Lucas has been a patient of St. Mary’s Home Care since 2018 and has always worked with the same speech pathologist, Paulina Livinsky. Lucas has had a g-tube since he was one year old and came to St. Mary’s completely dependent on g-tube feedings. The initial goals of his therapy included being able to eat solids by mouth. Lucas was only able to consume between 15-20 bites of solid foods per session, due to severe oral motor weakness and food-related anxiety.
Lucas’ therapy goals have included increasing his ability to accept and manage puree and mechanical soft consistency foods. Lucas was steadily making gains with how much food he consumed daily; however, due to the lack of consistency in volume intake, he continued to be largely g-tube dependent.
Due to the pandemic, Lucas now attends school remotely and his mom has been able to assist him with every meal, which has helped soothe his anxiety. In addition, he continues to also receive his speech therapy sessions from St. Mary’s via telehealth four times a week. Lucas’ food intake has steadily increased and he now consumes all of his meals by mouth; the g-tube is only used for medicinal and hydration needs.
Thanks to the collaboration between the family and his St. Mary’s Home Care therapist, Lucas has made tremendous progress and is nearly weaned from his g-tube.
