Re: Keeping food in the mouth

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy- This is not uncommon. Often it's called pooling. The food is pooled

in the mouth. Possibly offer an empty fork or spoon, with no food on it, in

between bites. This may trigger the thought to chew or swallow. Thinking of

you and wishing you all the best in this part of the journey. Hugs- Sandie

----- Keeping food in the mouth

Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 10:02:13 -0400

Hi friends,

My mom has started to keep food in her mouth for quite a while before

swallowing. She can no longer feed herself and is on a pur & #65533;diet.

Is this a prelude to swallowing issues ?

Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

Judy

--

Sent from Gmail Mobile

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandie,

Thanks for your quick and knowledgeable help!

I so appreciate your support !

Sending those big hugs back to you!

Judy

Judy R Strauss, LMSW, PhD

Area Chair | College of Social Sciences

University of Phoenix

Jersey City Campus | 100 Town Square Place | Suite 305

Jersey City, NJ 07310

Cell:

Email: Jrstr@...

> Hi Judy- This is not uncommon. Often it's called pooling. The food is pooled

in the mouth. Possibly offer an empty fork or spoon, with no food on it, in

between bites. This may trigger the thought to chew or swallow. Thinking of you

and wishing you all the best in this part of the journey. Hugs- Sandie

>

> ----- Keeping food in the mouth

> Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 10:02:13 -0400

>

> Hi friends,

> My mom has started to keep food in her mouth for quite a while before

> swallowing. She can no longer feed herself and is on a pur & #65533;diet.

> Is this a prelude to swallowing issues ?

> Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.

> Thanks,

> Judy

>

> --

> Sent from Gmail Mobile

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandie,

Thanks for your quick and knowledgeable help!

I so appreciate your support !

Sending those big hugs back to you!

Judy

Judy R Strauss, LMSW, PhD

Area Chair | College of Social Sciences

University of Phoenix

Jersey City Campus | 100 Town Square Place | Suite 305

Jersey City, NJ 07310

Cell:

Email: Jrstr@...

> Hi Judy- This is not uncommon. Often it's called pooling. The food is pooled

in the mouth. Possibly offer an empty fork or spoon, with no food on it, in

between bites. This may trigger the thought to chew or swallow. Thinking of you

and wishing you all the best in this part of the journey. Hugs- Sandie

>

> ----- Keeping food in the mouth

> Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 10:02:13 -0400

>

> Hi friends,

> My mom has started to keep food in her mouth for quite a while before

> swallowing. She can no longer feed herself and is on a pur & #65533;diet.

> Is this a prelude to swallowing issues ?

> Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.

> Thanks,

> Judy

>

> --

> Sent from Gmail Mobile

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy,

Was the puree diet recommended by a speech pathologist that evaluated her?

If so I’d ask for another visit and evaluation for where she is at this

point. If not, I would be sure to have her evaluated by a qualified SP for

her swallowing abilities. A mechanical soft diet might be easier for her

to manage than total puree. There are many mechanisms involved that have

to work properly together to effect a swallow and often it’s a matter of

getting the right consistency that fits where the person is. If she can’t

swallow puree she might do better with a modified soft diet or something

else entirely. I would recommend seeing a qualified speech pathologist who

has some experience with Parkinson’s swallowing issues and have an

evaluation done and enough visits following up that your mother’s swallowing

issues are addressed as much as possible and everyone who has anything to do

with her feeding is properly “trained” and educated. We had to do this

three times with my mil and all three times it worked wonderfully. Insist

on a in person visit – not some phone consultation. It also helped with my

mil that we prepared food that was tasty and matched what she had liked as

much as could be possibly done. For instance she liked cooked sticky rice

but couldn’t manage it anymore so we did the cauliflower puree to make a

sauce, twice cooked the rice so it was much softer and easy to eat and added

a little of the cauliflower puree so it acted as a soft binding agent to

hold it together so she could chew and swallow. I made batches of

cauliflower puree and kept a jar in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.

I melted cheese in it to put with her mashed potato which she enjoyed a lot.

I still have a video we made of one of the part time caregivers feeding my

mil – with the SP explaining the steps. We made it as a guideline for other

caregivers that came. I used it many times.

Once you have a good evaluation from a speech pathologist they should

provide you with detailed guidelines of what kind of diet to have her on and

suggestions of types of foods and methods to prepare them. They can also

refer you to a registered dietician who will help make sure she gets proper

nutritional support with the change of diet.

We were cautioned against changing to puree diet by her doctor without this

consult and very glad we followed his advice.

The speech pathologist my mil had was wonderful – she explained everything

about how a swallow happens etc. She also had us sing with her because it

strengthens the muscles that are needed for swallowing. My mil was able to

chew just a little but swallow a soft diet (not pureed or liquid) up until

she stopped eating and passed peacefully.

Good luck, I hope you are able to get a good SP to help! J

-Dorothy

From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ]

On Behalf Of care12345

Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 7:02 AM

To: LBDcaregivers

Subject: Keeping food in the mouth

Hi friends,

My mom has started to keep food in her mouth for quite a while before

swallowing. She can no longer feed herself and is on a purée diet.

Is this a prelude to swallowing issues ?

Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

Judy

--

Sent from Gmail Mobile

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy,

Was the puree diet recommended by a speech pathologist that evaluated her?

If so I’d ask for another visit and evaluation for where she is at this

point. If not, I would be sure to have her evaluated by a qualified SP for

her swallowing abilities. A mechanical soft diet might be easier for her

to manage than total puree. There are many mechanisms involved that have

to work properly together to effect a swallow and often it’s a matter of

getting the right consistency that fits where the person is. If she can’t

swallow puree she might do better with a modified soft diet or something

else entirely. I would recommend seeing a qualified speech pathologist who

has some experience with Parkinson’s swallowing issues and have an

evaluation done and enough visits following up that your mother’s swallowing

issues are addressed as much as possible and everyone who has anything to do

with her feeding is properly “trained” and educated. We had to do this

three times with my mil and all three times it worked wonderfully. Insist

on a in person visit – not some phone consultation. It also helped with my

mil that we prepared food that was tasty and matched what she had liked as

much as could be possibly done. For instance she liked cooked sticky rice

but couldn’t manage it anymore so we did the cauliflower puree to make a

sauce, twice cooked the rice so it was much softer and easy to eat and added

a little of the cauliflower puree so it acted as a soft binding agent to

hold it together so she could chew and swallow. I made batches of

cauliflower puree and kept a jar in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.

I melted cheese in it to put with her mashed potato which she enjoyed a lot.

I still have a video we made of one of the part time caregivers feeding my

mil – with the SP explaining the steps. We made it as a guideline for other

caregivers that came. I used it many times.

Once you have a good evaluation from a speech pathologist they should

provide you with detailed guidelines of what kind of diet to have her on and

suggestions of types of foods and methods to prepare them. They can also

refer you to a registered dietician who will help make sure she gets proper

nutritional support with the change of diet.

We were cautioned against changing to puree diet by her doctor without this

consult and very glad we followed his advice.

The speech pathologist my mil had was wonderful – she explained everything

about how a swallow happens etc. She also had us sing with her because it

strengthens the muscles that are needed for swallowing. My mil was able to

chew just a little but swallow a soft diet (not pureed or liquid) up until

she stopped eating and passed peacefully.

Good luck, I hope you are able to get a good SP to help! J

-Dorothy

From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ]

On Behalf Of care12345

Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 7:02 AM

To: LBDcaregivers

Subject: Keeping food in the mouth

Hi friends,

My mom has started to keep food in her mouth for quite a while before

swallowing. She can no longer feed herself and is on a purée diet.

Is this a prelude to swallowing issues ?

Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

Judy

--

Sent from Gmail Mobile

[Guest guest]

Yes. Leisha is right about using the dinner table. It also helps if there

are others eating at the same time. Mom never needed her liquids

thickened, but at least one of her dinner companions would get upset if the

aides forgot to add the thickener to her coffee. Mom did, however,

gravitate to more substantial liquids - milk (not skim), grape juice,

smoothies. Thinner liquids like water, orange juice, cranberry juice were

harder for her to drink.

Kate

> **

>

>

> Hello Judy, when my dad started with swallowing problems (dysphagia) the

> speech and language therapist did have some strategies and therapies to

> help but I think it depends upon how cognitively impaired the person is as

> to how much success they have. The main thing I remember, thinking back,

> was prompting a good position for eating and swallowing, sitting at a

> dining table rather than reclined, on the couch etc, puréed diet (but firm

> enough to make a bolus), small amounts of thickened fluids. It might be

> worth talking to her speech and language therapist, they're the experts I

> think. Xxx

>

>

>

> >

> > Hi friends,

> > My mom has started to keep food in her mouth for quite a while before

> > swallowing. She can no longer feed herself and is on a purée diet.

> > Is this a prelude to swallowing issues ?

> > Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.

> > Thanks,

> > Judy

> >

> >

> > --

> > Sent from Gmail Mobile

> >

> >

> >