Making Me Swallow

I have somewhat of a swallow, but I haven't dared use it unless supervised. Years ago, when I first opened my eyes after a coma, my swallowing was tested. Jello was used. I swallowed the Jello, but it went into my trache tube (I was on a ventilator) as well as Jello came out my nose. The speech therapist said I swallowed to my airway and not to my stomach.

I've pretty much avoided food ever since. I do taste, though. So this has been hard. I used flavored chapsticks and lipglosses to help. After a long time, I moved to candy spray. As a note, don't spray the back of the throat. Now I use lollipops. I can handle my saliva now. You can see there is already progression and I haven't begun swallowing.

I have a second swallow that I wish was common. I believe it to be correctly doing what a swallow should, but it rarely happens. It is becoming more often, but still doesn't happen when needed. It reminds me of the following video, but instead of pain the bad thing is aspiration or swallowing to my lungs.

My 2nd swallow is most likely the green arrow.

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My idea has been simple. I just put a lollipop in my mouth. This changes the environment to include taste. All those taste receptors come alive.

The lollipop then has added speech therapy benefits. It is specifically used for speech and swallowing therapy.

Lollipop Swallow from Ed Steger on Vimeo.

  Lollipop Swallow from Ed Steger on Vimeo.

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I also have an idea to use tDCS to stimulate swallowing. tDCS stands for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. It is the delivery of electric current to the brain. I found some research, but this is new.

"Dysphagia is common sequela of brain injury

with as many as 50% of patients suffering from dysphagia following stroke. " I'm surprised there hasn't been more research with such a high incidence rate.

This article has a picture of electrode placement. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00455-017-9789-z.pdf

 Using tDCS for the swallow
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I am more than likely rewiring...and growing the wire.