Some things are just too hard to swallow

One of the days we've been waiting for has arrived. We finally have some definitive information about whether or not Mason is aspirating (slipping food into his lungs when he eats or when he refluxes). He had a swallowing study with a speech pathologist today where he tried thin liquids, thick liquids, and some baby food. While he did pretty well with the thicker stuff, he did end up slipping some food into his lungs with the thin stuff. At first, he was a champ with the bottle. He began eating like he used to in the NICU without any refusal. However, after aspirating a couple of times, he choked a little and decided that he didn't want to eat any more. The good news is that once he realizes that the food is going down the wrong pipe, he does what he can to stop it (refusing to eat), the bad news is that he doesn't catch it right away, so food gets into his lungs.

Despite the outcome not being what we had hoped, this is really good information to have as we move forward in trying to figure out what to do about Mason's lungs and reflux. Since the thinner liquids slip into his lungs, it's a pretty good bet that when he does reflux, some of the food that comes up goes into his lungs. This may also be contributing to the difficulty he's been having lately with his breathing. So, the GI doctor, the speech pathologist, and the lung doctor are going to chat on Tuesday when we have an appointment with the lung doctor and we will determine if we should go ahead with the reflux surgery.

Looking on the brighter side, Mason does not aspirate with thicker foods. So, when we do go back to feeding him by mouth (after they get the reflux stuff figured out), we can be fairly certain that he will be safe eating. It will have to be thicker (baby food or thickened milk), but he will probably be able to eat it and not have to have a tube for feedings. We will be so happy to get rid of the feeding tubes!!!