Eating and drinking

I’ve had both a FEEs endoscopy and a barium sulphate swallow xray. I aspirate a little and my jaw and mouth muscles aren’t strong enough to chew, but my daughter’s bought me these silicone chews to exercise them which I do everyday. I still get all my nutrition from a PEG feed. Has anyone come out the otherside and is now eating and drinking ‘normally’?

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@Mich-mm Eventually. First week post-stroke I was out, but my wife said I didn’t swallow, didn’t eat, nothing. After the second week, I did eat something from the bottle (weird) but it dribbled out on my right mouth. 4 weeks, I eat lightly on my left mouth/teeth but still dribbled out of my right mouth.

After about 3 months, once I’d mastered the eating thing, I set to work on building weight, but a little leak from my right mouth and missed regularly the tooth-food- saga continues. That’s about it, no further.

I’m never “back to normal”, but I am comfortable eating, mopping my dribble (occasionally) and cleaning my teeth after eating. I suppose one of those “new normal”.

M

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Hello @mattjc I’m so delighted to get a message from you,I’m kind of star struck I’ve watched your movie on Vimeo three times so much I Relate to I had my aneurysm in COVID too,and survived against the odds first to have the aneurysm clipped to stem the bleeding and then a Craniectomy -removal of part of my skull to relieve the oedema.I Was then given a 1 in 6 chance of survival for the cranioplasty replacing the area of skull that they had removed.Like you the stroke took my voice,you sound amazing so encouraging to me to know you’ve done it and can talk again.

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@Mich-mm work in progress I feel but my mother had a similar experience. Aneurysm followed by craniotomy etc 26 years ago but now she is much better although with time and age she’s fragile.

:disappointed_face: thanks for your reply!

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So @mattjc both you and your mother have had a stroke?do the doctors say there is a genetic component?I do hope you are both progressing❣️ 🜁

Not the stroke for my mother. That’s only me! :grimacing:

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I’ve not met anyone else who has had a craniotomy and I’m intrigued how is she now other than fragile?does she have a good quality of life?

Yes. It takes a while to get better, and she’s got another swollen artery in her head, but there’s no way get it - it’s too deep in the brain.

She was 52 when she has this, and she had a good life afterwards, though paranoid about the other one. Until my father (her husband) died suddenly and my mother never got over it.

She 78 now, waiting for a hip replacement, still being angry about the loss.

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I’m sad to hear on top of everything she lost your dad.life is so very cruel❣️ 🜁

There’s more underneath the veneer with my mum and dad but this is not for this forum. :grimacing: