Becoming A Normal, Healthy Child
As told by Nora's mother, Kristin - Hershey, PA
To every baby, feeding at her mother's breast is one of life's early pleasures. To Nora it was torture that meant regurgitating food and painfully aspirating milk into her lungs. When one feeding ended in a choking incident that stopped her breathing for at least 20 seconds, taking food also became a potential death threat.
Her inability to swallow was a puzzle because in other respects Nora was born a normal, healthy child with no other physical problems. But a barium swallow test done after that choking incident showed that she had pharyngeal dysphagia. Her swallowing reflexes were not coordinated. She was swallowing and breathing at the same time.
The doctors said that she would probably grow out of it. To help her in the meantime they inserted a nasal tube and told me to orally feed her about an ounce of food a day to help retain whatever swallowing muscle strength and oral feeding skills she had.
After a repeat barium swallow test six weeks later showed no progress, Jason, my husband, and I decided we were not willing to take a chance that someday she might learn how to swallow. Hoping to find some alternatives, I got on the Internet and started researching treatments. I was ecstatic when I ran across a reference to VitalStim. Nora started on VitalStim within the month, and by the second week she was taking food orally while on the stimulator.
A third modified barium swallow test done after nine treatments spanning 17 hours showed that Nora had stopped aspirating and that her swallowing reflex had improved a lot. The doctor working with Denise recommended that the nasal tube be removed and that Nora be fed orally. It took several weeks of nearly hourly feedings for Nora to relearn the connection between hunger and eating, but she quickly improved. A fourth barium test done six weeks later confirmed that she had retained her newfound ability to swallow. Since that time she has continued to eat larger amounts more quickly without difficulty.
Would Nora have eventually learned to swallow without VitalStim?
There is no way to know for sure. While the nasogastric tube protected Nora's lungs from pneumonia, we were afraid that she might lose her swallowing ability completely if she did not use it and that she might also refuse to eat normal food. Or, learning to eat might have turned into a slower, more painful process. We did not want to repeat the experience friends of ours had: Their son, born with multiple health issues, was put on a PEG tube and didn't learn to eat solid foods in nutritious amounts until he was seven years old.
VitalStim treatments strengthened Nora's swallowing muscles enough to get her over the hump. For us, VitalStim was the difference between having a healthy, normal child and one that might have been faced by severe eating issues. We are big fans.