Kintropy In Action

Kids that use a trach, like Hannah, often have a feeding aversion.  I think it is the protect-the-airway instinct intensified by the equipment, regular intervention, and illnesses. 

Hannah, though, will put anything and everything in her mouth:  pacifiers, action figures, phones.  Everything, that is, except food.

Between surgeries, we've had feeding clinic appointments only to lose them to some medical emergency or another.  A few nurses and Mom have had initial successes only to have them stolen by hospital visits and the Forgetting that seems to accompany the agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC).  Overall, we've worn the record grooves well, but gotten nowhere.

A few weeks ago, I started taking a shot at getting Hannah interested in tasting food.  This is a HUGE step... um... for me.  I'm pretty particular about textures.  Poopy diaper:  no problem.  Yogurt with high risk of getting my hands dirty:  not an area of strength for me.  Long story.  Long history.  Just trust me:  not something I approach voluntarily.

Hannah, of course, senses this.  To return to my story, a few weeks ago, I was sitting next to Hannah on the floor, snacking on string cheese.  I split mine down the middle and offered her half.  She grasped it quickly and eyed me expectantly.  I raised my portion to my mouth and slowly showed her how I could chew it.  She acknowledged by putting her portion in her mouth, tasting it with her tongue, and sampling it with a few nibbles.

"Good job, Hannah," I said.  She beamed back at me.  After a couple of nibbles, she dropped it, picked it back up, examined it closely, and put an end back in her mouth.  This continued for awhile, until the string cheese was better left for dead.  I grabbed some more and we repeated together.  

Tonight, it was carrots.  I handed a carrot stick across the table, with Mom's help, to Hannah.  She grasped it herself (a key need for her:  to have control over the food she may put in her mouth.  Airplanes & other gimics need not apply).  Again, she copied me, putting it in her mouth, tonguing and nibbling.  We all encouraged her with praise and clapping when she succeeded. 

"Looks like you'll be working with her on feeding," Mom said.

"Yeah," I sighed.  "I think you're right."

Across the table from me, Hannah vocalized, smiled, and laughed.  More Daddy time?  Sign me up! 

-- Dad