Speak Out December LOW RES FINAL 2017

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December 2017 Speak Out 37
as at October 2017
WA 919
members
WA To celebrate Speech Pathology Week 2017, the
Speech Pathologists at Princess Margaret Hospital
documented patient journeys to share with staff
and patients.
This gave us the opportunity to reflect on the role
SPs have whilst a child is in an acute setting,
transitions to outpatient services and back into
their community. It also allowed us to hear how our
families had been influenced by the work of SPs
and where our work had been most important to
them.
Ruby’s story highlighted the work we play in
intervention as well as education to families:
“Ruby is an almost 6 year old girl who has been
accessing speech pathology services since her
diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer in October
2016. In December 2016 Ruby had a total
thyroidectomy, tracheal reconstruction and required
the formation of a tracheostomy. She has had
significant difficulties swallowing and achieving
voice to communicate.
Ruby had regular speech pathology input for
assessment and management of her swallow
safety. Ruby also recently had a full laryngeal
reconstruction and her swallow has improved to
the point that she can safely have normal food and
drink again (8months of having nasogastric tube
feeding for nutrition and hydration). She continues
to have a tracheostomy and now that her vocal
cords are cancer free and have been surgically
repaired she is able to tolerate a speaking valve
to enable expressive verbal communication.
Until this time she relied on a range of assistive
communication tools e.g. iPad with touch to speak
aps and key word signing plus developed buccal
speech which helped family/ regular communication
partners interpret Ruby’s messages. Ruby and her
family have had a stressful year as Ruby accessed
necessary treatment and therapy at PMH. She has
very regular reviews with a Speech Pathologist and
the ENT team to plan for safe decannulation of her
tracheostomy.
When Ruby’s parents reflected on the role Speech
Pathologists have had in Ruby’s recovery they
commented SP involvement was vital in helping
support the family in between medical treatments
and surgery. Ruby’s mother explained the
reassurance and next step information provided
by the Speech Pathologists they worked with,
were vital in supporting Ruby and her family regain
some control during difficult times. Ruby is now
participating with her peers at school. They didn’t
realise that speech pathologist’s assisted children
with swallowing, tracheostomy’s and voice until
Ruby was diagnosed and wanted to help educate
others of the diverse role speech pathology has for
patients like Ruby.”
It is sometimes difficult to properly highlight the
role Speech Pathologists have in rehabilitation. We
found sharing specific patient journeys a nice way
to draw attention to our important work.
Princess Margaret Hospital
Sharing communication access
ACT/
New south wales
ACT 82
NSW 2535
members
as at October 2017
On Thursday 9 November five members from ACT/
NSW Branch attended a welcome to the profession
event for final ACU, North Sydney students.
Branch members discussed their experiences
as a speech pathologist and gave advice to the
future graduates. There was a Q & A session
with questions ranging from working in private
practice, working overseas and how to maintain
skills across areas of practice. We were happy to
hear that nearly all students and staff were already
members of Speech Pathology Australia. A big
thank you to Wendy Pearce from ACU and our
student representative Bianca Lyons for organising
the event.
Welcome to the profession event
Puttanna Mahananda, Mary Woodward,
Andrea Vine, Lisa Forbes, Fiona Eastley,
Bianca Lyons