A good way to make sure that the patient is swallowing each day is to put a bottle of water or Gatorade by the favorite chair or bedside and "suggest, push, prod, force, etc." the patient to finish it by the end of day. That way you have a good measurement of how often he/she swallows each day. I had a good compliant patient in Bill but even so, it was very painful for him to do this....but, so important. It paid off as he was eating and drinking by mouth within a week of finishing treatments. (YMMV)

Deb