Re: Questions about upper GI and Barium Swallow tests

[Guest guest]

Hey Sherry we used to have them done all the time on our patients-never

myself or my baby but it is a fairly easy process and kinda cool to look

at-you get to see where the food goes and they will put barium in all

different texture foods and then feed them to mason and video the path that

it takes when it hits his mouth and then swallows it. It is fairly simple

painless etc.-does mason have trouble with thinner or thicker foods? Does he

cough more with one or the other? I would think a speech pathologist would be

present for the screening and will be able to tell you what is happening at

the time. I hope Mason is OK. Please keep us posted I will keep him inour

thoughts that things go well Monday.

Beck

[Guest guest]

Hey thanks for the info. Mason has trouble with anything thicker than stage

2 baby food and he is almost one year old. Also he has what I call attacks,

he will be just fine and all of the sudden start coughing and then spit up a

huge pile of mucus. He has been tested for cystic fibrosis and that was

negative. I am so frustrated!

Sherry Mom to Mason

[Guest guest]

Sherry I bet it is very frustrating for you and scary when you aren't really sure what the heck is happening. I will say that atleast a swallowing problem can often be fixed with speech therapist and or occupational therapist intervention-it might just be that you have to change the consistency of his food until he is old enough to be able to follow direction on different exercises to do while he swallows. There is a great item out there that you can get called thick it-that you can add to anything even water to make it a thicker consistency and better manageable and safe for mason to eat other foods. But you DON'T want to do this without the direction of your therapist-since he seems to be having a difficulty there is a science to it and when there is a swallowing problem you can make it worse if you don't know what you are doing. At any rate- Click here: Virtual Hospital: Iowa Health Book: Diagnostic Radiology: Modified Barium Swallow and Click here: Feeding and Swallowing - Thames Valley Children's Centre this will explain the procedure a little bit better. If you want even more links let me know but this should give you the gist of what it is going to be like. They may or may not let you in there with mason-depends on your tech's and therapists but insist on doing what you think is best. I hope it goes well. Please let usknow.

Beck