My partner sustained a traumatic brain injury which has had a huge impact on everyday life including mobility and his ability to swallow. The injury meant he had to have a tracheostomy in situ for 9 months due to the weakness in his swallowing which meant he was high risk of aspirating. He was weaned off the tracheostomy and was able to have it removed, however he still had a very weak swallow and still struggled to swallow away his own saliva, so it was clear he’d need to continue being fed via a peg feed for some time.

Once the tracheostomy was removed, the speech and language therapists tried my partner with taking small sips of water from a teaspoon to see how he could tolerate this. We could see he tried to swallow many times however they weren’t very effective so we knew it would take some time for the strength and effectiveness of his swallow to increase.

The speech and language therapists advised like all other aspects of his recovery that it will take time and practice to build up his ability to swallow effectively. It was 9 months since his injury and my partner was really missing being able to taste food and drink so we wanted him to be able to enjoy the taste of something without having the ability to swallow properly.

The speech therapists ordered the Biozoon starter kit which is equipment used to foam up liquid so individuals who are unable to swallow can still enjoy the taste of drinks. My partner was really excited to try this as he’d only had a tiny amount of water in his mouth for  over 9 months so I got some drinks he used to enjoy to test out the Biozoon and it was a great success!  Although swallowing full mouthfuls of his favourite drinks is a struggle, he is still able to enjoy the taste of them by using the Biozoon device.

The speech and language therapists showed me how to use the kit so when I visit my partner in the hospital I can use it to enable him to regularly enjoy the taste of his favourite drinks. It is so simple to use and it has brought Tom some normality back to his life after the brain injury. It has definitely helped improve his quality of life whilst still on the journey to recovering from his brain injury as he is able to finally enjoy the taste of his favourite drinks. He has a teaspoon of the bubbles in his mouth so he can taste the drinks and they simply dissolve away. He’s really enjoyed using the Biozoon and trying out all of his favourite drinks and sending me home with a list of new drinks to take in and try.

I highly recommend the Biozoon to anyone who is unable to swallow and would like a sense of normality again. It’s brought more positivity to my partner’s recovery and it’s been so lovely to be able to share and a drink together after almost a year since his sustaining his injury.

Since starting to use the Biozoon, the speech and language therapists have noticed improvements in the amount of swallows that are naturally triggered and the effectiveness of them appears to be improving. This has been put down to the regular practice of using the Biozoon and him being able to taste things he enjoys.

Overall, I have nothing but positive feedback about the Biozoon, it is very straightforward to use and has had such a positive impact on my partner’s recovery.

© Kerry Hill 2022