Not opening mouth for food.

[nannygoon]

When I visited my sister today there was a young student feeding her a baked potato mashed up with butter and cheese, she was using a fork!!! I took over and did it with a spoon. At one point she stopped opening her mouth and when I did get her to take some she took ages to swallow it. We then tried a tangerine and she struggled with that and made a horrible gurgling noise! When I mentioned this to staff they said she was eating fine and it was probably just her reacting to me visiting!! Can anyone advise is it just another decline?

[NannaB]

I don't know if your sister does usually eat OK but I would never give someone who has the slightest difficulty a tangerine. The skin on each segment is very difficult to chew and I have seen healthy people struggle at times. I don't know how easy it is to visit your sister but I think I would try and make a few more visits at meal times. I did with my then 90 year old mother who was being fed totally inappropriate meals for someone who had difficulty swallowing. By seeing it for myself on several occasions I was able to confirm she wasn't eating properly and demanded food was liquidised or mashed. Sunday tea time was always difficult as residents always had sandwiches and cake. I managed to persuade them to make her a scrambled egg. They didn't want to do this as the chef wasn't there on Sunday afternoon but when I said I would be there every Sunday to make it myself, they agreed. Now I liquidise and mash everything my husband eats.

It is very distressing when you see something like this and feel helpless knowing you can't be there every day but I do hope your sister is served appropriate appropriate to her ability.

Best wishes

X

[nannygoon in reply to NannaB]

Thank you for your reply, she normally eats o.k. but recently food just sitting in her mouth for a while before she swallows but I think she is getting more problems swallowing now after the first instant with the tangerine I called the unit manager over and told her about the weird noise she was making and she picked up another bit of tangerine and she ate it fairly slowly and the manager thought nothing to worry about! I can't stop thinking about it and not sure where to turn now???

[jzygirl]

Think the jacket potato would of been to dry for your sister. Jacket potatoes especially with cheese are very cloying in the mouth so hence the difficulty in eating it and the more effort it takes to eat anything the more likely she is to refuse to eat to much of it. Fruit wise I think a mashed banana would be more suitable. I even avoid things like tangerines because the segment skin is to hard to chew and swallow. And I certainly wouldn't give one to Brian. It might be an idea to get either the dietician or the speach and language therapist involved and they can support the home in giving her the appropriate food. The softer and sloppier the food is the easier it will be for to eat. I have found the more effort Brian has to put into chewing and swallowing the less he eats because it physically exsausts him. Hopefully you can have a chat with the home and get her diet sorted out. Janexx

[rookiecarer]

For what it's worth, my husband is now on a minced/mashed diet. I would give a lot of sauce with a baked potato(definitely no skin) and I've been told to give tinned fruit as long as it's not stringy. I haven't tried tinned mandarins but peaches, mango, pears, pitted prunes are going down well as long as I offer him small amounts.

One suggestion would be that you ask for a speech therapist to visit and advise on suitable textures. Perhaps they don't have much experience with swallowing problems. It might not make you popular but you might suggest they give you a food diary each week. Good luck!!!

[nannygoon in reply to rookiecarer]

Thank you I am going to get in touch with speech therapist today, she did visit my sister before when we were trying to get her to point to things on a chart or thumbs up/ down but she did not communicate at all and it was no use.I am hoping she will be able to help.

[Malm1959]

Agree with all posts. My mother also makes the gurgling sound if food is going wrong way down. Definitely insist in puréed diet right away. I actually will not let the staff feed my mom, I hired separate people to feed her. Good luck.

[nannygoon in reply to Malm1959]

Thank you so much, I spoke to the unit manager today about my concerns and I ended up feeling like I was in the wrong said I was not happy to see my sister getting fed with a fork and she said they would not let anything happen to her and when I asked for a puried diet she said that some times she had good days and can eat anything and I would be depriving her of getting a cake or a chocolate if everything had to be puried!! I came away feeling I was the one doing wrong.Don't know where to turn,don't want to move her it as a very good nursing home,but this Manager just makes me feel I don't know what I'm talking about!!!

[jzygirl in reply to nannygoon]

Brian is on a pureed diet but if he is having a good day I will let him have a cake or biscuit but its a sip of tea between mouthfuls and slowly does it. But because he has chewed on somethig more solid I still puree his dinner. Get the speachand language therapist out and she will sort it. I worked in a nursing home and I noticed a resident having trouble eating told the manager and straight away her diet was changed to pureed and the resident improved. Janexx

[nannygoon in reply to jzygirl]

Thanks for that info, I have asked nursing home to contact speech and language, when I suggested to nursing home about puried food she was reluctant and said she would be depriving Rose of a sweetie cake or biscuit as in her opinion on a good day she can eat most things. Don't know what to do. Do you think she would get better care in a hospice?

[jzygirl in reply to nannygoon]

Nannygoon I think as long as she is seen by speech and language therapist and you can get the diet sorted she will be fine where she is. Also I don't think she will meet the criteria at the moment to be admitted to a hospice. Janexx

[nannygoon in reply to jzygirl]

Thank you I think I am just stressedcout with it all at the moment and questioning myself if I am doing the right thing for her.All the visiting is left up to me, my Nephew and Sister in law, when other members of the family ask me how she is I get angry and feel like saying why don't you go and see for yourself!! Feeling very weepy and sad today

[pollyannajo]

Dear nannygoon With my brother I found it easier for him to eat when his food was pureed as he often found great difficulty in swallowing and his Specialist said to add cream and butter and high calorie foods to maintain his weight as much as possible. I do think it is a step towards not eating in my experience but anything that helps to encourage the appetite we tried to follow. I also found as he struggled to open his mouth the pureed food was so much easier to feed him with and the high calorie thickened shakes.

love pollyannajo

[rookiecarer]

For what it's worth, I was asking about teeth cleaning recently and one suggestion was that if you yawn, the other person is likely to yawn too. It's infectious! Best wishes.

[sebitha]

Hello nannygoon, I along with the nursing home staff were trained by a speech and language specialist to support my mum in swallowing. The effectiveness of her swallow came and went again. Until she chocked and callasped. She used to gurgle too, I think, but please check that the noise is made because food is entering the windpipe. My mum would need encouragement to swallow and I would watch her Adam's apple to see she was still swallowing. Like the above posts mum had puréed foods. She was pegged for her last year so all the foods were treats and because the swallow muscles didn't work consistently she could have a maximum of 6 teaspoons. By then it was treats, she liked ice cream and those alpro soya deserts as the consistency was easier to cope with. good luck, Rose needs you, I really feel for those people who don't have a family member to advocate for them. I'm not surprised you get weepy, it's tough!

[nannygoon in reply to sebitha]

That was a lovely reply! Thank you so much. My Nephew visited Rose today and he said she struggled to eat,she did manage some soup and a few mouthfuls of dinner then she would not open her mouth anymore. The home have arranged for speech and language to come out to assess her again. Thanks again I really appreciate your thoughtful ness.

[sebitha]

My pleasure, nannygoon. I appreciate how difficult it can be at times, all the best with the Speech & language therapist. Is it possible for you to be there? I ask because being with my mum during her appointments is how I managed my anxiety about my mums PSP and the general lack of knowledge. Of course that may not work for you, it was just my method for coping!