This morning Caine and my mom played Meatball Toss. He successfully got down 2 meatballs because they landed at the right spot at the back of his throat. He then just had to swallow! The other 3 got a bit goopy, but he still managed to get them down.
In the early evening, Donna Vickroy from the SouthTown Star came to our house to get Caine's story. Her photographer took some candid shots of Caine just being himself, and of course, he won them over. He was definitely hamming up the camera, sitting on my lap and giving me kisses. We had a chance to share our story with Donna, who is a dog lover too. We told her about the accident and how he now trying meatballs. I told her how important he is to me and my family and how we will do anything to help him. Caine's story will be in the SouthTown Star on Friday, Sunday or Monday. She will let us know for sure tomorrow.
After Donna left, it was time for Caine's feeding. We started with his meatballs. His first meatball didn't go down so well. There was a lot of foaming and drooling. But, never give up! We tried another meatball...and SUCCESS! He got it right where it needed to be and voila! Swallowed with no saliva or interference. This worked for the next 3-4 meatballs. He seemed to figure out a bit of what he should have done. When he had the meatball in his throat, he would tilt his head back. When it was where it needed to be, he would lower his head and then swallow. He did this movement about 4 times, and that worked for him! The last meatball didn't go down as easily, but that's ok. After the meatballs, we gave him his regular tube feeding. We also tried water, but that sort of just spilled out of his lips. He wasn't interested in the new fountain we got him, but that is because he doesn't feel thirsty. We are going to cut back on his tube water to make him more thirsty. That way he will try to get water and we can see how that works. It may sound bad, but that is the only way he will learn to get water.
I want to say thank you once again to the generous donations. Your contributions to Caine are all going to help him recover. We appreciate the tee shirts coming his way and care packages from the other side of the country. Caine's care is going to be ongoing and every little bit helps. His new wet food is about $1 a can and he will need 5 cans a day when he is back up to his potential, not to mention the veterinarian visits thus far.
Don't forget the magic day...January 26, 2010...our goal to have Caine eating with his mouth again.
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