Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - Real Food

Marc had a good sleep and was feeling much better today.  The first thing I noticed was that he got his feeding tube out...or rather he took it out last night by mistake and they couldn't get it back in.  He seemed pleased with himself and I wondered how much of a “mistake” it really was. 

People who have suffered strokes tend to have difficulty swallowing due to the weakness on the effected side of the throat.  Choking is a real danger so they must have their swallowing assessed by a speech pathologist.  If the patient coughs while eating, it is deemed too dangerous to allow them to eat and feeding continues via a feeding tube until they regain the ability to swallow properly.  Luckily Marc passed the swallow test by the speech language pathologist this afternoon so he is able to eat.  The speech pathologist gave him a piece of canned peach on a spoon and you’d think it was the best thing Marc had ever eaten.  He ate a few spoonfuls and a cracker and was full. 

The only concern is that he doesn't realize if food is still in the left side of his mouth.  The speech pathologist told him he needs to swish his mouth with water when he is finished eating to make sure the food is all gone.

I've asked the nurse to speak to the doctor about his short term memory loss and his vision. If I am sitting to his left, he doesn't see me when he wakes up. I have to say “hi” and then he finds me.  His depth perception is off as well.  He’ll reach for things and go right past the object.  He also tends to forget names and things that have happened that day.  Fingers crossed that this is all temporary or that there are exercises we can do to correct both.

I have to keep reminding him that he has a long way to go before he can come home. He thinks it's as simple as physio checking out our house and making a few recommendations. I wish it were that simple and that I could just take him home with me when I go. 

It’s hard to take things one day at a time when all I want is to know the extent of the deficits are so we can start working on them.

Today he conquered eating real food.  Tomorrow, the world.