Ainsley Eating a Tortilla Chip

Ainsley has dysphagia, in other words a medical inability to swallow safely for eating. We have been working with her since she was a few months old with little success. Perhaps largely in part due to the tracheostomy and upper airway obstruction that limits her sense of taste, perhaps it is uncomfortable to swallow because of the swelling and the trach in her neck, lack of hunger due to being g-tube fed, and all this was compounded with a history of vomiting and GERD until she underwent a Nissen Fundoplication five months ago in Oct. 2008. Although there have been times she has been interested in eating some puree it has been extremely limited. We always have her participate in family dinner but she usually just plays with her food. If she got any table food into her mouth it would cause her to gag and retch. Last night she actually put a tortilla chip in her mouth by herself for the FIRST TIME and liked it! It may be a fluke but it gives us hope. For more info about Ainsley please see her blog at http://ainsleyrae.blogspot.com

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• dysphagia
• tracheostomy

[zoelynnshae]

@pixie1310 That's exactly what I thought, the kid has a disease where she is unable to swallow safely and you feed her a damn chip?! WTF is wrong with the parents? It's not cute at all, it's dangerous.

[houbow]

this makes me want to cry not sure why

[lambsgirl]

Gorgeous little angel -3

[meggiemeg86]

@zoelynnshae Are you Ainsley's mom? Nope. Keep it to yourself.

[pixie1310]

why give her a chip?!

[amelitaz]

@houbow Me too because something so basic as eating is difficult for her, yet, she still desires too...

[charles8642]

I noticed she was lying back somewhat in this video. Perhaps improving her posture (more upright) may also improve her ability to swallow successfully.

[OxxFallen]

ever cute

[BADsinger509]

she's really pretty oh and if i record my neice she would stop too =)