Try giving her the ensure where she can just drink it. My husband just pasted away in Feb. still tring to find a bereivement group. But they get alot of vitiams from the ensure.I made sure with every meal I gave him an Ensure too.

As a former first responder, I would like to suggest that you see about having her admitted to an extended care facility at your local hospital. If she is choking as she tries to eat, (even soft smashed up food), she could inhale that food into her lungs, which could cause pneumonia, lung infections, as well as other breathing problems. She is also not getting good nutrition if she can't eat properly. You need to be scared and concerned about her choking. It's not a normal condition. Get her to a doctor to see what is causing the choking, and ask about extended stay care at your hospital. Her Medicare should cover the extended stay care.

Caring10

That's some excellent advice, but she's on hospice . The program designed for the right to die at home .
This was expected she's forgetting how to swallow everything you said is true.
With hospice its all about comfort . Just because I knew dosen't make it less scary..I feed her but her body has shut down and it dosen't absorb any nutrients at this time .
Its all apart of the process and hospice will be called not an ambulance or fireman.

Ensure is a great idea. However my mom started doing the same thing and it got to the point were she would vomit because she choked do hard. The doctor prescribed her 'Motilium" or the generic name is 'domperidone'. this medicine is a tiny white pill that she takes 3 times per day 15 minutes before each meal and it keeps the digestive track going in the right direction. It fixed my mom 100%
As we get old our swallowing muscles get weak and some of us need that extra help with swallowing. I called it a miracle pill.
I hope you find your solution.

Lucysue ,

Thanks for the advice but shes on hospice and they won't give any prescription drugs currently she takes nothing.
The ensure is a good idea I would have to thicken it with thick it .
I give her whey protein instead. I fix it up like pudding and she eats it pretty good . The nurses state she dosen't asborb any thing and to feed her whatever she will eat. The only taste bud left is sweet everything else most likely taste like cardboard.

Cilla253,

I would suggested pureeing all foods for your mother but, if yogurt alone (without banana pieces) even makes her choke, then how about intravenous feeding? Would Hospice permit this? It would enable your mother to receive all her fluids and nutrients (without even feeling hungry) without risk of choking.

Caring10 gives you excellent advice about pneumonia resulting from the high risk of chocking on food that ends up in the lungs. (It's the leading cause of death among people with Parkinson's Disease; approximately 60% die from such form of pneumonia.)

Lucysue

Ensure would be great if she could drink I use whey protein powder thicken it with thick it. It like pudding and she gets more protein.