Mr and Mrs Choong would tell you that they owe the world to Speech Therapist Beatrice Teo. If you think this is a story about another speech therapy that's helped another stroke patient eat again, you are greatly mistaken.
More than three years ago, Mrs Amy Choong had a massive stroke when doctors advised for her to be admitted into a nursing home as her “rehabilitation potential was limited”. It broke her family’s heart to witness what was once a healthy woman, was then barely surviving with the assistance of a breathing and a feeding tube.
In 2014, the Choongs met Beatrice Teo through an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist and what happened after was close to a miracle.
Due to the “meticulous and thorough” examinations completed by both Beatrice and the ENT specialist, an error made by the previous Speech Therapist was uncovered. Prior to engaging Beatrice, Amy wasn’t able to withstand the capping of her tracheostomy tube, which is often part of the rehabilitation process to help patients wean off their breathing tubes. As soon as Beatrice ascertained the mistake, she rectified it and retested the capping on the spot. And to the delight of Amy’s family, she was able to withstand breathing without the assistance of the tracheostomy tube for a good four minutes! “This gave us a glimpse of hope that Amy has every chance of recovery, and not to give up hope,” Mr Choong commented.
Ever since then, Beatrice has been intensively treating Amy at home and taught her exercises to improve her breathing and swallowing. “Day by day, we could see Amy making progress,” Mr Choong said. In less than a year, Amy’s tracheostomy tube was removed and she was able to breathe without the assistance of the tube and suctioning. In the following year, Amy’s feeding tube was removed – debunking the doctors’ earlier advice on Amy’s limited rehabilitation potential.
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Today, Amy speaks in short sentences and consumes her food orally! Mr Choong said that she’s made so much progress in less than three years and continues to make progress everyday. “To this day, we can never forget how much this means to us, especially to Amy. Beatrice has demonstrated sincere care and passionate effort. Beatrice’s motivation of not giving up has energised my wife to work even harder at recovery. What Beatrice has done for Amy speaks volumes,” Mr Choong explained why they continue to engage Beatrice’s service.
Mr Choong highlighted that they have been consulted by numerous Speech Therapists prior to engaging Beatrice and none came close to her expertise and dedication. And he believes their story has “strongly illustrated how good Beatrice is over the others”. In terms of service cost, Mr Choong added: “The value and quality of her service outweighs her charges.”
“My family and I will definitely recommend Beatrice to anyone!”
CaregiverAsia would like to thank Mr Choong and his family for sharing Amy's inspiring story with us.
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