20:57,259 --> 00:20:58,700
out. Like, there's no way he's gonna let

624
00:20:58,700 --> 00:20:59,980
us do it. I said, oh, I don't

625
00:20:59,980 --> 00:21:01,259
know. I said, I I I think we

626
00:21:01,259 --> 00:21:02,940
should at least try. Like, I I I

627
00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:04,940
think it's something we should really look into

628
00:21:04,940 --> 00:21:06,539
and consider because I think it can be

629
00:21:06,539 --> 00:21:08,505
really helpful for all of us. And, you

630
00:21:08,505 --> 00:21:09,865
know, one of the other things too that

631
00:21:09,865 --> 00:21:12,904
was a contributing factor was, his physical therapist.

632
00:21:12,904 --> 00:21:14,424
He has a he has an awesome PT

633
00:21:14,424 --> 00:21:15,785
team. And they said, you know, we're sort

634
00:21:15,785 --> 00:21:18,105
of at this point now where he's burning

635
00:21:18,105 --> 00:21:19,945
so many calories in his p in his

636
00:21:19,945 --> 00:21:22,025
PT that we just can't get enough calories

637
00:21:22,025 --> 00:21:24,609
in him by mouth because he also burns

638
00:21:24,609 --> 00:21:26,609
so many calories just trying to take in

639
00:21:26,609 --> 00:21:28,130
the food that he's taking in because it

640
00:21:28,130 --> 00:21:29,809
takes him so long. And so if you

641
00:21:29,809 --> 00:21:32,150
think of it from, like, a physiological standpoint

642
00:21:32,210 --> 00:21:34,130
like that, that makes tons of sense too.

643
00:21:34,130 --> 00:21:36,369
So his therapy team was on board with

644
00:21:36,369 --> 00:21:38,849
us exploring this as well because they wanna

645
00:21:38,849 --> 00:21:40,315
get more nutrition in the kids so that

646
00:21:40,315 --> 00:21:42,315
they can get more, you know, muscle growth

647
00:21:42,315 --> 00:21:45,355
and and hopefully get them walking someday. And

648
00:21:45,355 --> 00:21:47,595
so yeah. So so we explored it. So

649
00:21:47,595 --> 00:21:49,514
I, you know, made an appointment with the

650
00:21:49,514 --> 00:21:50,815
Children's Hospital here.

651
00:21:51,274 --> 00:21:54,039
It was the general surgeon here that did

652
00:21:54,039 --> 00:21:56,359
the the surgery. Like I said, he he'd

653
00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,440
been to a GI, but he has some

654
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,920
GI issues just in in mild form of

655
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,799
reflux and some vomiting, but no actual conditions.

656
00:22:03,799 --> 00:22:05,720
Like, we've had him tested for EOE. We've

657
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:06,861
had him, you know, looked at for a

658
00:22:06,861 --> 00:22:08,195
bunch of different things, and and none of

659
00:22:08,195 --> 00:22:09,634
that was really on the radar. So I

660
00:22:09,634 --> 00:22:11,795
ended up meeting with the GI doctor, and,

661
00:22:11,795 --> 00:22:14,035
you know, he said, yeah. He, you know,

662
00:22:14,035 --> 00:22:16,755
definitely does pretty much qualify for, you know,

663
00:22:16,755 --> 00:22:17,654
being malnourished

664
00:22:18,035 --> 00:22:18,535
because

665
00:22:18,940 --> 00:22:20,779
of he's just underweight. He's never ever been

666
00:22:20,779 --> 00:22:22,220
on the growth curve. He's just a little

667
00:22:22,220 --> 00:22:22,720
guy.

668
00:22:23,259 --> 00:22:25,980
So yeah. So GI was onboard with us

669
00:22:25,980 --> 00:22:27,279
going forward with this.

670
00:22:28,140 --> 00:22:30,940
So yeah. So fast forward to I met

671
00:22:30,940 --> 00:22:33,465
with general surgery at the Children's Hospital,

672
00:22:34,005 --> 00:22:36,244
and the surgeon could not have been nicer.

673
00:22:36,244 --> 00:22:37,684
Nicest, nicest guy in the face of the

674
00:22:37,684 --> 00:22:40,105
earth, exactly what you would expect to be,

675
00:22:40,404 --> 00:22:42,965
at a children's hospital, and answered my questions

676
00:22:42,965 --> 00:22:43,465
and,

677
00:22:44,244 --> 00:22:46,079
you know, just said, basically, you know, after

678
00:22:46,159 --> 00:22:48,399
the procedure, you know, we'll explain, you know,

679
00:22:48,399 --> 00:22:50,159
how to use the tube and and more

680
00:22:50,159 --> 00:22:52,079
things like that. And, you know, I know

681
00:22:52,079 --> 00:22:54,559
my situation was unique because I am an

682
00:22:54,559 --> 00:22:57,519
SLP, and I do know this stuff. And

683
00:22:57,519 --> 00:22:59,359
my son is also we've worked with the

684
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,424
same dietitian since he was literally born. We

685
00:23:02,484 --> 00:23:04,404
we hired a dietitian when I brought him

686
00:23:04,404 --> 00:23:06,325
home from the hospital after fifteen days in

687
00:23:06,325 --> 00:23:06,904
the NICU,

688
00:23:07,444 --> 00:23:09,204
and she's been with us ever, ever, ever

689
00:23:09,204 --> 00:23:12,244
since. Part of her specialty also is helping

690
00:23:12,244 --> 00:23:13,845
kids, you know, get the right amount of

691
00:23:13,845 --> 00:23:15,785
nutrition through tube feeding. So

692
00:23:16,109 --> 00:23:17,390
she was on board with this. And I

693
00:23:17,390 --> 00:23:19,069
think one thing that, you know, I wanna

694
00:23:19,069 --> 00:23:20,990
share from this is I called her and

695
00:23:20,990 --> 00:23:22,349
told her, hey. This is what we're thinking.

696
00:23:22,349 --> 00:23:23,569
And she said, you know, Teresa,

697
00:23:24,190 --> 00:23:25,789
this is something I was actually thinking about

698
00:23:25,789 --> 00:23:27,470
for you guys last year. I just didn't

699
00:23:27,470 --> 00:23:29,144
know if you're ready to hear it. And

700
00:23:29,144 --> 00:23:30,904
I've sat with that for a little bit

701
00:23:30,904 --> 00:23:33,144
because and I'm torn. Right? I think as

702
00:23:33,144 --> 00:23:34,045
a medical professional,

703
00:23:34,424 --> 00:23:36,664
you know, it is our duty to share

704
00:23:36,664 --> 00:23:37,164
things

705
00:23:37,545 --> 00:23:38,285
with families

706
00:23:38,585 --> 00:23:40,744
even if they might not be ready to

707
00:23:40,744 --> 00:23:42,509
hear it, if it might be in the

708
00:23:42,509 --> 00:23:44,350
best interest of the child. And so I

709
00:23:44,350 --> 00:23:46,190
don't fault her for for not saying anything

710
00:23:46,190 --> 00:23:47,390
to me last year. It might not have

711
00:23:47,390 --> 00:23:49,549
been the time. She might have sensed sort

712
00:23:49,549 --> 00:23:51,230
of how crazy my my life was at

713
00:23:51,230 --> 00:23:52,910
the time, but I thought about that. And

714
00:23:52,910 --> 00:23:54,769
and I think I think about that professionally

715
00:23:54,910 --> 00:23:56,634
a lot is, you know, how do we

716
00:23:56,634 --> 00:23:58,015
have these difficult conversations

717
00:23:58,315 --> 00:23:59,855
with patients and their families?

718
00:24:00,315 --> 00:24:03,195
And, you know, she's probably right. If someone

719
00:24:03,195 --> 00:24:04,474
had just sort of brought it up and

720
00:24:04,474 --> 00:24:05,914
said, I think your son needs a feeding

721
00:24:05,914 --> 00:24:08,170
tube, I probably would have have thought that

722
00:24:08,170 --> 00:24:09,930
I was just the biggest failure on the

723
00:24:09,930 --> 00:24:11,849
face of the earth as an SLP and

724
00:24:11,849 --> 00:24:13,529
as a mom. Because like I said, I

725
00:24:13,529 --> 00:24:15,710
just take so much pride in getting patients

726
00:24:15,849 --> 00:24:16,809
to eat by mouth.

727
00:24:17,289 --> 00:24:19,049
So so so yeah. So I I sat

728
00:24:19,049 --> 00:24:20,170
with that for a little bit, and then

729
00:24:20,170 --> 00:24:22,035
I'm glad she was totally on board. And,

730
00:24:22,035 --> 00:24:23,634
you know, she said, I I know because

731
00:24:23,634 --> 00:24:25,715
we supplement with just a lot of different

732
00:24:25,715 --> 00:24:28,195
nutritional supplements. We put different powders in his

733
00:24:28,195 --> 00:24:29,634
food and things like that just to get

734
00:24:29,634 --> 00:24:31,315
him more protein and more calories. And, you

735
00:24:31,315 --> 00:24:32,674
know, she said, I know what you know,

736
00:24:32,674 --> 00:24:34,755
there's different supplement lines you guys are already

737
00:24:34,755 --> 00:24:36,990
using that have tube feeding formula. So I'll

738
00:24:36,990 --> 00:24:38,630
I'll recommend those. And so I told the

739
00:24:38,630 --> 00:24:40,230
surgeon, you know, we have a dietitian already

740
00:24:40,230 --> 00:24:42,470
set up. You know, we're we're good there.

741
00:24:42,470 --> 00:24:43,750
So he said, okay. So I won't have

742
00:24:43,750 --> 00:24:45,829
the hospital dietitian call you. You know, you

743
00:24:45,829 --> 00:24:47,829
you guys are are all set there. So

744
00:24:47,829 --> 00:24:49,845
all that to say, we set the date

745
00:24:49,845 --> 00:24:52,085
to get the tube put in. And we

746
00:24:52,085 --> 00:24:53,525
got a call you know, you get a

747
00:24:53,525 --> 00:24:55,445
call from the the secretary about two days

748
00:24:55,445 --> 00:24:56,964
in advance, and they give you your, you

749
00:24:56,964 --> 00:24:59,224
know, time to report to the hospital. And,

750
00:24:59,684 --> 00:25:01,125
you know, I just said I'm just trying

751
00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:03,330
to navigate childcare for my daughter while we're

752
00:25:03,330 --> 00:25:04,289
there. You know, can you give me a

753
00:25:04,289 --> 00:25:05,809
rundown of what the day might look like?

754
00:25:05,809 --> 00:25:07,170
And she said, yeah. You know, you'll come

755
00:25:07,170 --> 00:25:08,930
in at yeah. She said, be there, you

756
00:25:08,930 --> 00:25:10,690
know, seven, 08:00 in the morning. And she

757
00:25:10,690 --> 00:25:12,369
said, you know, he should be discharged by

758
00:25:12,369 --> 00:25:13,730
about four. And I said, oh, okay. So

759
00:25:13,730 --> 00:25:15,845
it's just a, you know, an outpatient procedure.

760
00:25:15,845 --> 00:25:17,444
And she said, well, yeah. She said it

761
00:25:17,524 --> 00:25:19,444
the the surgery itself takes maybe an hour

762
00:25:19,444 --> 00:25:20,724
or two, but then, you know, he'll go

763
00:25:20,724 --> 00:25:22,484
in recovery. And, you know, once he wakes

764
00:25:22,484 --> 00:25:23,924
up and you're good, you can take him

765
00:25:23,924 --> 00:25:26,884
home. So I, you know, was just planning

766
00:25:26,884 --> 00:25:28,644
on my you know, I prepped my daughter

767
00:25:28,644 --> 00:25:30,299
for this and just said, you know, Bubba's

768
00:25:30,380 --> 00:25:31,980
having surgery. We're gonna put a tube in

769
00:25:31,980 --> 00:25:32,960
his belly. And,

770
00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:35,019
she was just so cute the way that

771
00:25:35,019 --> 00:25:36,779
she listened to that. And she she wants

772
00:25:36,779 --> 00:25:38,140
to be a doctor when she gets older,

773
00:25:38,140 --> 00:25:39,840
and I truly believe she will be one.

774
00:25:40,860 --> 00:25:42,220
I know it's crazy to say that at

775
00:25:42,220 --> 00:25:44,880
five, but her medical knowledge is absolutely insane.

776
00:25:45,414 --> 00:25:47,095
And she's just enthralled with all of this

777
00:25:47,095 --> 00:25:49,174
stuff, finds it so fascinating. But, you know,

778
00:25:49,174 --> 00:25:50,454
so I just told her, you know, we'll

779
00:25:50,454 --> 00:25:51,815
be back. Bubba will have a tube in

780
00:25:51,815 --> 00:25:53,335
his belly, and, you know, he'll be able

781
00:25:53,335 --> 00:25:54,535
to eat a little bit better.

782
00:25:54,934 --> 00:25:56,695
So, yeah, so my mom went with me

783
00:25:56,695 --> 00:25:57,595
to the surgery,

784
00:25:58,295 --> 00:26:00,740
took me took me you know, took us

785
00:26:00,740 --> 00:26:01,720
both. We got there,

786
00:26:02,740 --> 00:26:04,019
and, apparently, it was a rough day. It

787
00:26:04,019 --> 00:26:05,799
was a rough day at the Children's Hospital

788
00:26:06,179 --> 00:26:07,079
and for

789
00:26:07,380 --> 00:26:09,460
surgery. And he was supposed to go in

790
00:26:09,619 --> 00:26:10,819
you know, he's supposed to be, I think,

791
00:26:10,819 --> 00:26:12,099
maybe the second or third kid in the

792
00:26:12,099 --> 00:26:13,299
morning because they said, you know, they do

793
00:26:13,299 --> 00:26:15,174
the anybody babies, you know, first thing, but

794
00:26:15,174 --> 00:26:17,195
then they would they I guess, the the

795
00:26:17,414 --> 00:26:19,914
surgery, you know, schedule is usually

796
00:26:20,375 --> 00:26:22,295
infants and then kids with special needs, and

797
00:26:22,295 --> 00:26:23,734
then they just go in order of age

798
00:26:23,734 --> 00:26:25,414
because the kids are, you know, NPO for

799
00:26:25,414 --> 00:26:27,134
midnight. So he was supposed to be about,

800
00:26:27,134 --> 00:26:28,890
you know, maybe third that day. So it's

801
00:26:28,890 --> 00:26:30,809
getting to be, I don't know, one, two

802
00:26:30,809 --> 00:26:32,910
in the afternoon, and he is just

803
00:26:33,529 --> 00:26:34,029
restless.

804
00:26:34,330 --> 00:26:36,330
So restless. So so my son also doesn't

805
00:26:36,330 --> 00:26:36,730
walk.

806
00:26:37,369 --> 00:26:38,809
So, you know, we have him basically in

807
00:26:38,809 --> 00:26:40,090
a hospital bed. I'm trying to lay there

808
00:26:40,090 --> 00:26:41,130
with him. I'm trying to put movies on

809
00:26:41,130 --> 00:26:42,250
him. I'm trying to play toys with him.

810
00:26:42,250 --> 00:26:43,414
He's trying to roll out of

811
00:26:43,795 --> 00:26:45,154
the bed. It was just it was chaotic.

812
00:26:45,154 --> 00:26:47,555
It was stressful. It was awful. And, you

813
00:26:47,555 --> 00:26:48,995
know, I just said, if this is gonna,

814
00:26:48,995 --> 00:26:50,515
like, continue, like, we're gonna have to come

815
00:26:50,515 --> 00:26:52,434
back another day because I'm this is just

816
00:26:52,434 --> 00:26:53,654
awful for all of us.

817
00:26:54,195 --> 00:26:55,889
He was screaming in the hallways. Like, it

818
00:26:55,889 --> 00:26:57,970
was just crazy. The surgeon comes in and

819
00:26:57,970 --> 00:26:59,730
says, okay. You know, we're getting ready to

820
00:26:59,730 --> 00:27:02,049
do the surgery, but, you know, just wanna

821
00:27:02,049 --> 00:27:04,149
make sure you guys are good to stay,

822
00:27:04,210 --> 00:27:06,130
you know, stay overnight, and we've got that

823
00:27:06,130 --> 00:27:07,169
all set up for you. And I said,

824
00:27:07,169 --> 00:27:08,934
what are you talking about? We're not prepared

825
00:27:08,934 --> 00:27:10,775
to stay overnight. And he was like, every

826
00:27:10,775 --> 00:27:12,615
time we do this, we keep them overnight

827
00:27:12,615 --> 00:27:14,055
just to make sure that in the morning,

828
00:27:14,055 --> 00:27:15,255
you know, you guys know how to do

829
00:27:15,255 --> 00:27:16,775
the tube feeding. The tube is good and

830
00:27:16,775 --> 00:27:18,215
working. And I said, okay. No one ever

831
00:27:18,215 --> 00:27:19,674
told us that, first of all.

832
00:27:20,215 --> 00:27:22,440
And second of all, like, I'm okay getting

833
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,339
training, you know, from from our village, basically,

834
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,399
or I'm happy to even come back tomorrow

835
00:27:27,399 --> 00:27:29,240
and get get more training. I just we

836
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,000
didn't bring anything to stay overnight. I have

837
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,220
to get home to my daughter.

838
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:34,599
There's no way he's gonna sleep in a

839
00:27:34,599 --> 00:27:35,595
hospital bed tonight.

840
00:27:36,554 --> 00:27:38,634
He's gonna try rolling himself out. Like, there's

841
00:27:38,634 --> 00:27:39,534
just a million

842
00:27:40,234 --> 00:27:42,075
scenarios that I was like, this there's no

843
00:27:42,075 --> 00:27:43,595
way this can work. And and the surgeon

844
00:27:43,595 --> 00:27:44,554
was like, well, what have you done in

845
00:27:44,554 --> 00:27:45,994
the past? I said, he's literally never spent

846
00:27:45,994 --> 00:27:47,515
a night in the hospital other than, you

847
00:27:47,515 --> 00:27:50,414
know, fifteen fifteen nights in the NICU. So

848
00:27:50,590 --> 00:27:52,269
he said, okay. He said, you know, with

849
00:27:52,269 --> 00:27:54,430
your professional knowledge, you know, if you're comfortable

850
00:27:54,430 --> 00:27:56,269
with me, we'll do the surgery. I want

851
00:27:56,269 --> 00:27:58,269
you to meet with the nurses right after,

852
00:27:58,269 --> 00:27:59,869
you know, they'll give you the post op

853
00:27:59,869 --> 00:28:01,950
care, all that. And then tomorrow, I do

854
00:28:01,950 --> 00:28:03,445
want you to come back and, you know,

855
00:28:03,445 --> 00:28:04,965
meet with our nurses, and we'll make sure

856
00:28:04,965 --> 00:28:06,325
that you guys have all the supplies you

857
00:28:06,325 --> 00:28:07,684
need and and get you set up with

858
00:28:07,684 --> 00:28:09,684
the DME and all that. So totally fine.

859
00:28:09,684 --> 00:28:11,545
Sounds good. Sounds great. We do the surgery.

860
00:28:11,605 --> 00:28:13,445
Everything is good. You know, we're talking to

861
00:28:13,445 --> 00:28:15,525
the nurses in recovery. They were just the

862
00:28:15,525 --> 00:28:18,559
sweetest, you know, angels on earth. And she

863
00:28:18,559 --> 00:28:20,559
says to me, you know, usually, we send

864
00:28:20,559 --> 00:28:22,799
you home with these different supplies. She goes,

865
00:28:22,799 --> 00:28:24,320
but we don't have any supplies. I was

866
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:25,200
like, what do you mean you don't have

867
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:26,799
any supplies? And she's like, we don't even

868
00:28:26,799 --> 00:28:28,880
actually have the right tube that fits the

869
00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:30,340
button that goes in here.

870
00:28:30,674 --> 00:28:32,595
We're all out of them. We ordered them.

871
00:28:32,595 --> 00:28:34,515
They're not in. She's like, so I basically,

872
00:28:34,515 --> 00:28:37,154
like, rigged you up a tube concoction that

873
00:28:37,154 --> 00:28:38,914
you can use until you can get in

874
00:28:38,914 --> 00:28:39,735
with the DME

875
00:28:40,115 --> 00:28:42,434
and get the actual tube that hooks into

876
00:28:42,434 --> 00:28:44,674
the Mickey button. So I'm like, okay. Here

877
00:28:44,674 --> 00:28:45,255
it goes.

878
00:28:45,634 --> 00:28:47,500
So the surgeon tells me, you know, I

879
00:28:47,500 --> 00:28:48,619
want you to make sure you give him

880
00:28:48,619 --> 00:28:50,779
a tube feeding at, like, 09:00 tonight or

881
00:28:50,779 --> 00:28:51,900
something. It was, you know, had to do

882
00:28:51,900 --> 00:28:53,579
with the timing of the anesthesia wearing off

883
00:28:53,579 --> 00:28:55,180
and him waking up, and it was it

884
00:28:55,180 --> 00:28:57,180
was a specific time. And so, you know,

885
00:28:57,180 --> 00:28:59,444
the day was long. It was crazy. My

886
00:28:59,444 --> 00:29:01,044
mother goes you know, my mom made sure,

887
00:29:01,044 --> 00:29:02,565
you know, my son and I got home,

888
00:29:02,565 --> 00:29:04,085
and and we were okay. And she's okay.

889
00:29:04,085 --> 00:29:05,125
I'm gonna go. Are you okay? And I

890
00:29:05,125 --> 00:29:06,565
said, yeah. He's, you know, sound asleep. I

891
00:29:06,565 --> 00:29:08,484
said, I'll wake him up at 09:00, and

892
00:29:08,484 --> 00:29:10,325
I'll I'll do his tube. And, you know,

893
00:29:10,325 --> 00:29:12,005
I practice with the nurses there. I you

894
00:29:12,005 --> 00:29:13,684
know, I've done a tube feeding before. I

895
00:29:13,684 --> 00:29:15,150
thought it would be fine.

896
00:29:16,190 --> 00:29:17,710
So I wake them up at 09:00, go

897
00:29:17,710 --> 00:29:19,809
to do the tube feeding, and I clogged

898
00:29:20,190 --> 00:29:22,769
the tube that they tried to give us.

899
00:29:22,830 --> 00:29:25,070
They gave me a type of formula to

900
00:29:25,070 --> 00:29:27,070
stick in the tube, and I just assumed

901
00:29:27,070 --> 00:29:28,930
this was what I was supposed to use.

902
00:29:29,070 --> 00:29:31,125
They did not tell me that's not the

903
00:29:31,125 --> 00:29:32,565
type I was supposed to use. Those were

904
00:29:32,565 --> 00:29:34,565
samples that I had to wait thirty days

905
00:29:34,565 --> 00:29:37,125
to use once his tube or once it

906
00:29:37,125 --> 00:29:39,205
was healed, but there was a special formula

907
00:29:39,205 --> 00:29:40,805
that I was supposed to use that night

908
00:29:40,805 --> 00:29:42,085
that they did not give me. So I

909
00:29:42,085 --> 00:29:44,325
clogged this my son's tube, and I'm just

910
00:29:44,325 --> 00:29:46,279
freaking out. And luckily, I called my neighbor

911
00:29:46,279 --> 00:29:48,039
who was the one that convinced me to

912
00:29:48,039 --> 00:29:49,240
get this in the first place, and she

913
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:50,599
said, oh my gosh. I'll be right over.

914
00:29:50,599 --> 00:29:52,119
Like, I'm in tears, you know, thinking I

915
00:29:52,119 --> 00:29:54,440
just did something horribly wrong already. So she

916
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:56,759
comes over. She helps me. You know, she

917
00:29:56,759 --> 00:29:58,944
brought the she knew exactly what it was

918
00:29:58,944 --> 00:30:00,304
that he was supposed to have that night.

919
00:30:00,304 --> 00:30:01,744
She brought it over. She helped me do

920
00:30:01,744 --> 00:30:03,265
it. We got it in. All was well

921
00:30:03,265 --> 00:30:05,024
and good. So that was our first night

922
00:30:05,024 --> 00:30:05,524
together.

923
00:30:06,065 --> 00:30:07,904
So the next day, you know, I take

924
00:30:07,904 --> 00:30:10,009
him back to the doctor's office, and they

925
00:30:10,009 --> 00:30:11,049
were they were so very sweet in the

926
00:30:11,049 --> 00:30:12,250
doctor's office too, but they said, you know,

927
00:30:12,250 --> 00:30:14,250
we're having this supply problem and we don't

928
00:30:14,250 --> 00:30:15,690
have the stuff to give you that we

929
00:30:15,690 --> 00:30:17,450
normally, you know, would bring you in here

930
00:30:17,450 --> 00:30:18,490
and show you. And so I was a

931
00:30:18,490 --> 00:30:20,569
little perturbed to be honest because I'm like,

932
00:30:20,569 --> 00:30:21,769
why did I drive all the way? It's

933
00:30:21,769 --> 00:30:23,289
not close. It's about an hour from our

934
00:30:23,289 --> 00:30:24,490
house. I'm like, why did I drive all

935
00:30:24,490 --> 00:30:25,644
this way for you guys tell me you

936
00:30:25,644 --> 00:30:27,164
don't have anything to give me, so you

937
00:30:27,164 --> 00:30:29,325
can't really show me how to do anything

938
00:30:29,325 --> 00:30:31,325
because you don't have anything to show me.

939
00:30:31,325 --> 00:30:33,244
They said, you know, there's two different DME

940
00:30:33,244 --> 00:30:35,164
companies they recommend, and they said, you know,

941
00:30:35,164 --> 00:30:36,525
get in touch with either of them. We'll

942
00:30:36,525 --> 00:30:38,525
make sure that they have these exact supplies

943
00:30:38,525 --> 00:30:40,860
that you need. In the meantime, my friend,

944
00:30:40,860 --> 00:30:42,860
my neighbor, who's just been an angel on

945
00:30:42,860 --> 00:30:44,860
earth, you know, told me, hey. Use this

946
00:30:44,860 --> 00:30:46,080
tube. It's the easiest.

947
00:30:46,460 --> 00:30:48,460
She told me exactly what to use. So

948
00:30:48,460 --> 00:30:50,700
I'm ordering this stuff on Amazon because in

949
00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:52,860
the meantime, I'm struggling to get in touch

950
00:30:52,860 --> 00:30:54,160
with these DME companies.

951
00:30:54,505 --> 00:30:56,684
I don't even know the number. I probably

952
00:30:56,744 --> 00:30:59,565
called and left 50 voice mails, 50,

953
00:30:59,704 --> 00:31:02,345
for these companies to return a call to

954
00:31:02,345 --> 00:31:04,664
have my child to do an intake. And

955
00:31:04,664 --> 00:31:06,664
I don't know what went wrong there or

956
00:31:06,664 --> 00:31:08,690
why, but it was just awful. So in

957
00:31:08,690 --> 00:31:09,690
the so like I said, in the meantime,

958
00:31:09,690 --> 00:31:11,869
I'm ordering all of this stuff on Amazon,

959
00:31:12,250 --> 00:31:14,410
out of pocket. The the specific formula that

960
00:31:14,410 --> 00:31:15,930
he was supposed to have in the beginning

961
00:31:15,930 --> 00:31:17,450
that the hospital was supposed to give us

962
00:31:17,450 --> 00:31:19,210
samples of and then the DME was supposed

963
00:31:19,210 --> 00:31:21,365
to give us because insurance was supposed to

964
00:31:21,365 --> 00:31:22,964
pay for it. None of that happened. It's

965
00:31:22,964 --> 00:31:25,204
about $300 box. And so it was about

966
00:31:25,204 --> 00:31:26,244
$303,100

967
00:31:26,244 --> 00:31:28,644
bucks every five to six days. And so

968
00:31:28,644 --> 00:31:30,484
there was that and then also purchasing the

969
00:31:30,484 --> 00:31:33,304
supplies. So finally, I believe it was about,

970
00:31:33,569 --> 00:31:34,849
no. It was maybe a week and a

971
00:31:34,849 --> 00:31:37,569
half after the surgery. I had spent hour

972
00:31:37,730 --> 00:31:41,409
like, hours. You guys hours calling DME companies

973
00:31:41,409 --> 00:31:43,250
trying to get set up. I I was

974
00:31:43,250 --> 00:31:44,849
talking about this on Instagram, and so many

975
00:31:44,849 --> 00:31:46,555
of you wrote in and said, you know,

976
00:31:46,555 --> 00:31:48,315
oh my gosh. That company is awful. Try

977
00:31:48,315 --> 00:31:50,315
calling this company. And it was like, every

978
00:31:50,315 --> 00:31:51,515
time I would get through to somebody, they're

979
00:31:51,515 --> 00:31:52,955
like, oh, are you an established patient? I

980
00:31:52,955 --> 00:31:54,315
said, no. We're brand new. And and they

981
00:31:54,315 --> 00:31:55,674
said, okay. Well, you have to speak to

982
00:31:55,674 --> 00:31:57,835
this department. And it would just reroute me

983
00:31:57,835 --> 00:31:59,515
back to the +1 800 number, and I

984
00:31:59,515 --> 00:32:01,035
would be in line in the queue for

985
00:32:01,035 --> 00:32:03,170
sixty five minutes again. Again. Like, it became

986
00:32:03,170 --> 00:32:04,849
maddening. So by I think it was about

987
00:32:04,849 --> 00:32:06,049
a week and a half later, and and

988
00:32:06,049 --> 00:32:07,329
I just I had a lot. I was

989
00:32:07,329 --> 00:32:09,170
busy with work stuff going on too. I

990
00:32:09,170 --> 00:32:11,170
couldn't spend my entire workday on the phone

991
00:32:11,170 --> 00:32:13,009
with these companies. So I hired a special

992
00:32:13,009 --> 00:32:15,490
needs advocate to help me just get through.

993
00:32:15,490 --> 00:32:16,930
So she had had a connection at some

994
00:32:16,930 --> 00:32:18,434
other company. So by the end of the

995
00:32:18,434 --> 00:32:20,275
week, I think she had spent I probably

996
00:32:20,275 --> 00:32:22,115
paid her, I think, about for fifteen hours

997
00:32:22,115 --> 00:32:23,714
worth of work over three days to get

998
00:32:23,714 --> 00:32:25,335
in touch with this DME company.

999
00:32:25,634 --> 00:32:27,394
It was Friday night at 06:00,

1000
00:32:27,394 --> 00:32:29,634
and they called me. And, you know, I

1001
00:32:29,634 --> 00:32:31,794
I just remember, like, basically losing my mind

1002
00:32:31,794 --> 00:32:33,000
on this woman. I was like, thank you

1003
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,440
so much for calling, but, like, this is

1004
00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:34,940
insane.

1005
00:32:35,559 --> 00:32:38,359
Like, I know this system. I work in

1006
00:32:38,359 --> 00:32:40,599
in the medical field. I have my son.

1007
00:32:40,599 --> 00:32:42,440
I, you know, work with therapists all the

1008
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,095
time, but, like, this is insane. Like, if

1009
00:32:45,095 --> 00:32:46,855
I didn't if if I'm someone that doesn't

1010
00:32:46,855 --> 00:32:48,455
know how this stuff works or if my

1011
00:32:48,455 --> 00:32:50,375
son couldn't actually eat by mouth or if

1012
00:32:50,375 --> 00:32:51,894
I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket

1013
00:32:51,894 --> 00:32:54,234
for this formula, like, this is absolutely insane.

1014
00:32:54,375 --> 00:32:55,035
And so

1015
00:32:55,414 --> 00:32:57,015
she said, you know, no problem. I will

1016
00:32:57,015 --> 00:32:59,015
have the local rep to you drive out

1017
00:32:59,015 --> 00:33:00,394
to your house on Monday

1018
00:33:00,869 --> 00:33:02,630
and get you all of these supplies. I

1019
00:33:02,630 --> 00:33:04,069
wrote them all down. I have them all.

1020
00:33:04,069 --> 00:33:05,430
You know, we'll get them out to you.

1021
00:33:05,430 --> 00:33:07,750
Monday comes. I call this person. Can't get

1022
00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:09,509
in touch with the person that I spoke

1023
00:33:09,509 --> 00:33:11,670
to Friday at 06:00 because you have to

1024
00:33:11,670 --> 00:33:13,130
go through the +1 800

1025
00:33:13,494 --> 00:33:15,494
come you know, number. And so I probably

1026
00:33:15,494 --> 00:33:17,255
talked to six or seven different people. Oh,

1027
00:33:17,255 --> 00:33:18,694
we don't know who that person is. We

1028
00:33:18,694 --> 00:33:19,974
don't they don't work here. I'm like, what

1029
00:33:19,974 --> 00:33:21,894
do you mean they don't work there? Like,

1030
00:33:21,894 --> 00:33:23,654
I said, then then this rep was supposed

1031
00:33:23,654 --> 00:33:25,494
to come out and deliver stuff to me.

1032
00:33:25,494 --> 00:33:26,934
And they're like, oh, we don't usually do

1033
00:33:26,934 --> 00:33:29,039
that. So it was just a whole another

1034
00:33:29,119 --> 00:33:30,559
like, I could not believe we were doing

1035
00:33:30,559 --> 00:33:32,400
this again. A whole another week goes by.

1036
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,559
Whole another week goes by. Finally, I get

1037
00:33:34,559 --> 00:33:36,480
in touch with someone, and they do send

1038
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:38,319
me the stuff that we need. So all

1039
00:33:38,319 --> 00:33:40,420
that to say, it was about a month

1040
00:33:40,815 --> 00:33:42,254
of me paying out of pocket for all

1041
00:33:42,254 --> 00:33:43,615
of this stuff. And then, also, here is

1042
00:33:43,615 --> 00:33:46,414
the caveat. That formula that they did want

1043
00:33:46,414 --> 00:33:48,414
him to have those first thirty days, our

1044
00:33:48,414 --> 00:33:50,274
insurance does not pay for. And

1045
00:33:50,575 --> 00:33:52,335
I I will share you know, I'll I'll

1046
00:33:52,335 --> 00:33:55,259
overshare this. My my ex husband has the

1047
00:33:55,259 --> 00:33:57,420
kids on his insurance policy because he has

1048
00:33:57,420 --> 00:34:00,140
incredible insurance, and we specifically kept the kids

1049
00:34:00,140 --> 00:34:02,299
on his insurance policy because of everything they've

1050
00:34:02,299 --> 00:34:03,759
always provided for my son.

1051
00:34:04,460 --> 00:34:06,380
We we get a lot of medical care

1052
00:34:06,380 --> 00:34:07,660
for him. We get a lot of therapy

1053
00:34:07,660 --> 00:34:08,640
covered for him.

1054
00:34:09,125 --> 00:34:11,525
I've never had any complaints about the insurance

1055
00:34:11,525 --> 00:34:13,364
that he has. All that to say, they

1056
00:34:13,364 --> 00:34:14,824
tell us they have an exclusion

1057
00:34:15,444 --> 00:34:16,585
on tube feedings

1058
00:34:16,885 --> 00:34:18,885
on tube feedings. They do not provide tube

1059
00:34:18,885 --> 00:34:21,250
feeding material, or they do not provide tube

1060
00:34:21,250 --> 00:34:24,369
feeding formula. They provide the actual tubing, which

1061
00:34:24,369 --> 00:34:26,210
I believe cost me 99¢

1062
00:34:26,210 --> 00:34:28,530
and about 79¢ respectively when I ordered it

1063
00:34:28,530 --> 00:34:29,190
off Amazon.

1064
00:34:29,890 --> 00:34:33,090
But they don't cover the specific formula for

1065
00:34:33,090 --> 00:34:36,155
tube feedings, which I just thought was insane.

1066
00:34:36,454 --> 00:34:38,695
Insane. And and I just my heart goes

1067
00:34:38,695 --> 00:34:41,494
out to anyone out there that's experiencing this

1068
00:34:41,494 --> 00:34:43,414
that, you know, is not able to pay

1069
00:34:43,414 --> 00:34:45,735
for this formula to keep their children alive.

1070
00:34:45,735 --> 00:34:47,890
Like, I I just it's become a whole

1071
00:34:47,890 --> 00:34:49,429
another passion project

1072
00:34:49,730 --> 00:34:50,309
of mine.

1073
00:34:51,170 --> 00:34:53,510
So, anyways, we we did end up getting

1074
00:34:53,650 --> 00:34:55,349
hooked up with the d m the DME.

1075
00:34:55,570 --> 00:34:57,170
I do now get the supplies for them.

1076
00:34:57,170 --> 00:34:59,429
I am still purchasing the formula off Amazon.

1077
00:35:00,210 --> 00:35:02,565
But it's just absolutely insane to me this

1078
00:35:02,644 --> 00:35:05,125
whole process. And why I wanted to talk

1079
00:35:05,125 --> 00:35:07,525
about this was just a few different reasons,

1080
00:35:07,525 --> 00:35:08,964
and I and I think the the main

1081
00:35:08,964 --> 00:35:10,565
reason and I've had a lot of conversations

1082
00:35:10,565 --> 00:35:12,264
with other SLPs about this.

1083
00:35:12,804 --> 00:35:14,405
They've said, you know, I can't believe your

1084
00:35:14,405 --> 00:35:16,644
experience. That's not how it is at my

1085
00:35:16,644 --> 00:35:17,144
hospital.

1086
00:35:17,630 --> 00:35:18,989
And what I say to that is I

1087
00:35:18,989 --> 00:35:21,390
wanna challenge you to see if that really

1088
00:35:21,390 --> 00:35:23,070
is how it is at your hospital. And

1089
00:35:23,070 --> 00:35:24,670
they say, oh, well, we have this department

1090
00:35:24,670 --> 00:35:26,910
and we have that department, and that's how

1091
00:35:26,910 --> 00:35:28,989
I felt this entire time. I felt like

1092
00:35:28,989 --> 00:35:31,150
a hot potato being tossed back and forth

1093
00:35:31,150 --> 00:35:31,650
between

1094
00:35:32,125 --> 00:35:34,364
this company, that company. Oh, and then, like,

1095
00:35:34,364 --> 00:35:36,045
to boot, when I finally did get in

1096
00:35:36,045 --> 00:35:38,045
with the DME company, they could never get

1097
00:35:38,045 --> 00:35:39,885
a hold of the GI or the general

1098
00:35:39,885 --> 00:35:42,144
surgery department to get the proper orders.

1099
00:35:42,605 --> 00:35:44,204
So that I had to have the special

1100
00:35:44,204 --> 00:35:46,170
needs advocate do as well,

1101
00:35:46,569 --> 00:35:48,489
bridge that gap and be that liaison. And

1102
00:35:48,489 --> 00:35:50,170
so, you know, I've had some SLPs say,

1103
00:35:50,170 --> 00:35:52,969
oh, well, the DME company usually calls the

1104
00:35:52,969 --> 00:35:54,809
GI, and they get the, you know, they

1105
00:35:54,809 --> 00:35:56,809
get the order faxed. And and I hear

1106
00:35:56,809 --> 00:35:57,309
you,

1107
00:35:57,849 --> 00:35:59,849
but I also wanna challenge you. Is that

1108
00:35:59,849 --> 00:36:01,875
really how the process goes? You know, do

1109
00:36:01,875 --> 00:36:04,275
you guys know if if you are recommending

1110
00:36:04,275 --> 00:36:06,195
feeding tubes or if you do think this

1111
00:36:06,195 --> 00:36:07,474
is a way to go for some of

1112
00:36:07,474 --> 00:36:08,454
your kids and patients,

1113
00:36:09,315 --> 00:36:11,015
please help them with the process.

1114
00:36:12,034 --> 00:36:14,034
I just I felt like I was handed

1115
00:36:14,034 --> 00:36:16,135
off by so many different people

1116
00:36:16,460 --> 00:36:18,460
that there really was not there was no

1117
00:36:18,460 --> 00:36:20,319
one person that helped us through this.

1118
00:36:21,099 --> 00:36:23,019
And and I understand that as a professional,

1119
00:36:23,019 --> 00:36:24,719
I sort of piecemealed it together

1120
00:36:25,579 --> 00:36:27,500
because I'm an SLP and because I knew

1121
00:36:27,500 --> 00:36:28,000
this.

1122
00:36:28,619 --> 00:36:31,019
But it's it opened my eyes to just

1123
00:36:31,019 --> 00:36:31,839
this entire

1124
00:36:32,414 --> 00:36:33,635
system wide dysfunction,

1125
00:36:34,735 --> 00:36:37,074
of just everybody living in their own silos

1126
00:36:37,135 --> 00:36:38,675
and nobody working together.

1127
00:36:39,535 --> 00:36:42,494
And it overall, I'm I'm very glad we

1128
00:36:42,494 --> 00:36:43,695
did it. You know? And I can say

1129
00:36:43,695 --> 00:36:45,215
that a few months later, now that we've

1130
00:36:45,215 --> 00:36:47,614
had it, he's doing well. He's gaining weight,

1131
00:36:47,614 --> 00:36:49,349
which he probably hasn't gained weight in about

1132
00:36:49,349 --> 00:36:51,269
two to three years, to be honest. He

1133
00:36:51,269 --> 00:36:52,469
would gain weight, then he would get sick

1134
00:36:52,469 --> 00:36:53,670
and lose it. He would gain weight, get

1135
00:36:53,670 --> 00:36:55,269
sick and lose it. So it's been a

1136
00:36:55,269 --> 00:36:55,769
process.

1137
00:36:56,309 --> 00:36:57,829
He also has had a really, really bad

1138
00:36:57,829 --> 00:37:00,710
eczema that is not bad. He's had a

1139
00:37:00,710 --> 00:37:02,869
little some mild breakouts, but I'd say for

1140
00:37:02,869 --> 00:37:03,675
the most part,

1141
00:37:04,635 --> 00:37:05,914
you know, as a mom, I just have

1142
00:37:05,914 --> 00:37:08,315
horrible guilt that getting my child, you know,

1143
00:37:08,315 --> 00:37:10,954
optimal nutrition, he now, you know, has very,

1144
00:37:10,954 --> 00:37:13,035
very mild eczema as opposed to horrible eczema

1145
00:37:13,035 --> 00:37:15,355
outbreaks that he used to have before. So

1146
00:37:15,355 --> 00:37:17,594
overall, I'm I'm really, really, really happy. We

1147
00:37:17,594 --> 00:37:20,699
did last week. So for the longest time,

1148
00:37:20,699 --> 00:37:23,340
I basically figured out how to give him

1149
00:37:23,340 --> 00:37:25,199
the tube without him ripping it out.

1150
00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:26,780
And I sit on the floor with him,

1151
00:37:26,780 --> 00:37:28,619
and I basically just sit and talk to

1152
00:37:28,619 --> 00:37:30,300
him and sing to him and act goofy

1153
00:37:30,300 --> 00:37:31,980
with him and distract him while I'm doing

1154
00:37:31,980 --> 00:37:33,945
it, so he doesn't ever grab at it.

1155
00:37:33,945 --> 00:37:35,864
It. And last week, it was my daughter's

1156
00:37:35,864 --> 00:37:38,184
first day of kindergarten. It was all crazy

1157
00:37:38,184 --> 00:37:40,025
hectic. You know, I had probably tried to

1158
00:37:40,025 --> 00:37:41,945
plan the most perfect day for her, the

1159
00:37:41,945 --> 00:37:43,644
most perfect breakfast for her.

1160
00:37:44,025 --> 00:37:46,105
My father-in-law was gonna drive my son to

1161
00:37:46,105 --> 00:37:47,625
school so that we could walk her into

1162
00:37:47,625 --> 00:37:49,089
kindergarten, and it was just supposed to be

1163
00:37:49,089 --> 00:37:50,929
this picture perfect morning. And I don't know

1164
00:37:50,929 --> 00:37:52,369
what happened. I I still don't know what

1165
00:37:52,369 --> 00:37:54,449
happened, but I think, like, he reached for

1166
00:37:54,449 --> 00:37:56,289
it. My hand got caught in it. Before

1167
00:37:56,289 --> 00:37:57,730
I knew it, we ripped out the tube.

1168
00:37:57,969 --> 00:38:00,130
And I screamed, and he started crying. And

1169
00:38:00,130 --> 00:38:01,409
I was like, is he crying because he's

1170
00:38:01,409 --> 00:38:02,775
in pain? And I think he was just

1171
00:38:02,775 --> 00:38:04,855
crying because of my reaction, and it was

1172
00:38:04,855 --> 00:38:07,655
it was holy, holy chaotic. So all that

1173
00:38:07,655 --> 00:38:08,855
to say, I just was like, oh my

1174
00:38:08,855 --> 00:38:09,974
gosh. I don't know what to do. Like,

1175
00:38:09,974 --> 00:38:11,414
I have to get my daughter to kindergarten

1176
00:38:11,414 --> 00:38:13,494
too. So I just I bandaged him up,

1177
00:38:13,494 --> 00:38:14,775
and I would just send him with my

1178
00:38:14,775 --> 00:38:15,894
father-in-law, and I was like, I will deal

1179
00:38:15,894 --> 00:38:17,014
with this later. Like, I don't have time

1180
00:38:17,014 --> 00:38:18,679
to deal with this. And I called my

1181
00:38:18,679 --> 00:38:20,920
friend, my neighbor, who, again, is the the

1182
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:22,359
saving grace in all this, and she said,

1183
00:38:22,359 --> 00:38:23,639
no. No. No. You you have to get

1184
00:38:23,639 --> 00:38:24,920
the tube back in within a half an

1185
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:26,279
hour or else it closes up, and then

1186
00:38:26,279 --> 00:38:27,719
you have to do the surgery again. And

1187
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:29,000
I was like, oh my gosh. No. I

1188
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:30,679
didn't know that. Like, oh my gosh. I

1189
00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:32,385
I didn't even think of that. So she

1190
00:38:32,385 --> 00:38:33,744
said, well, I'm I'm home, and I also

1191
00:38:33,744 --> 00:38:34,945
have a nurse here for my son. I'm

1192
00:38:34,945 --> 00:38:37,105
happy to help you, you know, just bring

1193
00:38:37,105 --> 00:38:38,704
an extra tube over, and I'm happy to

1194
00:38:38,704 --> 00:38:40,224
to do it for you. So called my

1195
00:38:40,224 --> 00:38:42,545
father-in-law back, got my son here, drove him

1196
00:38:42,545 --> 00:38:43,985
to my neighbor's house. She had the nurse

1197
00:38:43,985 --> 00:38:45,505
that helped me put it back in, and

1198
00:38:45,505 --> 00:38:46,667
I'm so glad that I saw saw her

1199
00:38:46,667 --> 00:38:48,298
do it because it was much easier than

1200
00:38:48,298 --> 00:38:49,929
I thought it was. But since I had

1201
00:38:49,929 --> 00:38:51,560
never had the training when we were in

1202
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:53,192
the hospital because they didn't have the supplies,

1203
00:38:53,192 --> 00:38:54,822
I didn't know what to do, and I

1204
00:38:54,822 --> 00:38:56,454
just freaked out. And so not not the

1205
00:38:56,454 --> 00:38:58,085
answer to do, but all that to say,

1206
00:38:58,085 --> 00:38:59,715
we got it back in and, you know,

1207
00:38:59,715 --> 00:39:01,347
now I know how to do it for

1208
00:39:01,347 --> 00:39:03,755
the future. So it's it's been, like I

1209
00:39:03,755 --> 00:39:05,594
said, it it really truly has been a

1210
00:39:05,594 --> 00:39:08,875
blessing. It's been such a professional eye opener

1211
00:39:08,875 --> 00:39:10,474
for me because I just think of how

1212
00:39:10,474 --> 00:39:12,714
many patients or how many kids could really

1213
00:39:12,714 --> 00:39:14,394
benefit from this. And not only that, but

1214
00:39:14,394 --> 00:39:17,114
the family and like his his eating and

1215
00:39:17,114 --> 00:39:19,900
his feeding has always weighed very heavily on

1216
00:39:19,900 --> 00:39:21,420
us as a family. It's always been something

1217
00:39:21,420 --> 00:39:23,340
that's just been very, very tough for us.

1218
00:39:23,340 --> 00:39:25,260
And to think that we are not bound

1219
00:39:25,260 --> 00:39:26,940
by this now, you know, we we couldn't

1220
00:39:26,940 --> 00:39:28,719
really go out to eat at restaurants because

1221
00:39:28,940 --> 00:39:30,300
he wouldn't be able to sit and eat

1222
00:39:30,300 --> 00:39:31,885
with us. And there's there's just a lot

1223
00:39:31,885 --> 00:39:33,164
of things that we couldn't do as a

1224
00:39:33,164 --> 00:39:35,265
family. And so now to have that freedom

1225
00:39:35,805 --> 00:39:37,885
that we can still go do things, and

1226
00:39:37,885 --> 00:39:39,644
he can still get his nutrition and his

1227
00:39:39,644 --> 00:39:41,325
hydration that way. And, you know, he's been

1228
00:39:41,325 --> 00:39:42,765
sick, and that was always the time when

1229
00:39:42,765 --> 00:39:44,285
he lost weight. And now that when he's

1230
00:39:44,285 --> 00:39:45,250
sick, sick, I can just give it to

1231
00:39:45,250 --> 00:39:46,289
him in a tube, and I don't have

1232
00:39:46,289 --> 00:39:47,809
to you know, he he wouldn't wanna eat

1233
00:39:47,809 --> 00:39:49,250
when he had a really runny nose and

1234
00:39:49,250 --> 00:39:51,650
things like that. So overall, it's been such,

1235
00:39:51,650 --> 00:39:53,730
such, such a blessing. So wanted to share

1236
00:39:53,730 --> 00:39:56,070
all this with you guys from personal perspective

1237
00:39:56,450 --> 00:39:59,190
of just the chaos that we went through

1238
00:39:59,555 --> 00:40:00,454
to the professional

1239
00:40:01,155 --> 00:40:02,934
mind shift that this has been

1240
00:40:03,235 --> 00:40:05,235
for me. And, yes, the goal is to

1241
00:40:05,235 --> 00:40:05,974
get patients

1242
00:40:06,515 --> 00:40:08,755
swallowing, but the goal is also quality of

1243
00:40:08,755 --> 00:40:10,855
life for the patient and their families.

1244
00:40:11,155 --> 00:40:13,315
And, you know, I wanna challenge you to

1245
00:40:13,315 --> 00:40:15,420
think of these things the next time, you

1246
00:40:15,420 --> 00:40:16,940
you know, this if if you think of

1247
00:40:16,940 --> 00:40:18,380
this, if if there's a patient or a

1248
00:40:18,380 --> 00:40:20,940
child that this this might help, I'm happy

1249
00:40:20,940 --> 00:40:22,940
to talk about it and and walk some

1250
00:40:22,940 --> 00:40:24,780
families through this because this was a really,

1251
00:40:24,780 --> 00:40:26,780
really tough decision for us. But it did

1252
00:40:26,780 --> 00:40:28,539
end up being a really, really, really great

1253
00:40:28,539 --> 00:40:30,675
decision. And, you know, I will say my

1254
00:40:30,675 --> 00:40:32,355
my ex husband is a he's a champ

1255
00:40:32,355 --> 00:40:34,035
now at at giving him the tube, and,

1256
00:40:34,035 --> 00:40:35,795
you know, it's it's been so much easier

1257
00:40:35,795 --> 00:40:37,155
for him to be able to feed him

1258
00:40:37,155 --> 00:40:37,735
as well.

1259
00:40:38,434 --> 00:40:40,195
And, also, you know, we we actually we

1260
00:40:40,195 --> 00:40:42,769
don't do it at the school. The school,

1261
00:40:42,910 --> 00:40:45,550
that that's, actually a whole another sidebar that

1262
00:40:45,550 --> 00:40:47,230
I forgot to share with you. I love

1263
00:40:47,230 --> 00:40:48,510
my son's school more than anything in the

1264
00:40:48,510 --> 00:40:50,429
whole wide world. They are the most wonderful

1265
00:40:50,429 --> 00:40:52,670
people, and I I I could not say

1266
00:40:52,670 --> 00:40:54,704
enough wonderful things about them. That being said,

1267
00:40:56,144 --> 00:40:56,224
when I called the school and said, hey.

1268
00:40:56,224 --> 00:40:57,425
You know, we're thinking of doing this. I

1269
00:40:57,425 --> 00:40:58,864
know, you know, you guys stand on your

1270
00:40:58,864 --> 00:41:00,785
head to feed him at lunch too. They

1271
00:41:00,785 --> 00:41:02,065
said, oh, yeah. Let's you know, we'll connect

1272
00:41:02,065 --> 00:41:03,505
you with the nurse. And I got this

1273
00:41:03,505 --> 00:41:05,184
very long email from the nurse that was

1274
00:41:05,184 --> 00:41:07,664
not very kind that said, I have enough

1275
00:41:07,664 --> 00:41:09,265
kids in this school to deal with. I

1276
00:41:09,265 --> 00:41:10,679
don't have time to feed him.

1277
00:41:11,159 --> 00:41:13,559
If you want to do this tube feeding,

1278
00:41:13,559 --> 00:41:15,239
you need to hire a private nurse to

1279
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,000
come in and administer the tube feedings at

1280
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:19,159
lunch. And I knew that was not the

1281
00:41:19,159 --> 00:41:20,839
right thing to say. I knew that was

1282
00:41:20,839 --> 00:41:22,300
not appropriate or legal,

1283
00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:24,445
but I just let it go. I I

1284
00:41:24,445 --> 00:41:26,284
really didn't even pursue the issue, and I

1285
00:41:26,284 --> 00:41:28,605
got speaking with, there's another woman that works

1286
00:41:28,605 --> 00:41:29,964
at a school that we've known for years

1287
00:41:29,964 --> 00:41:31,405
and years and years. And I just said,

1288
00:41:31,405 --> 00:41:33,244
hey. You know, I I I haven't made

1289
00:41:33,244 --> 00:41:35,005
any decisions yet, but I'm thinking about this.

1290
00:41:35,005 --> 00:41:36,125
You know, what would you guys think of

1291
00:41:36,125 --> 00:41:38,250
this from a school perspective? And she said,

1292
00:41:38,329 --> 00:41:39,610
you know, she said, if if you want

1293
00:41:39,610 --> 00:41:40,730
us to do it, we'll figure it out.

1294
00:41:40,730 --> 00:41:42,889
We'll, you know, we'll we'll train, you know,

1295
00:41:42,889 --> 00:41:44,409
train his caregivers that work with him at

1296
00:41:44,409 --> 00:41:44,889
school.

1297
00:41:45,210 --> 00:41:47,230
Not they're not caregivers. They're paraprofessionals.

1298
00:41:47,530 --> 00:41:49,070
They're therapists. They're teachers.

1299
00:41:49,369 --> 00:41:50,925
They just have different titles. But,

1300
00:41:51,485 --> 00:41:52,605
she said if it's something you wanna do,

1301
00:41:52,605 --> 00:41:53,885
we'll figure it out. And she said, you

1302
00:41:53,885 --> 00:41:56,045
know, my only concern is that he is

1303
00:41:56,045 --> 00:41:58,525
so social and that he loves snack time.

1304
00:41:58,525 --> 00:42:00,465
He loves sitting at lunch with his peers.

1305
00:42:00,525 --> 00:42:02,045
And she's like, I want him to continue

1306
00:42:02,045 --> 00:42:03,744
to be able to do that. And so,

1307
00:42:04,039 --> 00:42:06,280
you know, let's not make this a either

1308
00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:08,119
or thing. Let's make this a both and

1309
00:42:08,119 --> 00:42:10,440
thing. So we ended up you know, he's

1310
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,039
he's not getting two things at school. We're

1311
00:42:12,039 --> 00:42:13,559
just doing it in the morning and at

1312
00:42:13,559 --> 00:42:15,559
night here, and then supplementing if we have

1313
00:42:15,559 --> 00:42:18,034
to. But during the school day, he's still

1314
00:42:18,034 --> 00:42:19,795
eating lunch with his peers, so still eating

1315
00:42:19,795 --> 00:42:21,795
by mouth and still eating snack. So we're

1316
00:42:21,795 --> 00:42:23,954
just we're doing a balance right now of,

1317
00:42:23,954 --> 00:42:25,954
you know, him having that quality of life,

1318
00:42:25,954 --> 00:42:28,034
but, us also just being able to get

1319
00:42:28,034 --> 00:42:29,799
proper nutrition and hydration in him in a

1320
00:42:29,799 --> 00:42:32,039
timely manner and and, yeah, and continue to

1321
00:42:32,039 --> 00:42:33,960
live life as a family that we wanna

1322
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:35,719
be. So just wanted to share all of

1323
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:37,719
this with you, and, hopefully, you got some

1324
00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:39,799
insights from this. And it's been quite a

1325
00:42:39,799 --> 00:42:41,799
hectic summer, but wanted to share all this.

1326
00:42:41,799 --> 00:42:42,195
And,

1327
00:42:42,914 --> 00:42:45,315
thank you for listening. If if this episode

1328
00:42:45,315 --> 00:42:47,235
or if anything in this landed with you,

1329
00:42:47,235 --> 00:42:49,155
I you know, please DM me on Instagram.

1330
00:42:49,155 --> 00:42:50,755
I would love to chat some more with

1331
00:42:50,755 --> 00:42:52,355
you about it, or if you have any

1332
00:42:52,355 --> 00:42:53,954
families that might be on the fence about

1333
00:42:53,954 --> 00:42:55,394
it. I I've talked to a few families

1334
00:42:55,394 --> 00:42:58,039
since this has happened and just explained, you

1335
00:42:58,039 --> 00:42:59,639
know, hey. It's been a huge blessing for

1336
00:42:59,639 --> 00:43:00,519
us, but,

1337
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:02,199
there's a few things you should know ahead

1338
00:43:02,199 --> 00:43:03,559
of time. And I probably would have made

1339
00:43:03,559 --> 00:43:05,000
sure that I had the DME set up

1340
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:06,519
ahead of time. Probably would have made sure

1341
00:43:06,519 --> 00:43:08,039
I had the supplies set up ahead of

1342
00:43:08,039 --> 00:43:08,539
time.

1343
00:43:09,174 --> 00:43:10,775
Did not realize there was gonna be a

1344
00:43:10,775 --> 00:43:12,694
shortage, that hospital wouldn't be able to get

1345
00:43:12,694 --> 00:43:14,394
them and then train me on it.

1346
00:43:14,775 --> 00:43:17,014
So that just was a really tough, tough

1347
00:43:17,014 --> 00:43:18,694
part. And, you know, is that the SLP's

1348
00:43:18,694 --> 00:43:19,194
responsibility?

1349
00:43:20,534 --> 00:43:22,534
In my certain in my specific situation, it

1350
00:43:22,534 --> 00:43:23,734
was not because we were not working with

1351
00:43:23,734 --> 00:43:25,039
an SLP at the time. But But for

1352
00:43:25,039 --> 00:43:26,400
some of you that might be involved with

1353
00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:27,859
your patients on this level,

1354
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:29,519
you know, see what you can do about

1355
00:43:29,519 --> 00:43:31,119
helping them get their ducks in a row

1356
00:43:31,119 --> 00:43:33,139
and help getting things set up preemptively.

1357
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:36,239
If you have any connections with any DME

1358
00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:37,599
companies, I know a lot of that was

1359
00:43:37,599 --> 00:43:38,960
that was a hot button topic when I

1360
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:40,545
I posted this on because so many of

1361
00:43:40,545 --> 00:43:42,704
you said, that's the worst DME company or

1362
00:43:42,704 --> 00:43:44,224
please call this company or do you have

1363
00:43:44,224 --> 00:43:45,525
this company in your area?

1364
00:43:46,304 --> 00:43:48,784
And so yeah. So, anyways, thank you all

1365
00:43:48,784 --> 00:43:51,184
for listening. I really, really, really appreciate this.

1366
00:43:51,184 --> 00:43:52,945
It's been forever since I've done a solo

1367
00:43:52,945 --> 00:43:54,704
episode, but just had so much to share

1368
00:43:54,704 --> 00:43:57,059
here. And thank you again for listening.

1369
00:43:57,599 --> 00:43:59,619
And that's a wrap for this episode.

1370
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:02,260
As always, thank you so much for listening.

1371
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:03,920
And if you'd like to download the show

1372
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:08,054
notes from this episode, please visit swallowyourpridepodcast.com.

1373
00:44:08,295 --> 00:44:09,815
There you can also sign up for our

1374
00:44:09,815 --> 00:44:11,734
email list so that you'll never miss another

1375
00:44:11,734 --> 00:44:12,234
episode.

1376
00:44:12,694 --> 00:44:14,454
If you do like what you hear, then

1377
00:44:14,454 --> 00:44:17,114
please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes

1378
00:44:17,574 --> 00:44:19,335
or share it on social media with your

1379
00:44:19,335 --> 00:44:21,574
friends and colleagues because that is what keeps

1380
00:44:21,574 --> 00:44:22,875
these episodes coming.

1381
00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:25,199
If you'd like to be a guest, share

1382
00:44:25,199 --> 00:44:27,840
feedback or request a topic to be discussed

1383
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:32,320
on the show, please email podcast@TeresaRichard.com.

1384
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,320
Thank you so much for listening and we'll

1385
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:35,619
catch you next week.