Gulp

After a few days of illness, everyone is healthy again.  Poor Waverly spent her actual birthday home sick from school with a runny nose and fever.  Thankfully it was a fast moving bug and within a few days she was back to her happy self.

Tomorrow morning I am taking her to Children's for a "Modified Barium Swallow".  I think this is her third one.  It is quite an easy procedure.  She eating a few varying textures of foods that are tainted with barium.  As she chews and swallows, they take "photos" to check for any problems.  Her two previous studies were basically normal.  We are confident tomorrow's will show some significant changes.  This information will help us make the necessary decisions regarding dietary changes and the eventual feeding tube.

We met with an amazing speech and language pathologist who has been assisting us on this new path.  We have been putting her suggestions into practice - switching to whole milk and yogurt, pureeing foods to an applesauce consistency, adding olive oil or butter to increase calories, brushing her teeth more often, taking more breaks between sips.  We anticipate needing to add "Simply Thick" to her water or juice, so we don't have as many choking episodes.

All of these changes feel like they are coming too soon.  I wasn't ready for this.  Not yet.  She just turned 7.  Time is passing by too quickly.