Thankfully we were in the grocery department where two EMT's were on their lunch break. They ran over, cleared her airways and got her breathing. She found the gold fish crackers in my purse and had a snack. Around this age I wouldn't think twice to let her have gold fish. They dissolve and easy to eat for little ones. Extremely shaken up, crying, and holding Olivia I couldn't stop thanking those men. After an hour of them keeping an eye on her and me calming down I drove us home, and I signed up for CPR classes. Must have been a freak accident.
Fast forward to now, Olivia has a hard time eating. Not that she doesn't have an appetite but that sometimes she chokes when she eats or drinks anything. One day it could be fries and the next day she won't struggle eating them. The incident that happened at Target was the worst time but she has had 3 other times where it could have gotten that bad if it wasn't for the CPR training I have had. So even with being paranoid, cutting her food up to the point where it looks like a smoothy, she still chokes. Besides Blake and my friend Alyssa (who is a RN) who have witnessed these episodes, including our parents think I'm being overly protective and paranoid. Which I am paranoid! Could you blame me?! Try going through this all the time with your child and tell me how you feel.
Finally, after over a year of this I looked at her pediatrician and said I demand to see a specialist. Enough is enough! We saw a specialist and for once I didn't feel like a crazy person when it came to talking about this. He knew EXACTLY what I was explaining and even suggested some test to run to get this figured out and solved! What a relief! First exam was to make sure it wasn't a neuro thing. I guess other kids with this problem, normally have a neuro learning curve, which thank God is not our case. So onto the next step. Xray of the Esophagus. Which was yesterday.
Olivia did SO great! I'm so proud of her! Being two and not understanding what is going on and not to mention not being able to eat or drink anything until after her exam. Blake had to be in the room with her since I am pregnant and can't be exposed to the radiation. They had her drink this white thick liquid and watched what happened to her Esophagus. Of course, right after she chugged so much water and ate everything! I couldn't blame her. Interesting fact though. That stuff made her poop white!
So today the specialist called me for her test results. Thank God again there is nothing major wrong with her Esophagus and looked normal, but as much as that is great news we still are back to square one with no answers. Onto the next and it step. Now we have an appointment set up for a swallow exam. So same concept as the last one except they feed her all types of different textured food and liquid. They watch to see if she is just struggling with swallowing. The specialist wasn't exactly up for this exam just because it's more of a liquid issue that this study works for and Olivia chokes on liquid and solid. But the reason we decided to do this one before the next step is because the next step they have to put her under!
I'm praying one of these smaller exams will catch whatever is happening and that we don't have to result into doing the scope procedure. The point of the scope is to dilate the Esophagus and to get a biopsy for possibly an allergy that triggers it. Which frightens me putting my two year old under. I know this is the doctor's specialty and I feel very comfortable with him but she is still my baby. Of course I want answers but that's why I am doing every little step first before the big one. It's so hard being the parent. I just want this issue fixed but I hate going through all the procedures and steps to get there. I hope this next Xray study finds what is going on. I would love to not feel so paranoid anymore whenever my child eats. Keep my little girl in your prayers as we travel down this road to finding a solution!
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