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Brady has sure had to endure a lot in his short few months since he's been out in the world. Sickies and a visit to the hospital to get an i.v. and now another trip to the hospital to have two tests performed. He is such a trooper and totally deserves a cookie. If he were old enough and didn't have eating issues, I'd definitely give him one.
If the test was going to go anywhere close to how the registration went at the hospital, I was going to lose it. The woman checking us in, was "filling in" from another floor she kept saying and she kept apologizing for her lack of understanding of this floor's check-in procedures. When she first saw us, she said you're the patient??? Evidently she couldn't find our reservation and was expecting a Charles B. Jones who was born in 1940. She kept saying,"So this isn't Charles? Well, of course that isn't Charles, he clearly wasn't born in 1940." Really lady?? She finally got help. I thought that was a good idea.
Anyways, first up was the swallow test. I was a little worried Brady wouldn't cooperate in swallowing the bottle with barium, but he was pretty hungry and no issues. The test showed what the pulmonologist had suspected...Brady is aspirating while he eats. AKA, swallowing incorrectly, allowing formula into his lungs. Not good. No wonder the little guy had stopped wanting to eat, has a horrible cough and fluid in his lungs. The good news is he is able to swallow properly when the formula is thickened with the gooey goo. Solution...keep thickening his bottles with gooey goo. We will have another swallow study done in three months to see if he has hopefully outgrown this issue. Fingers crossed.
Next up...chest x-ray. If anyone has had a baby have a chest x-ray, am I right that it looks like something out of Total Recall or something? Crazy how they make him sit in that little contraption. The technician said he got some good pictures of his chest. I told Brady that was good since he missed his class photo at school this morning he could have chest pictures instead. I have not heard the results on the chest x-ray and should hear in the morning. Fingers crossed again.
I hate that Brady is having to endure any of this but beyond grateful it is a problem that is treatable, beyond relieved we have finally found the root of Brady's issues. No more constant heart ache of not knowing what is wrong with my precious boy. I kind of want to shoot the pediatrician in the head for being such a jerk. And want to give the pulmonologist a big kiss on the cheek. Don't worry, not going to do either.
Now we can put this behind for awhile (well after the chest x-ray results) and Brady and I can hop on a plane to the Windy City to see two of my favorite people and celebrate the arrival of my soon to be nephew. I can't wait!!!