Another Test

Last Thursday I took Cloee for her swallow study. I thought this would tell us if she indeed has a vascular ring. We didn't find out about the ring but we did find out that everything that is thinner than pudding goes 'down the wrong pipe'. Basically when she swallows anything thin then instead of going straight down the trachea it goes and hangs out by the vocal cords and down to the lungs. There is an easy fix for this... add a thickening agent to every single bottle, sippee cup, etc etc etc. This means anytime she eats soup or something thin like that we also have to add the packet of gel to it to thicken it. We may find it to be a pain but it is definitely easier than having a baby with constantly sick lungs and dr appts 3 times a week and endless amounts of money for prescriptions and co pays and lots of time on the breathing machine.

When we first walked into the large room full of scary equipment Cloee instantly gripped me and would not let go. I tried to talk to her very calmly and tell her that she wasn't gonna get poked and that nothing would hurt. She looked at me as if she wanted to blurt, "Yeah, right! Mommy you are such a liar!" I felt so bad for her. When I was getting her changed on the changing table she was fighting with me because she didn't want to be set down. Here's a pic of her after I got the gown on.


After she was dressed I sat her in this chair and her eyes were as big as saucers. She never made a peep though. Her heart was pounding about a mile a minute. I felt so bad that she was so terribly frightened.
There was a radiologist and a speech therapist pathologist present. The speech therapist pathologist had a nice little set up and was very organized. Cloee was basically fed, through a sippee cup and off of a spoon, different consistencies starting with thin as water and getting very thick- like glue, and she ended up with a solid treat- a goldfish cracker. Cloee hadn't eaten for 4 hours and welcomed whatever they would give her! She was fine after she noticed they were just going to feed her. She felt safe and secure in the little bucket seat and was strapped in tightly. I stood at the end of her feet and she was able to hold my hands if she wanted. There was an xray machine constantly recording her from a profile view as she swallowed. It was neat to see although if I turned around to watch the monitor then Cloee sat up which caused her to get out of position so I wasn't able to watch very much of it.
(These pics were taken after the procedure was all finished- hence the dirty mouth)
I don't know yet when the next test will be but will try to post when I schedule it.