And it has started! We had our first official visit to the ER last night- considering jared is almost 5 and we have 3 kids, i consider us very blessed! And to make it count even more- we ended up going to 2 different ERs. It was lovely.
At 5o'clock last night, just as i was finishing dinner preparations to have a fun evening with old friends (sky, brooke, & z) spencer decided to eat a penny. He came into the room i was in gagging and choking- as scary as can be. I started patting his back and doing heimlich stuff and he stopped gagging. he started to cry and told me he ate money. I have heard there isn't much dr.s can do, so you just wait till it passes. But spencer kept crying, complaining that it hurt. I fed phillip, got dinner all done. Brooke and Sky were there and we were trying to decide if we should get him looked at. We got him to drink a little, and j gave him some peaches, thinking it might help clear his throat (or something) but then i noticed that he wasn't swallowing his spit at all. he was just holding it and let it drop out in gobs. that made me nervous and i knew i needed to call the dr. I called his pediatricians office- and they said "take him to the ER IMMEDIATELY!!!"
lucky for us, sky and brooke were there so we could just up and leave- they watched jared and phillip. (and good thing i have given phillip a couple bottles here and there so he knew what to do!) it ended up being a long night!!
the ER took us right in for an x-ray. and as you can see in the pics above- it was lodged in there good. BUT it was in such a spot that it made him rather high risk. If it moved at all it could either go straight in his belly OR into his airway----- which would be a disaster! SOOOOO the doctors at our hospital WOULD NOT TOUCH HIM! they loaded us into and ambulance and we were sent down to primary children's hospital.
It was just our luck though, that as this all started- so did a small blizzard. The roads were TERRIBLE. i got soooo car sick in the back of that amublance! Spencer did great. we had games on the cell phone to play and the guys gave him a couple new stuffed animals to play with. Other than having to spit all the time and throwing up every so often- it wasn't too bad. he was a real trooper! (and lucky for me, before we left they brought me in a fancy smancy bre*st pump so i wasn't in a ton of pain- it was so nice of them!)
at our ER before leaving they had put an IV in spen just in case. He did such a good job with it! He was in lots of pain, but his breathing was still fine-s o there was still lots of waiting. One ER to the other- definitely lots of waiting. They also were trying to figure out the best thing to do. We had been told that they were going to sedate him and go in a fish it out. but when we got there, they decided to try something else in an effort to keep him out of an operating room.
sooo, the radiologist is who ended up saving the day!! after much waiting, they took us over to radiology. They bound his hands above his head, and bound his legs and feet together so that he was totally immobilized. he was TERRIFIED (and to tell the truth, so was I). they had him laying on the table, and while snapping pic after pic after pic, watching every move they and the penny made. They inserted a tube down his throat that had a small balloon attached to it. they inflated the balloon and used it to guide the penny back up again. yes, it was beyond traumatic for the poor kid. he was gagging and screaming and crying and......who knows what else. but, it worked like a charm and saved us from having to stay there over night and operating (which is what the next step would have been if this didn't work) they said they see about 4-5 of these a month! they knew what they were doing. that little penny popped right out.
after giving him some things to drink and cheese to eat, making sure he could swallow and such we were allowed to go home. but the weather was still terrible. so by the time we made it home, it was well after 1am.
today he is fine and back to his lovely self- extremely upset that he couldn't have chicken nuggets for lunch. they want him to just eat a soft diet for 24 hours.
we are sooooo grateful that in reality it was easily fixed. and that we have health insurance! and that brooke and sky were at our house at just the right time. and that phillip takes a bottle. and that we live close enough to a hospital that is an expert facility with children. and mostly that our little spencer boy is so brave and tough and got through the entire ordeal ok. oh, and that jason and i survived it too!
