Stranger N Strange Land
New member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4
- Reason
- CALS
- Country
- US
- State
- USA
- City
- usa
This is my first post and I hope this is appropriate to this forum.
I'm wondering if anyone can give me a sense of what the recovery is like after a feeding tube is placed.
My MIL is having surgery on Monday next week. She's still very active and trying to maintain as much independence as possible. She was diagnosed in October 2013 with Bulpar ALS but is still able to speak clearly and is still able to swallow food without choking. She's had a few coughing incidents but nothing too scary.
My husband, son and I moved in with her in January to help with caregiving. So far caregiving has really been mostly normal stuff that goes on with families living together - joint dinners, helping with cleaning, running errands, getting groceries. She's still able to drive but needs help getting into and out of the car. She's still on a walker but is needing a wheel chair more and more if she is out for very long.
She is paying for a caregiver come in a 5 days a week to take her to the Y Center for yoga and swimming, run errands with her, take her to lunch with friends and any other activities that they can help with to keep her independent and not depending on me or my husband for help. When she is out and about, we are noticing that she comes home very tired and sleeps for hours afterwards.
She's lost 20% of her body weight since October and is hoping that she'll put on some weight with the feeding tube. Is this a realistic hope? She's also hoping that she can get back in the swimming pool and go to yoga once the incision is healed.
I'm wondering what to expect but am also posting because of my deep seated fear that by the time the feeding tube is healed, she'll be too weak to take up these activities again. She prides herself on her independence and has really struggled with needing our help. I am worried that this surgery, rather than increasing her independence will in fact mark another loss in this fight, leaving her increasingly dependent on others and angry about it.
I'm wondering if anyone can give me a sense of what the recovery is like after a feeding tube is placed.
My MIL is having surgery on Monday next week. She's still very active and trying to maintain as much independence as possible. She was diagnosed in October 2013 with Bulpar ALS but is still able to speak clearly and is still able to swallow food without choking. She's had a few coughing incidents but nothing too scary.
My husband, son and I moved in with her in January to help with caregiving. So far caregiving has really been mostly normal stuff that goes on with families living together - joint dinners, helping with cleaning, running errands, getting groceries. She's still able to drive but needs help getting into and out of the car. She's still on a walker but is needing a wheel chair more and more if she is out for very long.
She is paying for a caregiver come in a 5 days a week to take her to the Y Center for yoga and swimming, run errands with her, take her to lunch with friends and any other activities that they can help with to keep her independent and not depending on me or my husband for help. When she is out and about, we are noticing that she comes home very tired and sleeps for hours afterwards.
She's lost 20% of her body weight since October and is hoping that she'll put on some weight with the feeding tube. Is this a realistic hope? She's also hoping that she can get back in the swimming pool and go to yoga once the incision is healed.
I'm wondering what to expect but am also posting because of my deep seated fear that by the time the feeding tube is healed, she'll be too weak to take up these activities again. She prides herself on her independence and has really struggled with needing our help. I am worried that this surgery, rather than increasing her independence will in fact mark another loss in this fight, leaving her increasingly dependent on others and angry about it.