The swallowing didn’t go so well today. When they began taking the video of his swallowing process, the x-ray showed that his NG (nose) tube was looped in the back of his throat. Obviously, they wanted that cleared up to be sure he had a clear path for swallowing. They pulled the tube out of his nose just enough for the loop to straighten out. John’s eyes almost popped out of his head, but he held his ground and squeezed my hand very hard as a single tear rolled down his right cheek. Needless to say, it hurt.
The swallowing test was short and sour. He swallowed a sip of barium chocolate milk, and some went down right, and some didn’t. End of test.
Because they had to adjust the tube, he had the privilege of getting a new one. If you’re unclear about how they get a tube up your nose and down your throat, use your imagination. I’m glad I was here for that and not Debby. He did great, but it was tough.
So, they’ll try the swallow test again early next week. Definitely a setback. Please pray that his swallowing practice goes well and he gets stronger.
I left the hospital about 5, picked the other kids up and got home about 6:30. It takes me about an hour to get to the hospital from my house. I fixed dinner, and we cleaned up. About 7:30, the phone rang. It was John on my Mom’s phone. He wanted to know if I could come back to the hospital... What would you do?
It seems you have 2 options. Your spouse can grab the phone and talk your child out of it, telling your child that you will be there tomorrow. Or you can get in your car and drive the hour back down to the hospital.
Go or Stay - weigh in with the comment link...