My elderly Mother-in-law appears to be suffering from Dysphagia (difficulty swal!
Question: My elderly Mother-in-law appears to be suffering from Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)?
She can't hardly eat a thing. She just can't swallow.
Tea and water and very, very diluted squash she can just about manage.
She CAN'T do milk or Lucazade or soups, so mashing or liquidizing foods won't work. I'm worried, and all the Doctor say's is "she MUST try"
I'm ill myself and can't do much to help her, but my sisters-in-law keep making her food that she can't swallow and in a minute she's going to fade away!!!!!!!
Why doesn't the doctor organise intravenous drip (food) like she had in Hospital?
What can I do to help her get some nutrition?
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Ensure that has been diluted...
It has calories and nutrients which will be beneficial at this point.
my elderly mother has a simular problem, she has had to go into a nursing home. All her food is being liquidized, but she has lost a lot of weight. I noticed when visiting, she lives 200 miles away that when they give her a drink they add a powder to it which thickens it. What it is I don't know, but a friend who works with disabled people says it is something that is added to make it easier to swallow.
I used to get really nervous and not be able to swallow but what i did was always quickly rub the back of my neck not gently but not to rough either it tended to help me swallow :)
she has to have thinken food you can buy something called thick it and add it to coffee and stuff because its actually easier to swallow thinker stuff. if its too think she will asperate ( means some will go it to her lungs and cause infection) did she have it written down that she doesnt want to be force fed? that may be why or the dr may be wanting to wait and see if she will recover enough to eat. if she is on forced food then it might be best for her to stay in short term care facility . the tubes can be messy and get infected and if something more happens she will be among nurses to care for her. i know its hard but keep in mind when making the decisions for her ,"would she have wanted to be this way" i see alot of familys keep thier family members alive because they cant let them go and it may have not been what that person would have wanted.sometimes the best love is to let them go .good luck
im a nurse asst.
Does she have a physical therapist working with her? A therapist can do a swallow study to determine what the issue is.
'Here in US, they do that often for stroke patients to determine the textures of food and liquid that is needed.
Many times disphasic people will not realize they have a problem ans swallow very slowly which allows water or milk or other thin liquids to go into their lungs and they develop pneumonia.
For them, slightly thickened liquids work better. There are 3 levels of thickness that can be offered; nectar thick(think tomato juice) honey thick(just like it sounds) or pudding thick(again, just like it sounds).
Things like mashed potatoes should not present a problem.
IT might be that the stroke left her swallowing mechanism impaired.
You need to talk to a physical therapist of a different doctor.
It might also be that she choked on something once and is now afraid to try again.
Since she cannot swallow milk, I think this is a fear and not a physical affliction since milk and water have the same exact consistency. You will notice that she only accepts clear liquids.
Nothing in a cloudy liquid would account for difficulty is swallowing. It does not change the consistency of the liquid, only the color.
IF she truly cannot swallow, the tea and water would have gone down into her lungs and she would have already developed pneumonia.
It is very difficult to deal with someone who develops an idea, no matter how erroneous, and trying to change it is almost impossible.
worked 10 years with health care foods, had to know all the thickness levels of foods and beverages to serve to ill people and also dealt with mother and husband who also had issues like this before they died.