Hi my mum has dementia and has now had a stroke. She is home with carers 4x a day. Dad is there to help, but very fragile. Any ideas please are making some easy puree meals. Thank you
Hi @clairefitzy and welcome to the Forum. Sorry to read of Mum’s ailments. A stroke added to dementia must make things really difficult for all the family.
I am sure others will chip in with ideas and I’ll give a bit more thought but as an initial thought, many soups can be pureed and then she will be getting flavour while the rest of the family could have un-pureed soup. It depends how thick a puree she is able to cope with. I take it the stroke has caused problems with swallowing. When Graham, my husband, had his stroke the hospital had him on “soft diet” for the first week while they assessed him… That consisted of mashed vegetables (some of those could be pureed) and things like fish in a creamy sauce. He also had cottage pie with soft mash and the main part very fine (may have been pureed like a minced beef and veg puree). If doing veg, you could try adding some extra flavour using stock cubes in the water the veg is cooked in.
One of the main problems is so much of that type of food lacks flavour so turn out to be unappetising. Adding some herbs can also help boost flavour.
I would hope that the hospital would be able to give advice and suggestions as well. Graham had a visit from the nutritionist - not that it did him much good as he has cooked on meal in the 27 years we have been together!! If you haven’t had any input try giving the hospital a call and ask if they can get someone to ring you or see you if Mum has a visit int he near future.
Good luck and I’ll see if I can come up with more ideas - I am sure you’ll get more posts very soon.
In the meantime, feel free to ask anything on here. If you have some time, check out the Roll Call thread which is where a number of us have general chit chat about our days and you are always assured a warm welcome there if you want to just have a gossip or let off steam. We all understand an no one judges even when someone is in a bad mood or feeling low - the warmth and support is amazing.
Good luck.
Thank you that is some great advice to get us going! I am cooking a shepherds pie now and then going to blend it. Will try the soups and creamy fish too!!
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Hi @clairefitzy, as Chris says some food can be turned into puree. You could try some of these food companies that do meals on wheels for the old folks as I know some do puree food. You could Google for books or food websites.
We have s stick blender, not too much washing up! When did mum have her stroke? Sometimes a speech and language therapist can help with this sort of query. Is mum getting highest Attendance Allowance? She is probably exempt from Council Tax, which can be backdated and is easy to claim.
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@bowlingbun you have jogged my memory - it WAS the Speech and Laguage Therapist who called in the Nutritionist as she was concerned about how G could swallow. Luckily his speech wasn’t badly affected by the stroke so she didn’t have a lot of input.
I also have a stick blender and it makes things sooo much easier - a quick rinse and it goes away again.
If you haven’t already done so, may I suggest you use the CarersUK Benefits Checker to see what Mum AND Dad might be entitled to - and don’t forget Carers Allowance as soon as one or other qualifies for a benefit which triggers CA.
Hi @clairefitzy
welcome to the forum.
these links may be helpful to you ;
https://www.stroke.org.uk/news/what-eat-swallowing-difficulties-after-stroke
oh yes i have a stick blender. I will dig it out!
Thank you fir the website
and the great cookbook ideas!
Hello @clairefitzy - Welcome to the forum!
I’m so sorry to hear that that your Mum’s had a stroke on top of the dementia, and you said your Dad is fragile. I’m sure all of this must be stressful and worrying for you all.
I’m glad you have carer support but having people in and out is also stressful.
As @bowlingbun and @Chris_22081 have mentioned about Speech and swallowing - I just wanted to check if its the impact of the stroke or dementia that is impeding her ability to chew and swallow, or is there something else going on? Are meal times stressful for her?
I also wanted to check if you’ve been given the nutritional drinks like Nutricia
https://www.nutricia.com/products.html
Or Complan
We got Fortisips - there are other similar Nutritional drinks on Amazon but can be ordered by your GP for free for you
These things like Fortisips are dense liquids - they can be used with porridge or other soft foods, or simple on their own…But it’s called Fortisips for a reason…a sip forty times…
We used them for Dad, but Mum was given a couple pre-operations…
If she can’t eat much, for nutritional reasons these may be your best options…ask your GP too of course!
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Hi Victoria
Thank you. Yes the stroke brought on the problems with swallowing . Thank you I will order some of these for the days she struggles they sound a great option!!
Thank you Claire
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Thank you so much for all those that have commented. I am overwhelmed. I always have tried to manage things on my own all my life . I really feel supported thank you. I have felt so out of my depth lately. No one prepares you for looking after parents. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Some great ideas !
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We all realise from time to time that we need help Caring. Often we don’t like to admit it but if we don’t then we can so easliy becoming overwhelmed and then it impacts on our own health - which can lead to illness and not being able to care at all.
I’ve been realising that more and more recently and am starting to take steps to easy my load a bit. Nagging from certain “big sisters” on here (they know who they are…watch my eyes…) was the final nudge I needed…
Share frustrations and ask for advice or help and we will all chip in, as you have found.
Good luck and hope you’ll stick around and join in the general chit chat. Perhaps check out the Roll Call thread where we have moans and laughs (sometimes at ourselves and sometimes at each other) but always in a totally supportive way.
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Non carers often just don’t appreciate what it’s like to be a carer. I sometimes feel that I’m living in a parallel universe watching people doing things I would love to do, but never will. I once had a social worker, brown from a 3 week Caribbean holiday, tell me that as my son had been on a residential holiday the previous year it wasn’t my turn the next year. The break gave me 3 whole days to catch up on housework and paperwork. Another year I said it would be better if it was a 7 day holiday so I could take our eldest son on a proper holiday. I was told the volunteers, mainly students, would find it too tiring!! What about me? Only other carers really understand.
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Hi
Never realised it would be this stressful! Get what you mean about a parallel Universe! I feel like I am in some sort of bubble!!!
Even forget the things i have ordered for mum! Totally lost it !!
Here some puree meals ideas
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Hi michael
Those ideas are great
Thank you
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