Does anyone know if it’s possible to strengthen swallowing to the point of moving on from PEG feeding to eating pureed/ level 1 food? And as a consequence been able to prevent aspiration? How was it achieved?
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I would say so as I had a stroke survivor friend who did just that. I’m not sure how he did it, or what happened to achieve that goal, but he went from PEG feeding to pureed and then the big day home from hospital, burger and chips, I think. Unfortunately, Dave is no longer with us, he was on this forum but passed away a few years back now.
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I had it in a minor form while in hospital and still occasionally inhale bits of food.
Many times the problem occurred when talking and eating at the same time. A strict rule of no talking at meal times helped a lot.
Concentrating on eating small amounts and swallowing carefully and methodically also make it work better, so does making an effort to eat slowly.
I first realised what was happening after coughing fits that brought up phlegm with odd bits of food in it. They still happen sometimes so it is still a problem though I feel I can control it to a degree.
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As Rups says It should be possible. I know of people who have but don’t know how they went about it.
Maybe something a Speech & Language Therapist can gelp with?
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Thanks for the encouraging and resources. Mums got severe dysphagia so we’ll need to work hard. Bases on what I’ve seen so far, SALT in hospital have been next to useless. Let’s hope the community team is better.
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