End Of Life Swallowing Decision

About getting Lewy Bodies patients to swallow. I kinda' got to a breaking point last week. I tried to get my 77 year old mom to eat ANYTHING last Thursday and Friday, and she would let me put the food in her mouth, but she wouldn't chew nor swallow. Not liquids, not soft foods, nothing. Consequently, she
pretty much dehydrated last week. Today, however, she drank soup, ate a bowl of applesauce, ate 3/4 of a NutraGrain bar, and has drunk 2 16oz cups of liquids, so far.

I know that the non-swallowing thing will rear it's ugly head, and I am actually wondering if there is such a thing as a liquid protein that I can try to get
her to drink. She will not drink Boost, or Ensure, even though I have made them super cold, hoping that she will drink them as a shake - no way - "Thank you very much.".

I have been taking care of her for 18 months now, and I have only had this problem for about the past 3-4 months, that she won't swallow. I have gently
massaged her throat, with her head tilted back, to help her to swallow, and I have sat in front of her and made a chewing motion, to remind her to chew, and she will for a while, but then forgets what she is doing, and stops again.

Do you have any recommendations for this type of problem? Have you heard of this happening to others?  She has had 3-4 strokes, one heart attack, and a
massive subdural hematoma, for which they had to operate, rather than just drill holes in her skull to relieve the pressure, so she has really had a time of
it, you know?

Thank you for any insight you might give me.

Most every person with a progressive dementing illness such as Lewy Body Disease or Alzheimer's type dementia (among many) will eventually "forget" how to swallow. The forgetting will not be consistent - one day it will be a problem, the next day could be better. Eventually the ability to voluntarily swallow will disappear. Since the liquid proteins all have to be swallowed, I'm not sure that will solve her problem.

Unless you are professionally trained I would beware of doing anything physically to force her to swallow. If food goes down the "wrong tube" she can easily get food into her lungs, which will create a host of even worse problems.

Eventually, possibly soon, you will be faced with the decision about whether to have a feeding tube inserted. A feeding tube bypasses the need to swallow, delivering food and water directly into the stomach. This reduces the concern about choking, but it raises a host of other difficult quality of life issues. Each loving family must make this decision according to what they know about their parent's end-of-life wishes, and what they believe to be in their parent's best interest. I strongly recommend that you meet with her doctor to get his recommendations as soon as possible. You might also want to meet with your spiritual advisor or anyone else you might trust to help you make this difficult decision.