A doctor saved an Arizona baker. The baker returned with goodies

Sep 20, 2023

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PHOENIX — Michael John Coe wheeled a cart full of tasty treats down the halls of Banner University Medical Center.

Coe is a nationally-renowned master baker who has run restaurants and bakeries and worked for the Food Network during his career.

In a room on the 15th floor of the hospital sat a spread of French and Mexican-inspired desserts that Coe spent six hours baking ahead of his routine check-up.

It's said food is the ultimate show of appreciation for those in the health-care industry and Coe said he has a lot to be thankful for.

Coe started experiencing fatigue and occasional dizziness. He chalked his symptoms up to his packed schedule.

It wasn’t until Coe noticed numbness in his face and neck that he realized something was wrong.

“Finally, with some persuasion from my wife, I came in and it turned out I had three strokes: two at the base of my brain, and one towards the center of my head. It really messed me up,” said Coe.

The most impactful effect of the strokes was Coe’s inability to swallow.

“It was a living hell,” Coe said. “Swallowing- you don't realize until it's gone- what you've lost. That was the big, scary thing for me.”

Unable to eat, drink, or eventually talk, Coe’s future seemed uncertain, at best.

Fortunately for Coe, Banner University Medical Center is one of three hospitals in the country that employ a new medical device called the Phagenyx Neurostimulation System.

It’s a device that uses electronic pulses to retrain the patient’s throat muscles to swallow.

Attached to the feeding tube a patient with severe Dysphagia – the inability to swallow – the Phagenyx introduces an electronic pulse to stimulate swallowing and facilitate airway protection, according to the device’s website.

“They test the patient's thresholds,” explained Brenda Tousley, a clinical nurse specialist with Banner University. “So, when they [the patient] can first feel that electrical stimulation, they test that three times. Then, they see how much the patient can tolerate and do that three times. The machine averages all of that and then does 75% of it, and that's the treatment that the patient gets for 10 minutes.”

Coe immediately noticed the results. “Literally, within the first day- the first procedure- so, 10 minutes after getting this first procedure, I'm already swallowing,” Coe said.

Coe completed all six treatments with Phagenyx, and couldn’t be happier with the results.

“Prior to that, I thought my career was over," Coe said.

That’s what motivated Coe to spend at least six hours baking before making the drive to the Valley; to show his appreciation by doing what he does best.

Marveling at the pastries spread out before them, staff members oohed and aahed, commenting that everything was so Instagramable.

While nurses and staff members enjoyed a well-deserved treat, their hospital is the only center west of the Mississippi – one of only three in the country – that offers the exact treatment Coe needed.

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