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wendy

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Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
26
Reason
CALS
Country
CA
State
Ontario
City
Pembroke
My father seems to be having more bad days then good anymore. He can not talk or swallow at all. He has had a feeding tube since January but is still losing weight. He feeds several times a day but can seem to even gain a pound. He slobber lots and has a suction machine because he is always full of phlem and he has very little cough strength left. Today he was so sick that nothing I did was helping to make him comfortable, his throat was so dry he was having a hard time breathing but because he can't swallow it dry's out so fast but yet his mouth is full of slobber. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how we could add moisture to his throat? We have tried the spray, gel and I even froze small cube of ice water with little stick to rub around the back of his throat but nothing seems to work. I would take any suggestion anyone had I feel so helpless today I just don't know what else to do.......:cry:
 
Hi Wendy. Sorry your dad's having such a bad time. Do you have the air conditioning on? That dries the air. If so can you put one of those small humidifiers near his bed. It might help. Maybe someone else has ideas.
AL.
 
Wendy - the humidifier near your father should help, also, it sounds as if he might be slightly dehydrated, when you say he has lots of phlegm, do you mean thick mucous, or more like drool? One tip I was told works to break down phlegm is to rub a long wetted down q tip in papaya powder (available at health stores) and rub the paste on the back of the throat/tounge. Beware of the hyperactive gag reflex in ALS. This should help make the phlegm less stringy. Also, try to increase his water via his Peg. One of the first signs of clinical dehydration is dry mucous membranes. We also give my husband Mucinex 2-3 times a day, which helps A LOT. Failing all these tips, your doctor can give you a prescription to help dry up secretions, combined with an increase in fluids you might see improvement.
Hope he feels better soon.
Andrea - wife of Pals Jim
 
meds ?

Is he on rilutek ? i took myself off it and have less nausea and siliva.
Sorry for your pain.
 
He was on it but like you he took himself off of it a few months ago!
 
Hi Wendy,

My Dad has suffered from these exact same symptoms and we tried patches for the drool but they made him feel sick. Now they give him 4 drops of medication under the tongue each time he seems to have excessive secretions... ugh I can't remember the name but I'll find out for you if your Dr. doesn't know what it is! The side effects are less than with the patch and my Dad is tolerating it well. The thickness in his throat is still there and he too can't produce a productive cough easily but some of his nurses do a deep suction into his chest which stimulates the cough and helps get it out of his chest. His drooling has almost completely vanished now, by the way, which is amazing considering how he drooled constantly before!

To help combat dehydration they do put more water in the g-tube and that helps a lot! Also they have him hooked up now to oxygen that doubles as a humidifier... it's noisy but the extra humidity seems to help him quite a bit.

See if your Dad will try some of these suggestiongs and if they don't work, hopefully he will be willing to try things until he finds something that helps. I hope that with the right combo you guys can help your Dad find a solution to these issues!

:) Sandy
 
Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions. I ended up taking to the hospital and it turns out he has pneumonia so he is now on an antibiotic. It seems to be drying up a bit but it has been a few days and he is still very weak.
 
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