We (well, mostly Lorioux) have been anylizing progress thus far, behaviours, data and the like. And today she was talking about a probable explanation for some parts of Mic's feeding stuggles. She thinks that Mic may have a problem with her soft palate formation (or lack thereof). This would make it easy for food being savored (especially purees) to go up instead of down--Mic refuses purees and sometimes has food come out of her nose. Food going up instead of down is painful which would promote chewing in front of the mouth instead of the back--Mic does that, always. And a ball of chewed food collected in the front of the mouth does not promote swallowing (she has a delayed, reluctant swallow) and is very easy to spit out (this happens often). I think she has described Mic to a "t". I think her almost exact words were something like, "Mic is cooperating and eager to please. She is trying. But there seems to be something else" [making this difficult and causing these actions]
...now to find a realistic solution...
...I hope its not surgery...
5 comments:
What a blessing is Lorioux! I wonder if some kind of an upper plate, like a dental bridge, could be a solution. I'm so glad that Mic is trying so hard and that s her efforts at compliance are being anknowledged. How fortunate you are to have her expertise and wisdom. Praise God!!
We will pray for an equally wise and simple answer.
I wonder if they could do imaging of her swallow in someway, to see if the muscles and soft palate are responding appropriately?
I pray that Mic's spirit remains sweet and strong through every challenge she faces.
yes, there is a study called a Barium. It is basically a swallow study. It reflects the "mechanic" of a chew/swallow routine and is done in a live swallow situation. PTL Mic passed it with flying colors...one less thing to worry about...
I was thinking barium swallow...barium is yukky but so healing. Our dalmatian had parvo when she was just a puppy. We had to force feed her for 3 months, and she still only weighed 6 pounds! But she finally turned the corner when we force-fed her barium. It must have soothed the painfulness of her GI trace, because she ate chicken the next day and pork after that and has been a big pig ever since!!
I'm hoping just the act of swallowing the barium will heal any painful places.
My husband chews with his front teeth because his molars are so bad. Do Mic's molars line up correctly? (just a thought).
I'm glad she passed the test, too.
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