Elijah had something called a FEES (Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallow), basically the Dr put a scope down his throat with a camera at the end of it. What we found out was he does not have a safe swallow. When his vocal cords were touched he did not respond for almost 2 minutes and then he finally coughed. He has a very delayed cough. Good news is he is not aspirating on his saliva. He is however aspirating on food and drink. So basically what the Dr said is he most likely will have to be fed thru a tube for a long time...if we try to feed him by mouth he is at great risk for aspiration pneumonia. Not the news we wanted to hear but we will continue with more testing, the next test to see if he is refluxing what is in his stomach.
On April 12th he has an MRI to see if his ventricles have decreased in size and then on the 13th he gets his stitches out...YEAH!! I can tell his head feels different and looks a bit different. He is still uncomfortable and grumpy, but the shunt is set at a very slow flow rate. I expect the Dr to increase this flow rate at the appt on Tuesday.
He continues to gain weight and is really just the cutest thing in the whole world....we are all in love with him!!!! Check out the latest pics of our cutie!!!!
Sweet Elijah - I think about you every day and pray that you are doing well. Hopefully the shunt has alleviated the pain and pressure you were feeling and that you're growing stronger every day.
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