[Dysphagia] question on Chiari Surgery

[bonnieh4455 at sbcglobal.net (Bonnie Heintskill)]

Posted with permission.

My friend had her chiari decompression surgery on Monday July 23. She went
home from the hospital on Sat. 7/28.

I talked with her today and she is having a miserable time of it with
headaches and neck pain.  She wanted me to ask a couple of questions about
what is going on with her. She does not have a diagnosis of Ehlers Danlos 
Syndrome btw.

Since she had surgery, she has had problems with swallowing, which is a
given and she knew about. She was having problems before surgery too.

Since surgery, she has also been having problems with a burning feeling on
her tongue, like her tongue was burned by hot coffee.  It is still
persisting as of today. She had her staples out yesterday and had the MD
check her tongue again for thrush. He still sees no signs of thrush (he
checked last Fri when he saw her in the hospital too). Anything that has an
acidic content makes her tongue burn even more.

She has no appetite and/or has an appetite but when she is given her plate
of food, she has no appetite. The only things she can eat are bananas, soft
fruits (plums, strawberries, etc) that have been cut up very small.
Pineapple and peaches burn her tongue too.

the surgeon said that the burning on her tongue could be from the
intubation. Of course, he had to move things around in the neck to do the
decompression of the foramen magnum and may have traumatized her cranial
nerves too.

I suggested she drink more fruit smoothies, yogurt, using Carnation Instant
Breakfast to try to get more nutrition in her, and a protein powder to put
in/on her foods since she is not eating a lot of meats.