Practice (hopefully) Makes Perfect

I started my vital stimulation treatments on 5/24. It's pretty low-key and I appear to be tolerating the treatments well. I freak out at the beginning when Marsha has to hook the two little electrodes to my neck, but that's just because I hate having anything taped to me at all. At the end she puts aloe vera or some moisturizing cream on my neck. I don't mind this part.

On the fourth session, I was tolerating the two electrodes so well, that Marsha has since put four on me in each session. Once they are on, she just gradually increases the level of stimulation while I eat 3 ounces of baby food and crackers. The session is about an hour and usually by that time, I am pretty bored and despite mommy and daddy's efforts, I am a bit stir crazy.

So today, I completed my sixth session - just 15 more to go. Marsha already has my swallow test scheduled for 6/21 to see how I am doing. I overheard mommy and daddy saying that if this doesn't work, they are going to look into getting my a stomach tube. There's a little boy that goes to my therapy who has one and I guess it's not as bad as it once seemed. This little boy is named Christopher. He's five years old and has trouble chewing and swallowing. I heard his mommy tell my mommy that he was born early and with all the tubes they had to put in his throat to help him grow and be strong caused him to not want anything in his mouth. At all. They called it oral aversion. So, he only eats stage 2 baby food and the rest goes in his tube into his stomach.

The stomach tube wasn't at all as bad as mommy and daddy thought. In fact it just looks like Christopher has a valve on him - much like one of those beach balls that you have to blow up. The valve looks very similar. The hope is that I won't have to go through the surgery and have to get one.

I know for a fact that mommy and daddy are getting frustrated with the amount of times I am pulling tape off of my face or am needing my tube to be re-insterted. I guess I haven't learned that pulling it off means it has to go back on. I throw a major fit every time it has to be reapplied or inserted. It's probably my least favorite thing to do. Period.

Well, I have to have my last feeding of the night. I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend!

Love,
Emerson