Esophogeal Dilatation #3

After vomiting last Wednesday Raul began to have a lot of trouble swallowing again. Over the weekend his secretions became thicker and thicker, he was not swallowing at all, and he was frequently choking as he could not clear the secretions on his own. Monday afternoon we finally headed into MGH. As soon as we walked in the door he began choking in front of the check in person, and she rushed us back to the acute section of the ER. 

Luckily he didn't end up needing that level of care, but they still kept him in that area until we were admitted late at night. It took them a long time to decide on PICU or regular floor (we went to the regular floor), do his chest x-ray, and then get an IV in. It took five tries from four different people to get his IV in, and Raul did so well with it all! 

Surgery came and said that they would do his esophogeal dilatation the next day, as these were the same symptoms he had with his other esophogeal strictures. His surgery was late Tuesday afternoon, and Raul did so well that he was able to be discharged later in the evening. He is still drooling and coughing, but there is no more mucus and he is not choking! Hopefully the drool and coughing will subside in the next few days as he heals. We were very glad to be discharged, as it is very hard for Raul to be stuck in bed when he wants to get down and scoot on the floor! He is also always in isolation in his room due to his infections. He is happy to be home and moving around!