Hi Danielle,

If you are trying to get your mother to eat and drink again, may I suggest that you do so with the greatest caution.

My husband developed silent aspiration (apirating without any outward signs of choking or coughing) after five or six rounds of dilatation of the esophagus even though he was doing his swallowing exercises daily. He was put on thickened fluids (nectar grade) and still the aspirating continued. The only clue that things were not well was that he kept getting pneumonia. I would say there was a period of six months when he was continuously on antibiotics for the lung infections. Our MO told us that his sputum sample showed bacteria not normally found inside the lungs. The speech and language pathologist who worked with him gave him swallowing strategies but she also told us that he would aspirate on his own saliva and that would eventually catch up with him.

I would suggest that you monitor your mother's condition closely. If she is on thickened fluids then that must be all that she gets. Do not give her ice cream/jello/ice -- the consistency of these will change once they start melting. Be on the lookout for fever, shortness of breath, panting and shivering. These are all signs of the onset of pneumonia.

I know it's very hard for the patient. My husband found it very hard to accept his condition. He would sometimes sneak an unthickened cold drink when I wasn't around. That, of course, did him no good. It was hard on him as it was on me.

Since your mother has a swallowing doctor, make sure she gets to see him regularly and get her swallowing checked. I will keep her in my thoughts.