My dad seems to be choking more frequently when he eats. I cut up his food into small pieces and have told him to concentrate when he eats. No talking. What does this indicate?
Oomezoome (interesting screen name!), you might want to acquaint yourself with "dysphagia", a complication which causes food to be aspirated into the lungs. We dealt with this for more than a few years.
You can learn a lot by reading up on dysphagia as well as the different levels of "mechanical soft" or pureed foods, how to make solid foods into pureed ones, which fluids are acceptable, and more.
Your best option is to request a speech pathology test to determine if, how much, and the severity of aspiration. My father's was ordered in rehab, and during a hospital stay, but also through my father's pulmonary doctor.
There were 3 different levels of dysphagia; I don't know if that's changed in the last few years though. The test, a videoscopic swallow test, determines how much food is being aspirated, and dictates the level of alternate food required. I watched all the tests from a distance, and through the detailed video of swallowing, could see when the test foods were aspirated.
These other dysphagia threads here should help you:
As mentioned, Thik-It is a powder which thickens liquids, which can be aspirated easily. (My father though it was awful and hated to drink anything thickened with it!). There are also other tricks, such as still eating ice cream, but only a tablespoon at a time, then refilling from the container (in the freezer) so that it can be swallowed before melting.
One speech therapist also suggested using applesauce on items which otherwise wouldn't be on the tolerable list. The applesauce absorbs crumbs, of cookies and toast, and apparently helps to keep them from being aspirated.
You're wise to address this now before it becomes more complicated, which it apparently does as someone ages and the ability to swallow declines.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to post. Same if you can't find the tiered level of dysphagia diets, although a speech pathologist who performs the videoscopic swallow test could easily provide these.
It means that more than likely his food is going into his lungs instead of his stomach. That can be very dangerous as it can lead to aspiration pneumonia, and can kill him. My husband who had vascular dementia, developed aspiration pneumonia, and almost died. His Dr. said that because he had dementia, that his brain was no longer telling his throat to close, thus allowing his food and drinks into his lungs. I would start feeding him only pureed foods for now, and thicken all of his drinks with the product Thick It. You can of course request from his Dr. that he have a swallowing evaluation done as well. Best wishes.
Agree - ask the doctor for a swallow and speech evaluation.
If it’s a sudden decline in swallowing then I would also ask for bloodwork and Urine test as well - as sometimes even the slightest infection can affect their cognitive abilities which can create swallowing problems.
Call his doctor. He/she may order a swallow evaluation to dertermine the cause of his choking. My mother had a few coughing spells and had the test. She has a swallowing delay and is on pureed fooods and thickened liquids to prevent choking and aspiration Please take care of this asap. I also met with a speech theripist and a nutritionist and they were quite helpful.
You can learn a lot by reading up on dysphagia as well as the different levels of "mechanical soft" or pureed foods, how to make solid foods into pureed ones, which fluids are acceptable, and more.
Your best option is to request a speech pathology test to determine if, how much, and the severity of aspiration. My father's was ordered in rehab, and during a hospital stay, but also through my father's pulmonary doctor.
There were 3 different levels of dysphagia; I don't know if that's changed in the last few years though. The test, a videoscopic swallow test, determines how much food is being aspirated, and dictates the level of alternate food required. I watched all the tests from a distance, and through the detailed video of swallowing, could see when the test foods were aspirated.
These other dysphagia threads here should help you:
https://www.agingcare.com/search?term=dysphagia+diets
This is a fairly specific decent outline of the different levels and associated acceptable foods:
https://www.gastrobh.com/contents/patient-info/dietary-education/dysphagia-5-levels
As mentioned, Thik-It is a powder which thickens liquids, which can be aspirated easily. (My father though it was awful and hated to drink anything thickened with it!). There are also other tricks, such as still eating ice cream, but only a tablespoon at a time, then refilling from the container (in the freezer) so that it can be swallowed before melting.
One speech therapist also suggested using applesauce on items which otherwise wouldn't be on the tolerable list. The applesauce absorbs crumbs, of cookies and toast, and apparently helps to keep them from being aspirated.
You're wise to address this now before it becomes more complicated, which it apparently does as someone ages and the ability to swallow declines.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to post. Same if you can't find the tiered level of dysphagia diets, although a speech pathologist who performs the videoscopic swallow test could easily provide these.
My husband who had vascular dementia, developed aspiration pneumonia, and almost died. His Dr. said that because he had dementia, that his brain was no longer telling his throat to close, thus allowing his food and drinks into his lungs.
I would start feeding him only pureed foods for now, and thicken all of his drinks with the product Thick It.
You can of course request from his Dr. that he have a swallowing evaluation done as well. Best wishes.
If it’s a sudden decline in swallowing then I would also ask for bloodwork and Urine test as well - as sometimes even the slightest infection can affect their cognitive abilities which can create swallowing problems.
Let his doctor know, it sounds like time to begin to puree his meals.