Back In The Middle.....

Well, I should have learned my lesson by now!  It seems as though the trend in our family is to take 3 steps forward and then 2 back!  Just when I thought we were on the "other side" of Tanner's complex health needs, I find out that we are still right in the middle of it all!

We had an appointment with the Pulmonologist, and that time she ordered a new chest X-Ray for Tanner.  It has been a little over a year since he was really sick with RSV.  With that much time, his lungs should have looked nice and clear, but that wasn't the case.  He still had some cloudy areas in his lungs, and in the same areas as a year ago.  This was a cause for concern, and so he is scheduled to have a CT scan of his lungs to see if he has any signs of chronic lung disease.  We were also ordered to participate in another swallow study to see how he was managing his new found swallowing and drinking!!!


Unfortunately, the swallow study still showed that Tanner was aspirating thin liquids.  For those of you that haven't been to, or heard of a swallow study, they are actually really interesting!  They have Tanner sit in a chair in front of the X-Ray machine, and as he drinks you can see exactly where the liquids are going on the X-Ray screen.  Pretty fascinating!  When he aspirates, it means that he is getting a small amount of the liquid that he is drinking in his lungs.  When this happens with a "normal" person, we call it going down the wrong tube and we react with a cough.  Tanner, however doesn't do any coughing, so you have no way of knowing that he is aspirating unless you are watching him through the X-Ray machine.  This is scary because it can cause pneumonia, and other respiratory complications.


So, for now we still have to thicken Tanner's liquids with a clear and tasteless gel called, Simply Thick, and he is restricted to drinking only 1 ounce, 3 times a day for continued practice.  So my high hopes of getting rid of the feeding tube by the end of the summer was squashed in one appointment.  It was very hard information to hear.  It feels very conflicting to see what looks like a healthy little boy, thriving and making so much progress developmentally being held back from doing these new skills.  So, the feeding tube moves to Arizona with us!!!  I am still thankful that God has provided for our son and continues to watch over him, and I pray that I still see the progress continue, despite this set back.


His CT scan will give us some more information and show if he has any signs of Chronic Lung Disease.  I am praying like crazy that they don't find any evidence of CLD.  If they do, then we will move forward with having another surgery to perform a lung biopsy.  We are back playing the waiting game....which is the hardest part of this journey.  Your mind tends to wander to places that you don't really care for when you are waiting for answers.  Please join me in prayer, asking that God would touch Tanner's lungs so that they are perfectly healthy on the day of the scan.


In other news, our home is in utter chaos!!!  I have made and unmade boxes sitting everywhere with NO motivation to pack, other than the fact that we are boarding a plan THREE weeks from today to Arizona!!!  We also have a sick cat that most likely has Feline Leukemia and we are trying to decide if putting him down is the best option.  We are enjoying our last play dates with friends, bible studies, moms groups, and time with our family before we leave.  Never a dull moment here in the Raper home!!!


I will post the results of Tanner's CT scan when we get the news!!