Today Lillie had T.J. in to see his dietician (for T.J.'s ketogenic diet) and his primary neurologist. The two of them were not pleased with what they were seeing and what both Lillie and I have been reporting for the past few weeks. The day care providers and both of us were getting increasing worried about the amount of food and fluid T.J. was taking in.

The dietician had anticipated a problem with T.J.'s swallow and so she had arranged for an evaluation by a specialist. The specialist watched T.J. in action and immediately ordered an "emergency" full swallow study.

The full study, complete with x-rays and barium, showed that T.J.'s tongue was not assisting correctly in chewing, that chewing itself was poor, and that swallowing was very poor. He was aspirating on his food and drink, some of it going into this lungs. Eating for T.J. was a very painful and very stressful event. His throat was getting fatigued after only about 4 to 5 swallows. He had stopped eating as a defense mechanism against the pain he was having when eating.

So T.J. was admitted to the hospital.

As of tonight when I left T.J. and Lilieth at the hospital, T.J. was alert and in good spirits. During his 5 hour stay in the E.R. with Lillie, he had an IV in him and that is the most fluid and nutrition he has had in weeks. He now has a tube down his nose for feeding that, at least while I was there for the first 15 minutes of it, he was tolerating well.

Please keep T.J. in your prayers. God performs miracles every day and my hope is God heals that part of T.J.s brain that is damaged, if that is what is causing his swallowing difficulties.

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