Swallow Study Results

Logen's swallow study was yesterday afternoon. He did very well, sitting on my lap of course!

He didn't aspirate honey or nectar thick liquids. He's been on nectar thick since March. When given thin liquids, he did suprisingly well. He only aspirated 1x!! And, believe me- I was in shock, so I made them keep giving him thin liquids. We did it by syringe (3 cc's at a time), by spoon, by regular cup (didn't go so well), and by his special sippy. The time he aspirated, it was with his sippy. And, of course- it was silent aspiration. When he drinks from his cup- he throws his head back & just guzzles it.

His swallow is delayed (nothing new), he usually clears his airway in 2-3 seconds- taking about 2 swallows.

For now, Logen is still on nectar thick b/c he is at such an increased risk for aspiration. During therapy sessions, we can use a syringe & give him thin liquids. We really have to work on strengthing his jaw, and getting his tongue to curl when drinking. When you take a drink, your tongue's sides curl up- this helps get the liquid pushed into the back of the mouth and ready to be swallowed. This is what we really need from Logen. In the study, he swallowed peaches whole- he doesn't have the control/skills to beable to get the food into his checks to chew it. His tongue is just 'there'. We are really going to be hitting mouth stretches HARD!!! And, we must work on his throwing his head back. He does this b/c it's just easier to let the food fall into his throat rather than him have to do any work to get it back there.

Overall, I was impressed and shocked that he only aspirated 1x. Yay Logen :) We will do a repeat study in 6 months, unless we think there is a change and need to do one sooner. I'm going to be praying hard that in 6 months my little man will no longer need thickener!!! And, of course - that his coordination improves!!!! He really really really needs some cordination in his mouth!!!!