Hi Bette, good to hear Reggies recovery is going well.
Kris started taking fluids orally after 3 weeks. He started off with just 10 mls at a time, delivered with a syringe with a long cannula attached. The idea of this was to deliver the fluid right to the back of his mouth. Initially he wasn't to keen and only did about 3 syringe fulls.
Once we got back home he just started drinking. He puts about 50 mls in a glass so that the glass isn't too full and won't spill on him. He then sort of pours the fluid into his mouth then tips his head back. He then swallows. The speech therapist has no idea how this is done. Within a week he had mastered this. He has continued to drink since then and he has not used his PEG for nutrition at all. Kris will only do Liquids though. He won't try yoghurt, custard, pur�e at all. He says he can not get this to the back of his mouth to swallow. So he lives on smoothies and Fortisips.. He does taste and varies his smoothies to get different tastes. The taste is not as strong as before but he definitely does taste.
After his meals he does a wash out with water to get the residual bit of liquid out.
I have to say Kris is vey self conscious about this process. It has only been recently that I have been able to get him to have a coffee with me when we are out. Of course no one notices anything, but we do pour small volumes into an extra cup for him to swallow.
Recently I have managed to persuade him to swallow all his pills. He was very reluctant initially. Now he swallows them all and we haven't used the PEG for 2 months now. He simply puts the pills as far back in his mouth as he can, drinks and then swallows..
It's all about encouragement, perseverance and little steps.
Hope this helps,
Tammy