My extremely healthy and full of confidence 12 year old son who has always been a very strong eater has suddenly developed a swallowing problem. We have been through a series of tests to verify that he has no physical obstruction or damage in his throat. He can swallow liquids and paste-like soups, but nothing solid. We keep asking him to describe the sensation that is preventing him from swallowing. His answer is always, "It feels weird. I can't tell what it is, but I just can't swallow. I wish I could eat like I always have," and then he starts weeping in desperation.
Three months ago, his dad choked on a pill, and my son was right next to him. Thinking quickly, he hit his dad on the back and the pill came flying out. Then a month later, my son was famished and stuffed his mouth full of a piece of cheese pizza. The cheese got stuck in his throat, and his dad had to perform the heimlich maneuver to get it out of his throat because he was having trouble breathing. Most of the cheese came out, but he physically had to pull the rest of the cheese out of his throat. For 3 weeks afterward, everything was normal. He ate like a horse as he always has. This problem just started about 10 days ago.
He is petite for his age at 4'3" and had weighed 92 pounds efore this started. He is now down to 88 pounds. We have also checked in with an endocrinologist over the last two years to check on his growth development, and his bone age is 3-4 years delayed, so he will have a late puberty, but otherwise everything else is normal.
If anyone has any answers, suggestions, or similar experiences you can share, I would greatly appreciate it.