A VitalStim Therapy Believer
At first I did not know I had had a stroke. On the day it happened, I suddenly could not walk and would get dizzy and fall every time I would try. I couldn't swallow anything, not even water. At the hospital, where they told me what had happened to me, they put a tube into my nose to give me food. Then, before I was transferred to Chattanooga Rehabilitation Hospital for therapy, they put a tube in my stomach to feed me.
The doctors told me that there was a chance they would have to do surgery to stretch my throat so that I could eat by mouth again, but they also told me I should try the VitalStim first.
I didn't believe it because I didn't think that a machine would work. But they convinced me it would, so I went along and had therapy for 30 minutes a day, every day for two weeks.
When they put the electrodes on my throat it felt like someone was grabbing my throat and moving it up and down for me. I started eating ice and swallowing during the first session. I said to myself, "There is something happening here." It got better and better. I drank water. I tried pureed food and I swallowed it. Then bread. Salads. Crackers. Ice cream. A little bit of this. A little bit of that.
Now, I am off the tube. There are some things I still can't eat. I can't get French fries down. Cheese gets stuck at the back of my throat. But other than that, I am getting back to normal.
It's a miracle.