My mum, with very advanced Alzheimer's, has had a very poor appetite for two or three years now. During this time, she's been monitored by Dietetics, prescribed nutritional support, but has continued to lose weight. Her last weight was 37kg. She is extremely slow to eat her meals and, at best, only has a few teaspoons - apart from her breakfast, when she will eat most of her small bowl of porridge. There have been a couple of referrals to SALT, but nothing was done.
A few weeks ago, mum was vomiting for a couple of days, but so were a couple of other residents in her care home, so it was attributed to a bug. About a week later, I visited and noticed that her breathing was very laboured and she looked 'poorly'. It seems that none of the staff had spotted it, so I found one of the nurses who swung into action and called out the GP. It was a chest infection, successfully treated with antibiotics.
All things considered, I wondered if she could have aspirated during her vomiting bug but the nurse seemed non-committal.
Since then, mum's appetite has decreased further. Yesterday, I tried to give mum her lunch. Her soup was dribbling out of her mouth and she seemed unable to both chew and swallow the half teaspoon of cottage pie - she spat it out. Another couple of attempts resulted in a violent coughing fit, so I gave up. The meal was virtually untouched. I informed one of the nurses about the coughing fit, which has happened before, and another SALT referral is to be made.
From what I have read on this forum, it sounds as if mum is now presenting with the symptoms of dysphagia. It's difficult to have a frank discussion with the nursing home staff about mum's developing symptoms as they are always very guarded and non-committal.
So, what should I expect from now on? I anticipate that like everything else with dementia, it will be a painfully slow process of deterioration. As mum is already quite badly under nourished, could this be the beginning of the end? Or could it go on for years? I hope not.
I do try and ask these questions when I'm visiting mum but, as I've mentioned, the staff seem to have a set patter for relatives which doesn't give very much away at all.
Thank you.
A few weeks ago, mum was vomiting for a couple of days, but so were a couple of other residents in her care home, so it was attributed to a bug. About a week later, I visited and noticed that her breathing was very laboured and she looked 'poorly'. It seems that none of the staff had spotted it, so I found one of the nurses who swung into action and called out the GP. It was a chest infection, successfully treated with antibiotics.
All things considered, I wondered if she could have aspirated during her vomiting bug but the nurse seemed non-committal.
Since then, mum's appetite has decreased further. Yesterday, I tried to give mum her lunch. Her soup was dribbling out of her mouth and she seemed unable to both chew and swallow the half teaspoon of cottage pie - she spat it out. Another couple of attempts resulted in a violent coughing fit, so I gave up. The meal was virtually untouched. I informed one of the nurses about the coughing fit, which has happened before, and another SALT referral is to be made.
From what I have read on this forum, it sounds as if mum is now presenting with the symptoms of dysphagia. It's difficult to have a frank discussion with the nursing home staff about mum's developing symptoms as they are always very guarded and non-committal.
So, what should I expect from now on? I anticipate that like everything else with dementia, it will be a painfully slow process of deterioration. As mum is already quite badly under nourished, could this be the beginning of the end? Or could it go on for years? I hope not.
I do try and ask these questions when I'm visiting mum but, as I've mentioned, the staff seem to have a set patter for relatives which doesn't give very much away at all.
Thank you.
