Dysphagia Pamplet

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Journal Entry #1

Today we have made a lot of progress. I think I finally got the client and his family to understand how important it is that the food and liquids are always the same consistency and that they are not too hard for him to chew. They seem to be getting better at using the Thick It to get his liquids to a consistency that will not cause aspiration. This was a big concern since my main concern was preventing aspiration on liquids.
The oral-motor exercises are helping with the oral preparatory and the oral phases of the swallow. His tongue and jaw are showing increased strength in the informal assessment. Hopefully with a few more weeks of the oral-motor exercises I will be able to increase his diet to a mechanical soft level. This would greatly help the family in caring for him.
The liquid consistency will most likely always have to stay at honey thickness due to the chance of aspiration. I still have the goal of nectar liquids because with the proper compensatory strategy we can prevent aspiration, it is just finding the perfect way. We also need get her to understand that she always needs to be in that certain position when eating or drinking.

Journal Entry #2

I am so tired of having to eat these disgusting hospital foods that are all smashed up to where I cannot even tell what I am eating. If there were only some other way to keep me from choking all of the time. My therapists and even my family members are always yelling at me to "eat my food" and that I need to "eat it all". If they only knew how bad it tastes and how awful it feels in my mouth they probably wouldn’t feel the same way. Sometimes I feel as if no one even cares about my feelings and what I want. They just keep stuffing food down me like I am their little experiment. All they say is "eat this", "turn this way", "sit that way", it all just makes me sick. What am I supposed to do when I want to go out to a restaurant and eat with my friends? Ask the cook to blend everything up for me? I don’t just want some way to get food down me; I want to fix this problem so I can go back to things being normal. I feel like my life is over, what is the point in eating? I only wish they could see things this way.

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