Jeannie Gaffigan, comedy writer, mother of five, and wife of comedian, Jim Gaffigan, underwent surgery in April 2017 to remove a life-threatening tumor near her brain stem. Damage to her vagal nerve resulted in dysphagia. Jeannie initially required a feeding tube due to the inability to swallow and is currently undergoing swallow rehabilitation.
Jim and Jeannie created this video for the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders to raise awareness about the impact of swallowing disorders have on individuals and their families, especially during the holidays. Jeannie provides a message of hope, describing the resilience of the human spirit and our ability to overcome the most challenging obstacles.
-The NFOSD thanks the Gaffigans for their willingness to share their story with our community. –
Andy and Natalie Tennison 02.18.2019
Thank you so much Jeannie for sharing your story with us.
Mel 06.21.2019
Thanks Jim and Jeannie! Beautiful comments. Love that Jim is a male model. hahaha.
Melissa Booker 10.21.2019
This was so helpful. Thank you for sharing what you go through. I hope you have continued to make progress since making this video. You made some excellent points that will be very helpful for some of my patients families.
Diane Wolff 11.21.2019
Dear Jeanine,
You are heroic. I was my mother’s primary caregiver. I am an author. and I created a library of books for the person with a swallowing disorder and their family. I was encouraged by an eminent SLP, to create holiday meals and game day meals, so the person with the swallowing disorder can participate in social events. The idea was to marry the art of fine food to the science of puree.
I found with my mom, it was best to let people know that the person needs to be able to swallow safely, but other than that, with the correct puree, the person can have the iconic meals of the season. Here is my Purees of Fall set of cookbooks. https://essentialpuree.com/product/purees-fall-collection/
Also, on this website, I have a webinar of how to puree the holiday meal. Good luck and happy holidays. I also have a lot of great info on my blog at the URL below. Tips and tricks.
Karli 12.02.2019
thanks for using humor to describe a very arduous and heroic journey 💕KARLI
Janet Pina 12.06.2019
My husband age 93 died from swallowing complications of Parkinsons. At the end he could not eat or drink. Starved to death. He was 93 and said he was ready to go. Sad to see him struggle at the end. His weight had gone from 180 in January to 125 pounds at death, Oct. 15.
felicia thompson williams 05.10.2020
Thanks for sharing, me being a swallowing warrior myself.