Activities And Diet – Laryngectomy and Electrolarynx guide
The period after a laryngectomy can be tough for some patients, especially for the ones that have experienced a traumatic event like an accident or cancer diagnosis. For these reasons, their daily lives need to be adapted in such ways that their routines return to be as normal as they were before. Such as activities and diet. To achieve this, here are some guidelines and recommendations to follow.
Patients must rest when they feel tired, especially the weeks after surgery. For this, getting enough sleep is necessary to recover. Laryngectomy patients would have to sleep with their head up by using various pillows or a reclining chair. Do not lean the head back quickly or for a long time because this may slow the healing process.
Activities:
Physical activity is also essential to increase the healing process. Patients need to start by walking every day a little more than the day before, slowly increasing the pace, intensity, and distance. Walking boosts blood flow and helps prevent pneumonia and constipation. Patients need to avoid strenuous activities, such as bicycle riding, jogging, weight lifting or aerobic exercise until the doctor says it is okay.
Is also necessary to avoid lifting anything that would make the patient strain, including a child, heavy grocery bags, milk containers, heavy briefcase, backpacks, cat litter, dog food bags, vacuum cleaners, etc. The doctor is also capable of telling the patient when to return to drive or do other activities like mowing the lone.
Diet:
Diet is another important topic to watch out for laryngectomy patients. In the beginning, the diet will go from a clear liquid diet to a full liquid diet, and then to a soft diet before being capable of eating normally. This generally takes from 1 to 2 months.
Usually, soft diets include foods that are easy to swallow and digest, such as pancakes, waffles, most cereals, scrambled eggs, omelets, canned or cooked fruits, finely ground beef, chicken, turkey, and pork, mild cheeses, potatoes, pasta, cooked vegetables, among others.
Patients need to avoid filling up with sweets, candies, and cookies to prevent complications like the dumping syndrome, which can make them feel bloated, shaky, and sick. It can also cause diarrhea.
When eating, these individuals need to sit up straight during and for 30 to 60 minutes after the meal to help food move through the digestive tract. Foods need to be eaten at least 3 hours before bedtime to allow proper digestion.
It is essential to start practicing communicating with people. Exercising short sentences with family and friends and establishing verbal communication will boost morale and help with bad mood and depression.
Here are some guides and tips for using your electrolarynx.
Is very common for the patient to have some bowel movements problems due to the diet. Some ways to avoid constipation include taking a fiber supplement every day or a mild laxative occasionally.
Check out some of our Stoma Care Products and Labex Electrolarynx Devices!
