studentnurse
New member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- UK
- State
- x
- City
- x
Hi there all, before i post the main body of my enquiry i thought i'd just explain where i am coming from and who i am.
I am a final year student nurse training within the UK and currently placed out with community nurses. I have very limited knowledge of MND and as of only a few days previous, have started to become interested in possible solutions to the affects it has on peoples lives.
Within the locality i work there are several people affected by MND. One of these is a couple in their 60's, the husband suffers from bulbar MND, he is able to mobilize well with slight weight loss from muscle degeneration. He has a very poor swallow reflex and as a consequence suffers from excess saliva manifesting in episodes of drooling. The wife is somewhat superficial and refuses to let her husband out of the house as she see's his behaviour of spitting and the like as socially unacceptable to the extent that she refuses to let him out of the house citing his drooling as totally unmanagable.
I am aware that the chances the couple have to venture outdoors will in all probablility become sparse as the effects of the disease advance. The husband has been offered Radiotherapy as an 'extreme' approach to control this issue. He is currently on medication via a transdermal patch however this is not totally controlling the situation and has other side-affects.
Currently i can only see a medical or surgical approach to this problem.
My main question is to what effect other remedies such as perhaps gauze or absorbent materials have in controlling drooling as a short term 'pop out of the house' situation? To throw a completely 'way out there' question in the mix, could a small tampon inserted orally be beneficial in the above scenario given its non-toxic properties and its ability to absorb fluid?
I apologise for my ignorance of MND and thank in forsight.
Regards - Monty
I am a final year student nurse training within the UK and currently placed out with community nurses. I have very limited knowledge of MND and as of only a few days previous, have started to become interested in possible solutions to the affects it has on peoples lives.
Within the locality i work there are several people affected by MND. One of these is a couple in their 60's, the husband suffers from bulbar MND, he is able to mobilize well with slight weight loss from muscle degeneration. He has a very poor swallow reflex and as a consequence suffers from excess saliva manifesting in episodes of drooling. The wife is somewhat superficial and refuses to let her husband out of the house as she see's his behaviour of spitting and the like as socially unacceptable to the extent that she refuses to let him out of the house citing his drooling as totally unmanagable.
I am aware that the chances the couple have to venture outdoors will in all probablility become sparse as the effects of the disease advance. The husband has been offered Radiotherapy as an 'extreme' approach to control this issue. He is currently on medication via a transdermal patch however this is not totally controlling the situation and has other side-affects.
Currently i can only see a medical or surgical approach to this problem.
My main question is to what effect other remedies such as perhaps gauze or absorbent materials have in controlling drooling as a short term 'pop out of the house' situation? To throw a completely 'way out there' question in the mix, could a small tampon inserted orally be beneficial in the above scenario given its non-toxic properties and its ability to absorb fluid?
I apologise for my ignorance of MND and thank in forsight.
Regards - Monty