Oops!!!

Although I usually avoid eating in front of Audrey, we were having a relaxed morning and after some playtime it was getting late, so I decided to have a snack. I was eating an orange and Audrey was begging me for a taste. She was approved for clear liquids yesterday morning (but had coughed with water so we are worried about aspiration, but that's another story) so I thought, maybe I can just squeeze a little of the juice into her mouth and see what she thinks. Next thing I knew she had darted out with her chompers and was chewing up and quickly swallowing a chunk of my orange. It was too late to fish it out. I couldn't believe what had just happened, and I called the nurse right away to confess my crime. Audrey cried thinking she had done something wrong, but once I got over my panic we praised her and the nurse brought her some apple juice to wash it down. Audrey liked that very much. (For my EA/TEF savvy pals, she does have some strider with swallowing, a sign of tracheomalacia, but it seems fairly mild. And she coughs a little, but not like she's choking. I think I also recognized what was happening as the reflux popped the stuff back into her throat and irritated her sutures, she fussed a little and seemed in pain for a moment, even though she has her G tube open to a down drain right now. It's so weird to watch what normally is such a simple mundane process, with so much to observe and consider the implications. The coughing is a sign of a paralyzed vocal chord, or something else not working right in the swallowing process. That and the reflux will be our major immediate hurdles going forward. The stricture management we are hoping will go well under Dr Manfredi's arsenal of tricks, as he tells that scar to mind its own business.) But overall, a very exciting moment in the life. The orange went down, by gum!