The little guy was born in Autumn 2013 with something called tracheo-oesphageal fistula and oesophageal atresia - a huge mouthful of a condition, which is ironic really because it means is he was born unable to swallow.
The technical bit
Essentially he had a gap in his oesophagus and a small tube joining the top part his opesophagus and his trachea. Surgery on day two joined up the two tiny parts and got rid of the extra pipe, but life is still complicated for a tof child. They get reflux - it has to be said some of the vomiting is quite spectacular. They have a distinctive 'tof cough' that provokes stares from strangers in the street. And then there's the swallowing problems.
The part of his gullet that the doctor stitched together is narrower than the rest, because of scar tissue. And because the top and bottom parts have been joined together artificially, the nerve endings aren't connected so sometimes the food gets pushed down, sometimes it gets pushed up, and sometimes it just queues up, unsure of what to do.
The first few weeks of his life were terrifyingly stressful but he soon settled down to happy breastfeeding. When weaning started, it became a whole different ball game. So I thought I'd start this blog to share my ups and downs with other tof parents out there, to vent when things get frustrating and - when things go well - to brag in a smug parent kind of a way. I'm trying not to include too many pictures of my lovely little chap, simply because I want him to have his privacy in years to come.
I apologise if some of the medical info here is a bit shonky. There's much better information about tof here written by people who know a heck of a lot more than me, and there is a lively and brilliant Facebook page for tof parents which provides extra support.
Extra note: If you're American it's called TEF/EA. Same condition, much more sensible spelling.
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