Posted by Nils on 7/18/2008, 2:50 am, in reply to "Re: absent gag reflex"
202.7.166.140
Hi Nicola,
Seems like poor Lola has the same problems as Nina. Nina was born pretty much term at 37 weeks, so a bit on the early side. It was a pretty uneventful pregnanncy until about 2.5 weeks before her birth, when Claudia was dianosed with polihydramnious (still not sure how u spell it), too much amniotic fluid. Towards the end Claudia found it hard to move, and her stomach muscles tore apart. When Nina was born she didnt take to the breast and started going dusky as she was having apnias. A whole lot of tests have been done on Nina, but basically the only thing they can find wrong with hsr is the absence of gag reflex, little or no swalloing and sucking as well as risk of sleep apnias.
A neurologist has seen her and gave us some positive hope, he had treated similar cases and said that with perseverance and a good speach therapist, these reflexes will improve, as on a neurological level everything else appears normal and her MRI scan came back normal. The speach therapist gave us some exercises to help stimulate Nina's missing reflexes. However the nurologist said we were likely to have feeding difficulties for the 1st months/years of her life, but that things should get back to normal by 2-3-4-5 years of life. WE are currently tube feeding her. If things dont improve by 6 months a peg might have to be put in to the stomach but we are not at that stage yet.
We also had a sleep study done on Nina and they concluded that she would have to go home on c-pap whilst asleep and an apnia monitor as her air ways were shown to collapse whilst asleep leading to apnias. Again this should improve as her small chin grows making the air passgeways larger.
WE are also taking home a suctioning device to suck up her saliva and secretions which she does not swallow. This will probably be the hardest thing to deal with, as she gets congested and starts to gurgle quite often and thats when she need to be suctioned. When shes asleep there seems to be less secretions, so there will be some respite.
Its a stressful time for us as im sure it is for you, but Nina is so beautiful and there are lots of good moments in her company. Knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel is good too.
Could you please tell us more about what your doctors have been saying, advising?
All the best, Nils, Claudia and Nina
--Previous Message--
:
: Hi there, We have a little baby Lola with
: the same symptoms as ypur Nina. She has a
: small receding chin with no gag, suck or
: swallow reflex. I would be really interested
: to know what your doctors are saying and
: what her prognosis is. Did you have a normal
: pregnancy? to full term? Just wanting to
: know someone in a similar situation.
: --Previous Message--
: Hi there,
:
: We have just had our beautiful Nina born to
: us. ALthough she hasnt been diagnosed with
: PRS she has similar difficulties, high
: arched palate (but not cleft palate), small
: receding chin, absent gag reflex and
: difficulty swallowing and sucking. Her
: inability to swallow her secretions means
: that she must be constantly suctioned as
: these clog up her air passage way and is on
: a constant pressure air support system,
: whilst asleep. Is there anyone out there
: who was a child with similar dificulties,
: namely inability/difficulty to swallow, suck
: and absent gag reflex? COuld anyone tell us
: avenues of treatment and what to expect in
: the future? We have been staying at
: sydney's westmead childrens hospital for
: exactly 3 weeks today. Best REgards, Nina,
: Claudia and Nils
:
:
:
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