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hopeandlove

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
18
Reason
Loved one DX
Diagnosis
03/2008
Country
US
State
Georgia
City
Atlanta
I've been searching the site for a couple helpful tools to make day to day tasks a bit easier. Found what I need in regards to button hooks and zipper pulls- thanks for your suggestions and whitty comments.

I'm having trouble swallowing and I've moved on to soft foods. But I seem to get choked on some soft foods now. It is pretty scary, but probably more so to my family. Is there a device that can be used in the case of choking to help pull the food back up? I keep coming across a suction machine in my searches, would this help me?
 
hello Hope,
i know exactly how you feel, having gone through the same thing. I eventually had to have my food pureyd so I could eat without choking. By then my neuro and wife recommended getting a tube put in.:roll:
I didn't want it, but in the end, it was the best thing I ever did! i can still eat if I want, I'm putting the weight back on and no more choking. Well, less choking. :lol:

hope this helps,
Shawn
 
That is a good question about the suction machine. I have to admit I do not know enough about this machine, never even having seen one. I hope somebody can enlighten us...
 
A suction machine might help but I have trouble visualizing it being thrust down your throat to get the food up that is choking you. My gag reflex is too strong! I would think the better choice would be a feeding tube, this way you would prevent choking at all. You could get most of your nutrition this way and still eat a bit so you can taste the food.
 
hey ya'll
My own experience with the suction machine that I've had for about a month now, it works pretty good for saliva, or like when brushing my teeth, just to get all of the extra liquid stuff out.
I don't think it would be the right choice for removing pieces of food, and there is always the question of suctioning TOO much.
hope this little bit helps,
brenda
 
I wonder if a cough assist machine would do any good. I know we talked about them before. I'll try to get time to root around.

AL.
 
On second thought I am guessing that if food is starting to get stuck then it might be time to puree it? Seems like there would be less chance to choke on food that was really ground up.
 
maybe dysphagia?

You should ask your doctor about dysphagia.

Nestle makes many different products that can aid dysphagia patients with swallowing food and drinks. Products likes, Resource Thickenup,Resource Thickened Water, Recource Thickened Juice, Thickened Coffee, Thickned Shakes, Resouce Supercal Mashed potatoes and hot cereal mix, and more can help. These products can help you with calorie intake.

Call Customer Service at HomeDeliveryMedical.com for product information toll free 1-866-584-4038 or visit their web site at www.homedeliverymedical.com

If you don't find these products on the web site, give customer service a call.

Michael
 
It IS scary, hope. I choke several times a week ... sometimes twice in one meal; when that happens that food goes on the "forbidden" list ..., and I probably go through what you do. I throw myself against the edge of the kitchen sink and also do a "self-Heimlich." I keep reminding myself to breathe through my nose ... once I can get some air in through my nose, I can start to cough it out.

My husband and I have practiced the Heimlick, but I think he is afraid to hurt me, as he does not do it forcefully enough when he sees I'm choking. Plus I usually eat alone because it's just such a disgusting mess.

Any device that would help dislodge the clog would be great!

Michael ... shilling for Nestle? Probably good products, but anybody on this forum with bulbar ALS probably knows all about about dysphagia ...and probably has got disarthria too ... which makes phone calls a mite impossible.

No problem, just educating you on ALS. :)
 
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Two Kitchen tools that help

My husband (bulbar onset) had to be "Heimliched" at a restaurant last summer. Thank goodness that "Scott the bartender" was there to save the day and save his life. It was quite a wake up call for both of us.

Since then Dave eats almost all his food pureed. Two tools used CONSTANTLY at our house are the "Magic Bullet" which is like a blender, but designed to do single servings. We puree a single serving of whatever we have for dinner. Works GREAT. There are also generic versions of the Magic Bullet now too.

He also has an immersion blender, which is like a blender on the end of a stick. Super fast to puree something like a chunky soup. Just put the food in a bowl and stick the immersion blender into it to puree in a couple of seconds.

These 2 tools have changed our lives with how Dave eats. Puree is super easy to swallow and causes much less coughing and sometimes no coughing at all during meals.

Hope it helps.
Lisa
 
That's great to know. Thanks for the info. One of my nieces just gave me the "Magic Bullet," but I haven't opened it yet. I'll get that going.
 
Thanks for the info on the Magic Bullet. A few weeks ago I was talking about those baby food grinders that would puree a serving at a time. They seemed less cumbersome that dragging out the huge blender or food processor. But the bullet sounds like it would do the trick just as well.
 
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