Ice Chips

This afternoon Michael was moved to a cardiac chair (it is a bed which becomes a chair). He got to sit up for 45 minutes! While in the chair the speech therapist shaved his throat and then attached electrodes. She applied current and then asked Michael to swallow. This was done for 30 minutes. This procedure helps to reestablish swallowing.
One of the really exciting things that the Speech Therapist does is provide ice chips. Michael has not had any food or drink by mouth since March 25. Today he got to have 10 ice chips. The speech therapist gave him one ice chip per minute for 10 minutes. She explained that the lungs can handle 90cc of fluid at a neutral pH without developing aspiration pneumonia.
Mouth care is very important before having the ice chips. The mouth has a great deal of bacteria, this makes foods acidic. The lungs cannot tolerate acidity. She gave Michael his special tooth brush that has suction on it so no fluid will go in his lungs. He was able to use his right hand to brush his teeth. This is the first time he could brush his teeth!