Ty's 5th Esophagus Stretch

Today we traveled to Dallas for another esophagus stretch for Ty. Hard to believe he's had it done five times now. Each time, longer amounts of time goes by, which is good. This last time we did three whole months. After today, we will do it in July and December of this year. The doctor said he feels this is working and his esophagus opening is getting bigger each time. This was very encouraging. He still spits up some, but alot of the time food is getting down so we are encouraged. We were wondering if he would recognize where he was going this morning. It was fairly early, but he was awake the whole time and asked me (in a full sentence!) "Where are we going?" We weren't sure how to answer that one! Anyway, once we got him out of the car in the hospital parking lot he started to cry, definitely recognizing what was about to happen. I've attached some pics of Frank making him laugh and trying to distract him in the waiting room with Elmo. Also the top picture is of him in the room just before he goes under the mask. He was not happy during this time but I happened to get a pic when he stopped crying for a second. When the nurse went to take his blood pressure, he lifted up his sleeve for the nurse and everyone laughed. Also when they went to put the oxygen mask on he covered both hands over his mouth, which was kinda heartbreaking. He is under the mask for about 10 seconds before he drifts off to sleep. I noticed its getting harder and harder for me to watch this part!

Anyway, afterwards, he did great and we went home and had some apple juice on the couch. Very soon afterward he was up playing with his cars and trucks which he really loves to do. 

The doctor was very encouraging and made it seem like after July and December we may not be doing this much longer. We are grateful for this little guy and love him so much!