Tough To Swallow

Today was an interesting day here at the Musing's Mansion. After a bunch of discussion on the benefits and many false starts at getting one done, Tommy finally had a rehab swallow study.

To catch you up, if you need it, basically because of his craniofacial issues Tommy's ability/ease of swallowing things in his mouth has long been questioned and worried over. He had been working at school with his speech therapist getting small tastes of certain foods (yogurt, pudding, things of that consistency).

Daddy was left out of the actual exam, because I had to stay in the waiting room with Matty, but it wasn't to long before I got to go back and watch the video of the x-ray as he was fed. After a couple of nice successful swallows, there it was: one very bad, swallow that gulped the barium laced pudding down into his wind pipe.

Tommy had aspirated. He didn't even try to clear his windpipe or cough as the stuff went down. That is not good. So he officially has an uncoordinated/unsafe swallow. All is not lost to be sure. While the result was a disappointment, it isn't the end, it doesn't mean he can never eat it just means we need to back it off and work a little slower and perhaps train his swallow.

Perhaps the bad news is that the little goon is a silent aspirator. That might not be the best thing. But knowing he does aspirate perhaps alot of the times he has been "sick" have been aspiration related and not a real sickness.

It's another piece of the Tommy puzzle in place, another part of the present unwrapped, but I am not sure I liked the gift. So now we go back to square one and we work in little tiny tastes that he won't have to swallow and we build from there.

Meanwhile this evening Matty mowed down Cheerios like they were going out of style, ate a jar and a half of baby food, had a cookie, and his first piece of cooked pasta. It comes so easy for the little booger and Tommy has to work so hard at everything. Sometimes I wonder if big brother gets a little jealous of everything little brother can do already. I wonder if Tommy even understands jealousy.

I have to think he does. The other night his old care attendant came by with her daughter and baby daddy. Now, before the baby daddy, his care attendant was all his. Well he got us to give him to her and he climbed in her lap and stared her baby daddy down like "Whatchu gonna do about it...?" It was so cute, he knew exactly who to look at with a big old turd-eatin' grin plastered on his face like he was saying "Haha I showed you."


So the Church has patron saints for everything right, well, St. Blaise is the closest I can find for Tommy's issue. Anyone else got another...??

Saint Blaise, pray for us that we may not suffer from illnesses of the throat and pray that all who are suffering be healed by God's love. Amen.