Day 39 - Eatin'

Daniel has been eating solid foods. There's a wide range of choices he can have within the dysphagia diet that he will be on while this throat and swallowing muscles come back. He's a "level 2". It limits foods that are soft textured and moist and should mash easily. It includes pureed textures along with some ground foods.

Dawn helped him to feed himself this morning - he had 1/2 of a sausage patty, some peaches and AJ. Dan could hold a spoon with his left hand, but his right elbow is too stiff to bend without a lot of pain. Still Daniel did his best to eat some of the food with both arms.

We will see how Daniel does with his lunch. He's still getting all his nutrition requirements by feeding tube. That means he may not be very hungry, but he still seems interested in eating some food by mouth which is great to see. Once he consumes a set number of Calories (by eating) then they will reduce the amount of nutrition he's getting by feeding tube. Eventually they will feed him by tube during the night, but have him eating during the day until he is eating all by mouth and on his own. What with the pain and stiffness of his arms and especially his elbows he will need help eating for awhile.