Swallow Study

Errol went to the hospital for a swallow study this week. This may sound like a test to determine if Errol is a bird (he’s not), but it’s actually a test of Errol’s ability to eat. When we were first told that Errol had low muscle tone I thought mostly about how it would effect his ability walking, moving around, and picking things up. In fact, the way that low muscle tone most intrudes on Errol’s life is in his difficulty eating and speaking. Because Errol has weak throat muscles, it’s easy for him to get choked up on his food, which instead of heading towards the digestive system, goes right down his windpipe, which can cause (and has caused) pneumonia. We, of course, want Errol well, so we hoped the swallow study would diagnose what’s wrong so that we can fix it.

It’s a fun study to watch (definitely beats a colonoscopy). After we got decked out in radiation-proof vests, I fed Errol barium-laced food (just like granny used to make) and we watched an x-ray of Errol swallowing the food in real time. (Reality TV show producers take note, and drop me a line!) The swallow study found that Errol can only eat foods that have a certain consistency (goodbye steak tartar, hello milkshake!) and recommended a therapy where Errol’s neck will be hooked up with a bunch of electrical stimuli which will very gently shock his throat into action. I guess he’ll have to stop smoking.

The therapy is designed to help with digestion, but I hope that it will have the fringe benefit of helping Errol talk. For little Errol, talking doesn’t seem to be a brain problem as much as a muscle problem. He can understand a bunch of words, it’s just saying them that is not happening (yet!).
Errol understands:
Milk
Eat
Mama
Daddy
Owen
Hollah!
Food
Swing
Spin
National Intelligence Estimate
Sleep
Nap
Doggie
Cat
Grandma
Granddad
Louly
Papa
Outside
Car
Audrey
Anne
Paula
Hi
High five
All you can eat breakfast buffet

So after we get him eating better, the next goal is improving Errol’s language ability. That’s not to say that we don’t communicate. Errol does lots of communicating with his sweet face, warm smiles, and middle finger. In fact, the sweet noises that he makes when he is happy are probably just about my favorite thing about him. As I massaged his back after his bath he let out a long, “ahhhhh gooooooo gwooooooooh!” And today, after a particularly rewarding sneeze he let loose a loud, “Whooooooooooah!” I’m feeling pretty hopeful about Errol eating and speaking one day (not at the same time). As hard as we work to engage him, as much therapy as he gets, and as much as he wants to connect, I’m sure that one day Errol will speak to us in words, and then he can stop shooting me the bird.