The swallow study today did not go as anticipated or as we would have hoped.  Kiran showed some silent aspiration with thin liquids and even with larger drinks of nectar thick liquids.

We were advised to go back to nectar thick liquids and only do thin liquids in a therapy setting.

We were really hoping to hear we could do thin liquids safely everywhere now.

We had (we thought) successfully moved to thin liquids at home with Kiran. We were going to start out at preschool with half-nectar thick liquids until he got acclimated and were then hoping to do regular water there too.

So, this feels like two steps back. I keep reminding myself that really, it is simply steps we are taking to keep Kiran safe.

It just changes everything. We believed (as did our feeding therapist who has been working with Kiran for a year and a half) that Kiran would always cough when he was aspirating – and most of the time, he is very successful in clearing his airway.

Silent aspiration is scary. What they saw today was liquid going into the airway with Kiran showing no symptoms. He didn’t cough at all when it happened.

It’s a long road ahead when you keep having to turn back around. We journey, together.