April 21, 2009

CT scan, swallow study and more questions

Today, Bertrand and I got to radiology early so I could schedule his brain CT scan for June. Well, it turns out, we got there so early that they said, "we can just do the scan now." And, we did--without sedation! There are some motion artifacts but nothing so bad as to render the scan unreadable, according to Casey, the CT technician. I am so proud of my big boy for staying so still! I am looking forward to the CT scan's interpretation from radiology.

After the brain CT, Bertrand had his very first swallow study done. The result is oddly mixed. Yet again, they'd never seen anything like Bertrand before. On the X-ray it looked like his swallowing was fine, but he still aspirated. As some of you know, Bertrand jerks his head during feeding. The therapist also didn't like how he seemed to be taking breaks for breath or how his breathing sounded. (I have found his breathing raspy/loud but all the doctors say his lungs sound clear.) So, we are being referred to an otolaryngologist--an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT). An ENT can use a scope to look down his throat and see if there is anything unusual such as narrowing, which doesn't show up in a swallow study.

I am waiting to get an ENT referral from Dr. Samson-Fang in order to schedule that appointment. I am also waiting to hear back from Dr. Sakonju. Bertrand and I ran into her at the hospital and she'll be calling me later today with the preliminary results from yesterday and her reading of today's CT scan.

1 comment :

  1. I'm glad you were able to get the CT done. THAT is incredible! I'm so proud of B for being able to get through it :)

    I'm going to warn you...the otolaryngoscope they have to do to look down his throat is a horrible 2-minute experience. We did it with Hannah a few months ago, and honestly, it was probably the worst procedure I had to put her through -- yes, I said only 2 minutes!

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