He came home, has gone for modified barium test on throat. Results so far are one side of vocal chord is paralyzed so when he swallows clear liquids go directly into lungs. So he definitely needs thickened liquids. His memory only includes clear liquids. If I walk out of room he will pour himself a drink of iced tea or whatever he can find to drink. I need to hide all drinks so he can't find them. Has anyone dealt with this type of situation and how did you deal with it? Thanks.
Can you get your husband a small refrigerator for his drinks and thicken everything that is put in the fridge. This would not work if he is drinking soda but should work for bottled water, juice..If he is drinking coffee make a pot remove some for yourself then thicken the rest and he can pour it when he wants to.
You can also keep snacks in the little fridge, pudding cups, (NO jello as that acts like a liquid in many cases) some fruits.
Has a speech pathologist provided you with a list of foods for his dysphagia level? If not, one would be very, very helpful. It was my guideline for my father.
For the drinks, get the liquid thickener. Thik-it is one we used, but I believe others here have used a different brand. The instructions specify how much liquid and thickener to use for the dysphagia level (which is determined by the speech pathologist after the barium swallow evaluation.
It may be that all liquids need to be thickened, ranging from water to tea. I thickened them for my father; that way he didn't have to fiddle around with doing it himself.
If you can, go with him for the barium swallow and ask the speech pathologist afterward what his level of dysphagia is, and if she/he can supply you with the dysphagia guidelines. They'll address what he can and can't eat in more solid foods.
Others here have gone through this, and offered good suggestions when I requested them.
I bought a small KitchenAid food processor, and used it to puree foods for my father. We also learned that he could use applesauce to soften favorite foods, such as gingerbread cookies.
I bought the 3.5 cup processor, far right end at this site:
https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/food-processors.html
This was after I tried a blender, but it was much too large. I pureed foods separately, but digging them out of a blender was a waste of time.
If you can't get a list of foods from the speech pathologist tomorrow after the test, post back and I'll dig my lists out and see which medical company prepared them; you might be able to download them.
Bottom line is likely to be that everything he drinks will have to be thickened and everything he eats (other than things like puddings) may have to be thickened.
There are companies that sell pureed foods, but they're outrageously priced. I did find that I could order large quantities through Gordon Foods, but at the time the quantities were something like 2 dozen meals at a time.
Another issue that may or may not help, given the paralysis of one side of his vocal chord, is speech therapy. My father had that twice, with exercises to be performed that helped strengthen his muscles. If you can get home therapy, that's easier, especially given the constraints on travel and desire of many to avoid medical facilities where exposure to those with the Coronavirus might occur.