My mother is 57yrs. old and cannot be weaned from a ventilator due to copd. On April 9, 2004
She will be getting a tracheostomy and a feeding tube. I will be the one taking care of her. Will she be able to talk or eat at all???

Hi Peggy. Whether you Mother will be able to eat and talk will depend on how alert she is , how stable her pulmonary status is and her swallowing ability.
She can be evaluated by speech therapy and respiratory using blue dye testing with different food consistancies with suctioning after to check for aspiration.
She can also be evaluated for a passe-muir valve by RT and/or ST. This is a one way valve used to force air through the vocal cords. She will have to be stable on her vent for that.(Her cuff has to be deflated for this.

Wish you well.

Many people are able to talk and eat while on a vent its just a matter of retraining them to do so as long as they are alert and physically able to do so. I agree that you need to have speech therapy and RT evaluate your mother.

i have a friend who is on tube feeding.her daughter told me she has to vent the tube.what is that.

quote:

Originally posted by pat:
i have a friend who is on tube feeding.her daughter told me she has to vent the tube.what is that.

it means to open to air.