EATING

[Ian1947]

Hi, I am finding it more and more difficult to prepare food that my husband can manage to pick up and eat. He can no longer use a fork and knife but can still manage a spoon for a short period of time. Seems to be living on sandwiches and snacks, any ideas would be greatly received.thanks

[Paul_and_Sue_Wood]

Ian1947

Problems with eating are common and need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

If it's dexterity that is the issue, then has he accepted that he will have to be fed by help?

If it's a swallowing issue then you need to think about a PEG, which is a pipe into the stomach that a food supplement can be fed into, which my wife has. She still eats and drinks occasionally at risk. This PEG is an operation and can only be done when someone is reasonably healthy.

Other than that chop foods up before taking them?

Look at MSA trust web site for more information.

Paul

[Yanno]

HelloJackie finds it very difficult to use a knife and fork now albeit she perseveres as she thinks it’s good for her to keep trying.

Most of the time however I help her to eat as I eat myself.

If swallowing is an issue, there is advice on the web about making chopped food look attractive to eat. Also, if you have a relationship with your local hospice, they may be able to advise as they are well used to preparing interesting and nutritious meals which can be easily swallowed.

We have the head of catering from our local hospice coming to our October 4 Counties MSAT support group meeting to talk about just this sort of thing.

Good luck, take care, Ian

[Derkie54]

Hello Ian,

My wife is in the same position, she cannot hold her cutlery very well.

I have bought some large handle cutlery which does help a bit.

Posture seems to make a difference, I bought a plastic shower chair for her meals which helps her sit upright (and reduces coughing) and one of those over the bed tables on wheels which can be pushed very close and it supports a tray. Both of these are put on a plastic tablecloth over the carpet then it's easier to clear up any food that goes on the floor which will happen.

I do feed her breakfast and some other meals myself,.

When she has sandwiches and snacks I leave her in her orthopaedic chair and push the mobile table as close as I can.

I can see the time coming where we have to feed her all of her meals, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

Regards

Derek

[Tusker1953]

Hi I agree with Paul here, having a PEG fitted sooner rather than later is important. Sadly my husband was due to have a PEG fitted but he was not healthy enough when the hospital tried to do it so they could not proceed. The benefit of hindsight would be a wonderful thing. Foods that I found helpful were sponges with custard that were easy to slide down, Angels Delight, soft scrambled egg, plenty of calories! Porridge. I let him try to do his best to feed himself but I was there spoon feeding alongside, it sometimes took a long time but getting into the mindset of time being unimportant and getting some nourishment in was. Good luck and best wishesJan

[Hidden]

Hello, my dad went through a stage where he could only eat by picking up things with one hand, like cherry tomatoes or grapes, small blocks of cheese etc. He could drink with a straw if the cup was held up for him. He then did need to progress to being helped with eating, but was assigned a nutritional support dietitian to provide lots of ideas. Good luck! Kx

[heysunshine]

Hi Ian1947,My husband, Carl, eventually had problems holding cutlery and getting food to his mouth. It wasn't an issue with swallowing really.

I started out feeding him breakfast and dinner (everything on his plate already cut up).

For lunch I would make veggie trays and bite sized sandwiches, which he could pick up with his hands and sometimes use a toothpick (or cocktail fork) to pick up the fruit & veggie cubes.

As his self feeding declined, I opted to have the Support Worker come at breakfast and dinner hour to allow her to feed him as we had our meal together. This allowed us both to eat the food while it was hot and made it seem more 'normal' that we both ate at the same time and conversed over our meal. The Support Worker was like additional family around the table. It felt more relaxing for us both. She was then able to assist with after meal clean up while I could spend some quality time with my husband.

Hope that helps somewhat...

Celeste

[Ian1947 in reply to heysunshine]

Thank you 🙂