Newsworthy

He is asleep in his big boy bed.

He napped in that same bed for nearly 2 hours this afternoon 

in preparation for a trip to the feeding specialist.

I actually had to wake him up.

And he is now "thickener free".

He enjoyed a bottle of milk with no added rice cereal to thicken it for the first time this evening  since March 2009.

And there was joy in the land.

The joy extends to the 5 bucks a bag/3 days thickener cost

BUT

the real joy?

Saved for the canceled velopharyngeal insufficiency clinic visit.

The skipped invasive investigations of his palate.

The skipped trauma (for both of us).

Hospital trauma is real for ben.  

Very real.  

I did not want to go there again.

Are we out of the woods?

No, probably not.

There may be some residual aspiration.

Cup drinking without a spout is a long way in his future.

He is back to the bottle full time for now as he learns the no thickener routine.

But

He seems to be able to effectively clear aspirated fluid when it occurs.

He seems to effectively monitor his intake sipping and swallowing in a very careful manner.

He can never have his adenoids out as this could compromise his palate further.

His slight hyper nasal sounding on "ch" and "sh' need to be monitored.

And I have to watch for fever and coughing over the next few weeks 

as lung infection will be a sure sign of aspiration.

Overall a great day.

And we are going to the Zoo tomorrow...