Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

I am not a happy girl when I am not allowed to taste things my parents are eating or have my frozen fruit, so Mommy called the speech pathologist to give us a little info over the phone prior to our appointment on the 16th.

She said that my swallow looked good and the timing seemed fine. She did not see any aspiration. She did notice that after I swallowed there would be something left on the base of my tongue that I didn't seem to notice and swallow. She thinks that what is left behind on my tongue eventually falls down and this is what my parents see come out of her trach. This would make sense to Mommy, because she has often noticed that when food came out of my trach it was often several minutes up to 1/2 hour after I had finished eating.

She felt that as long as I was eating small amounts and was monitored closely I would be safe to eat orally. She suggested using a consistency that was in between thick and thin - a happy medium - so that it wouldn't go down too quickly but also wouldn't stick to my tongue. She said that having me start tasting things that had more flavor to them (like condiments) may help me to be more aware of the food that was stuck on my tongue to encourage me to swallow it

So Mommy pulled out the ketchup and after a few strange facial expressions I started crying - obviously not a fan of the ketchup. Then Mommy tried some stage 2 baby food - turkey tetrazzini. That was much more of a hit. Mommy is going to start adding some condiments to my regular baby food until I transition to the stronger tastes. Hot mustard and salsa here I come!

Peyton Nicole Smith