Re: [unconnected mom: 15yr.old/feeding/reflux

[Guest guest]

Re: Fw: Re: unconnected Mom

>>>-->>

>> wrote re CHARGE TEEN:

>constant pnumonias and had trouble sleeping since they took out the trach

>and started feeding him at age five. His epiglottis has never " stiffened

>up " , apparently. But (and I fully understand why) this mom does not want,

>at age 15, to go back to a gtube and trach! Any other suggestions ...

Reply: This has been on my mind and wondering whats been done since early

March. Have some suggestions, but not sure if these have already been

considered. Also, would like to know if mucous formation has been a problem

with some of the choking?

Experience from our 14 yr. old student showed:

-all dairy taken out of diet reduced mucous considerably, and his chest

congestion/ choking has been greatly reduced

-no eating 2 hrs. before bedtime

-sitting up in chair 10 min. after meals

-small portions with periods of waiting while sitting between each portion

(to ensure food has successful traveled down before more introduced)

-elevated bed (block of wood under matress at top end)

-humidifier in room at night

-avoidance of acidic food (tomatoe sauce, citrus juice, apple juice...) to

help prevent reflux

-avoidance of gas producing food (brown beans, chili, cabbage, brussel

sprouts) for reflux prevention

- reduce fat in diet, ( which is often recommended because of problems with

weight gain) but is not helpful for reflux (he actually gained more weight

because food was staying down with less fat, ie...baked or broiled food

better then fried, gravey taken away, etc.)

-avoid drinking with meal, the thicker food rather then thin actually stayed

down better (when he was sick, mucous sometimes would return and we would

use hot shower/steam then eat 20 min. later thin hot cereal)

-sticky food and bread avoided, toast was much better tolerated then bread

-good chewing skills were taught and encouraged, if he started to rush

meal/or if upset, we would have him stop eating

-reflux can contribute to damage of the eosophagus

Got to run,

Ann Gloyn, Deafblind Speicialist teacher presently addicted to new home

computer!

[Guest guest]

Hi Ann,

I can't wait to read your next email. Your suggestions are always so

interesting. I just wanted to relay our experiences with your ideas.

We too had difficulty with our daughters mucus earlier on, definitely at

birth, and for several years after. Even today we try to follow a certain

plan, as it seems to affect her. We also reduced dairy, except yogurt

(with active cultures) and increased her calcium intake with other foods

and vitamins. We see many doctors but our naturapath (also a M.D.)

recommended a lot of these same ideas. The reduction in milk also seemed to

help with ear infections and fluid build-up (which can re-infect with

colds, etc.) We had our audiologist do impedence testing at various stages

and certain times it would indicate fluid build-up and we noticed it with

her diet.

Avoiding eating 2-3 hours before bedtime helped with mucus, getting to

sleep and having a good sleep, avoided gas and indigestion pains at night

too. This was difficult though when she had night feeds but after we

changed her schedule we were able to try this. Elevated bed is great too.

Our daughter is OK now with her new bed but whenever she has any colds, or

surgeries, etc. we re-elevate it, and put the humidifier on. We also had

to avoid citrus foods when she had reflux, but we found when we avoided

these foods - tomatoe's especially - her headaches reduced dramaticly as

well. About the fat, I know our children need calories so it can be hard

trying to get adequate in and how. When doing some reading, I read that a

lot of fat type foods, tend to coat the intestine and impede absorption of

the foods and vitamins that our bodies need to absorb - so your thought on

that seems quite interesting too. I'm still learning - so I don't want to

comment any more on that.

Look forward to your next email!

Pat, , , (7 1/2 CHARGE)

Rittgasser,

Keswick, Ontario, Canada

----------

>

> To: CHARGEonelist

> Subject: Re: [unconnected mom: 15yr.old/feeding/reflux

> Date: Friday, March 26, 1999 11:25 PM

>

>

>

>

> Re: Fw: Re: unconnected Mom

>

>

> >>>-->>

> >> wrote re CHARGE TEEN:

> >constant pnumonias and had trouble sleeping since they took out the

trach

> >and started feeding him at age five. His epiglottis has never " stiffened

> >up " , apparently. But (and I fully understand why) this mom does not

want,

> >at age 15, to go back to a gtube and trach! Any other suggestions ...

>

> Reply: This has been on my mind and wondering whats been done since

early

> March. Have some suggestions, but not sure if these have already been

> considered. Also, would like to know if mucous formation has been a

problem

> with some of the choking?

> Experience from our 14 yr. old student showed:

> -all dairy taken out of diet reduced mucous considerably, and his chest

> congestion/ choking has been greatly reduced

> -no eating 2 hrs. before bedtime

> -sitting up in chair 10 min. after meals

> -small portions with periods of waiting while sitting between each

portion

> (to ensure food has successful traveled down before more introduced)

> -elevated bed (block of wood under matress at top end)

> -humidifier in room at night

> -avoidance of acidic food (tomatoe sauce, citrus juice, apple juice...)

to

> help prevent reflux

> -avoidance of gas producing food (brown beans, chili, cabbage, brussel

> sprouts) for reflux prevention

> - reduce fat in diet, ( which is often recommended because of problems

with

> weight gain) but is not helpful for reflux (he actually gained more

weight

> because food was staying down with less fat, ie...baked or broiled food

> better then fried, gravey taken away, etc.)

> -avoid drinking with meal, the thicker food rather then thin actually

stayed

> down better (when he was sick, mucous sometimes would return and we

would

> use hot shower/steam then eat 20 min. later thin hot cereal)

> -sticky food and bread avoided, toast was much better tolerated then

bread

> -good chewing skills were taught and encouraged, if he started to rush

> meal/or if upset, we would have him stop eating

> -reflux can contribute to damage of the eosophagus

> Got to run,

> Ann Gloyn, Deafblind Speicialist teacher presently addicted to new home

> computer!

>

>

>

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