A Breakthrough!

Just a short post:

Some weeks ago I decided to take the bold step of forcing Maggie to eat through her mouth. As you'll know, she's never eaten through her mouth and has always been tube fed. The thought of her doing that for the rest of her life is one of the main things that saddens me about her condition.

Feeding Maggie through her mouth is a very perilous task, not least because she vomits so often and is so orally averse. Over the past eighteen months we've got used to the fact that she was essentially nil by mouth.

But as I say, a few weeks ago I decided to basically start shoving food in. It was, taking into account everything that's gone before, a huge success. Yes, she threw up and gagged occasionally but on the whole the food went down okay. It seemed to me that one of the main problems was that she was psychologically opposed to it all. For instance, every time I approached her mouth with a finger full of food she grimaced and then pulled all sorts of faces while trying to force the food down. But I was hoping it was just a matter of perseverance - something she'd get used to.

Anyway, she's been very ill these past couple of weeks with a chest and throat infection. So the feeding was put on hold. This afternoon, however, I decided to give it another go.

This time, I have to say, was simply amazing. Not only did the food go down nicely, but she also welcomed it - even going so far as to smile as it approached her mouth. I can't tell you how happy this has made me. I'm determined that she's going to get on top of this.

Of course, it's early days - small steps and all that bollocks. It may be the case that she's not so good next time or that she goes off it completely. After all, one of the most consistent things about Maggie is her inconsistency.

But still, this is - for her and for us - a momentous breakthrough.