My husband is going through a very difficult stage at the moment due to swallowing difficulties and constant coughing. Last night was

[dorothy-thompson]

particularly bad for him a he was coughing up something which I can only describe as white foamy phlegm. He was very uncomfortable and disturbed all night and as a consequence neither of us slept. During the day he had either red grape or pineapple juice which helped bit but he refused all attempts of care last night.

Has anyone got any insight or suggestions on this one. I do know though it does go with the territory.

Also, knowing what food to give him is proving more of a challenge now, particularly at lunchtimes, sandwiches are out because he has problems swallowing bread , softly boiled eggs, which he loves, are also out because they sort of get stuck in his mouth.

Although yesterday he had lightly scrambled eggs with some baked beans and cooked tomatoes which he coped with and thoroughly enjoyed.

In the evening, to confound all that I have just said, he polished off a plate of chicken and vegetable casserole with mashed potatoes!!

All suggestions on recipes will be very gratefully received.

Kind regards

Dorothy t

[MaddyS]

Hi Dorothy. Sorry to hear about the difficulty with coughing etc.

It looks as if you have to consider puréed food now. I cook as I normally do, then puree his portion. Food needs to be well seasoned, otherwise the puree is tasteless. I find it difficult to puree small portion, so do larger quantities and freeze in portions. I find root and leave vegetables puree well. Maybe someone here has some good recipe ideas.

Take care, hopefully you have a good nights sleep tonight.

[groovychick]

When dad got to this stage it was tough finding nice tasty food which he would enjoy. He didn't want puréed and we luckily didn't get to that stage, but would have obviously had to if it got really bad. Mashed potato with grated cheese for lunch, macaroni/ cauliflower cheese (all mashed of course), spaghetti hoops in the tin are good because they are soft and no skin such as baked beans which can get stuck. Soft cake and custard (dads fave!) veg curry and rice (all mashed well) breads are very difficult as they used to get stuck so easily. Thickened tomato soup-with small bits of bread mixed in if he can manage and really wants. Rice pudding (might need to mash a bit) potato waffles with spag hoops, weetabix with not too much milk so it's nice and thick for brekkie. Will post some more as I remember. Hope that helps a bit it's difficult I know xxx

[hmfsli]

Hi Dorothy,

When Mum got to this stage Dad started buying Wiltshire Farm Foods for him and Mum. He buys the 'Hearty' menu dishes for himself and the 'Soft' for Mum. Mum seemed to enjoy the food and it meant that cooking was one less thing for him to worry about. From what I have seen there is quite a variety of dishes to chose from too.

h

[LizzieF]

Hi Dorothy

I concur with the other contributors. When mum got to this stage I bought a hand-held blender and used to buy soup like veg or minestrone and blend in order to break down the pieces of veg etc., I did the same with things like casseroles, stews etc., and cut up the meat into small pieces and blend the individual vegetables. Yoghurt was great, so was ice cream and rice pud (which I also hand-blended lightly), although you need to keep dairy products to a minimum as they can exacerbate the phlegm situation. I found avoiding bread, pastry and biscuits and anything doughy or squashy that would get stuck.helped. Mum hasn't eaten orally for 2 years now, but in December had the white, foamy phlegm really badly, so severe in fact that she couldn't breathe and went completely blue! It was very scary and I thought I was going to lose her there and then. Paramedics came and her O2 sats were 81%. She was rushed into hospital where the doctor recommended I have a suction machine. He wrote to mum's GP and we got it in January this year and it's been a godsend!

Best wishes to you and your hubby

Love Lizzie

[dorothy-thompson in reply to LizzieF]

Dear Lizzie and all my fellow bloggers

Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I have already started on the blending, chicken and veg casserole which went down a treat! I also completely agree about going easy on the dairy, most of the time my husband has soft or puréed fruit with low fat yoghurt for dessert and that's fine. Spaghetti hoops are an obvious idea rather than beans, but he does seem to be ok on them but perhaps I'm being too optimistic and forgetting what is happening later with all his coughing etc.

Good nutritious food is so important and my husband can still enjoy his food, in fact it is one of his few remaining pleasures

Thank you all again, kind regards

Dorothy t

[jillannf6]

hi dorothy

what about THICK AND EASY PUREED MEALS

i came across them at a PSP MEETIGN 2 YEARS AGO AND HTEY MIGHT SUIT YOUR HUSBAND

LOL JILL

AND HUGS AZND XXX TO YOU