Need inspiration

Hi devongirl and welcome to our community. So sorry to find you in this fix. 

Fibrosis to the extent you describe isn't that common. A few people on here have oesophageal dilations on a regular basis to cope with narrowing. If the muscles are involved it's more of a problem.

If you put Dilatation into the search function at the top of this page you can look through some posts on this very subject.

Have a look at Witshire Farms range of soft food. You might not want to order them but it might give you an idea of what to make

WILTSHIRE FARM Soft Meals

Hi I had a lot of issues swallowing all through treatment and I was left with significant fibrosis which initially did badly effect my swallowing..I would end up choking on anything from chicken to pasta. It took me several months to adapt where I eventually started to eat food cut up onto smaller pieces. I also avoid bread and rice as they seem to trigger it. I tend to slow my eating down and take twice as long as everyone else..I also drink a glass of milk with big meal's as it seems to wash bigger food down. It took a fair bit of adapting but I can now go out for meals without worrying about the choking. 

Hope this helps

Chas

Thanks Chas, as he has had no teeth, even after recovery from treatment his eating is very slow and  food is cut up tiny. He drinks a lot of water whilst eating to flush food and forced swallowing. But things have gotten harder and whilst I agree bread and rice have always been hard to swallow there seems little that is easy these days. So his eating is becoming less and he is relying more on fresubin supplements. I’m glad you have adapted your eating and can now enjoy the social aspect of food. Hope he gets there too. 

Thanks Dani I will take a look. 

Hi Devongirl

I empathise with you and your husband as I also have long term effects after my operation and radiotherapy in 2019 and am on a long term diet of very soft food mainly pureed. It can be a bit demoralizing and trying to get variety is still rather a struggle although I have had lots of good suggestions from this forum. I was interested in the Wiltshire range that Dani gave info on. I looked through it and got some really good ideas.

Yes going out is a challenge as there is usually nothing on the menu that I can manage. However I decided that I would not miss out on outings just because of that or I would miss out on so many celebrations and family get togethers. I take my own food with me or fill up before I go and always take a Fortisip with me as that tides me over.

It is a whole new lifestyle and it takes time to get used to and even then there are days when I wake up and initially forget the changes and think I will make myself some bacon and eggs and then remember that there is no way that is an option.

It is definitely a day by day process and as time goes on it does become easier to come to terms with.

As an aside I see that you live in Devon. I live in Australia but my grandfather was born in Colyton in Devon and on a visit to the U.K. a few years ago we hired a car and had a great time looking around the area. I really loved Lyme Regis.

Best wishes to you and your husband.

Lyn

Hi Devon girl I know how he feels as unfortunately part of my treatment was to have my teeth removed too...it was very unpleasant and to be honest knocked my confidence too . although I have adapted my eating the choking still occurs sporadically... It took me around 18 months before I bad some normality but it's worth persevering

Chas