Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Medical Adventures with Miss Banana: The Swallow Study

On Monday, Miss Banana finally had her swallow study done.


I was not looking forward to driving three hours to The Big City, then sitting at the hospital all day for the study and the Dr. Guts appointment afterwards, then another three hour drive home. So Dr. C took pity on me and took her to The Big City himself. (I really think his entire motivation for doing it was to ensure that I didn't stop at Target or Kohl's while in The Big City. So I'm not sure that he did it for purely altruistic reasons.)

Anyway, thanks to my wonderful husband, I unexpectedly found myself with four, childless hours. During which time, I worked in Santa's workshop. (Yes, I know it's only August, but Santa's work takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R.) I love being with my kids, but those hours were fabulous. Thank you, Dr. C.

Okay, back to Miss Banana.


Dr. C and Miss B had to leave the house at 5AM to get to The Big City in time for the study. Since Miss B wasn't allowed to eat or drink for 4 hours before the test, we just snatched her out of bed and put her in her carseat, hoping she'd fall back asleep on the drive. Um, no such luck. Good thing she is a very mellow baby because by the time they got the test started, she was happy but starving! They gave her a drink, some pudding, and some cracker/pudding mixture all laced with barium to check out what was going on in her when she swallowed.

She sucked down her drink with no problems.

She slurped down the pudding without a hitch.

It was the cracker/pudding combo that gave her a bit of an issue...apparently she slurped down the pudding and then stored the crackers in her cheeks squirrel-style, until she could mash it with her tongue (instead of using her teeth). This isn't entirely surprising--we've witnessed her squirrel eating before. The technician didn't seem to think that it was a major problem and that she would just grow out of it, but we will still be practicing with the chewy tube more, just in case.

Dr. Guts met with Dr. C afterward and said he thinks Miss Banana is doing fabulous and that there are no signs of aspiration. (Hooray!) She still is having reflux issues, but with daily Prevacid, we seem to be keeping that under control. We'll go back in 3 months for a follow up about that.

I'm relieved that she doesn't have any aspiration problems, but it still leaves me wondering why she got so, so many respiratory infections last winter. Maybe it was just a hard winter? The world may never know.

In other news, Dr. C ended up stopping at Kohl's and buying a new shirt on the way home.

Maybe I should have gone after all.

9 comments:

Becca said...

That's great news! So glad it went well. Samantha had reflux and had to be kept upright for about 20 minutes after eating (to keep everything from coming back up - oh, I have some stories of public incidents to tell!) until she turned 2. I think walking as well as a change in diet had a lot to do with it (they both occurred around the same time). She may yet grow out of it!

Sweet Pea's Mommy said...

Congratulations!!! That is absolutely wonderful news! I can't wait to hear those words "no aspiration"...but it won't be for a while for us. And who knows...maybe her respiratory issues over the winter were due to aspiration, but she has since outgrown it. Heck, winter was a long time ago know and these kiddos are growing fast and learning new skills all the time.

Congrats again!!!!!

Courtney said...

It sounds like she is doing great! I love the squirrel eating- my 2 1/2 year old still does that.
Here's an idea to help with the pincer grasp you mentioned the other day. You put gloves on her hands and attach velcro between the thumb and pointer finger and have her practice opening and closing. The fun thing about the velcro is that it isolates the correct fingers. Most little ones think the gloves are fun.

The Mussertons said...

I am glad to hear that aspiration is not an issue for Miss B. I love that Santa has a workshop at your house too! I also love your new camera, your photos are great. :)

Courtney said...

P.S. When did Miss B start looking like such a big girl! She looks so grown up lately, but just as adorable as ever.

Angela O said...

Good news! And is that two little teeth on the bottom I see? I LOVE it when they get their first little baby teeth!

RK said...

Hi there,
Just thought I'd drop a line. I saw your comment on Brandi's blog about maybe being in StL soon. We are having a meet-up in St. Charles over Labor Day Weekend. If you want more info, drop me a line... we'd love to have you!

braskasmom at gmail. com

Lori said...

Great news!
Our Banana has never had reflux or aspiration issues -- but still has respiratory issues in the winter.
Praying for an easier winter for both our girls! :)

E. Lee said...

She is sooo big, Carrie! Growing like a weed in the Southern summer sun!

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