Last night, while cleaning up dinner dishes and talking to my mother on the phone, Ryan came up to me with a panicked look in his red-rimmed, tear-filled eyes. “Mommy, I need to go to the doctor!” and he doubled over and started hacking and coughing, as if he was trying to vomit. “Trying” is the operative word here. He didn’t seem like he was sick, it was like he was trying to force himself to throw up.
“What are you doing?” I asked, and not too calmly, either.
“I swallowed money, Mom, I’m really, really sorry!” he replied.
“You swallowed money? What kind?”
“A coin.”
“Didn’t Daddy just talk to you about putting money in your mouth last night?” I asked him, annoyed at my own shrill tone. I had visions of just the night before, Rick getting down to Ryan’s level, holding his shoulders, and telling Ryan that we don’t put money in our mouths because it’s really dirty and you can choke on it and blah, blah, blah.
I’m sure by now, everyone is already impressed with my parenting skills. Getting shrill with my panicked child? Bringing up the lecture from the night before? Eeegad. I was one of those “What Not to Do” parenting videos. Call in The Nanny.
I got off the phone with my mom and vaguely remembered two quarters sitting on the counter for Lauren’s milk money. They were gone. I took a couple of deep breaths and asked, “Ryan, do you know what kind of coin you swallowed?” knowing full well that he has no idea of the differences between coins. I sat down with him and got my purse. I got out all the different coins. “Was it a dime?” I asked.
“No, not that one,” he said.
“What about this one?” I asked, holding up a penny.
“No, it was silver.”
Okay, at this point I was remembering my mother-in-law’s story about Rick’s sister, Linda, swallowing a nickel, and it got stuck in some pipe and it was a huge pain to get out. Emergency room visit and everything.
“Was it this one?” I asked nervously, holding up a nickel.
“No, Mom, not that one,” he replied, “Mine had a cactus on it.”
“A cactus?” I asked, puzzled, thanking my lucky stars that he did not swallow a nickel.
“What about this one?” I pointed at a quarter.
“No, Mom, I said it had a cactus on it.” He’s annoyed at me this time.
At this point, I’m just grateful that it wasn’t a quarter because they are soooo big! But then I had a dreadful thought. I got on to Wikipedia and typed in “50 states quarters.” All the quarters' designs popped up, and right in the top row were all the “A” states. Right away, Ryan got excited and said, “There it is, Mommy! You found it! Yay! That’s the one I ate!” He was pointing at the Arizona quarter.
Now, when I was a ten-year old, I accidentally swallowed a penny. No harm done. But this is a three-year old and a quarter. Aren’t those awfully big for a preschool esophagus? I mean, our esophagus has the same diameter as our index fingers! I didn’t know what to do. We haven’t been to a doctor here. I don’t even know the name of the hospital. Plus, it’s nighttime. In 10 more minutes, I was going to get them ready for bed!
I called the emergency room and asked to speak to a nurse. She told me we should do an x-ray, but it could wait until the morning. At this point, Ryan is running around the house chasing Lauren and laughing and screaming. He was not acting like a child that needed an x-ray. I kept asking him, “Ryan, where do you feel the coin? Do you feel it in your neck? Do you feel it in your chest?” He kept replying, “I don’t feel it anymore, Mom,” or, “I think it’s down to my feet now, Mom.”
Anyway, this morning, I spoke to the doctor that Ryan is going to be seeing for the first time next week, for his 4-year old annual appointment. He told me that 99% of the time, these things pass through the system (he even told me he once had a kid who swallowed an open safety pin, and it passed!). But for now, Rick and I are on “stool watch.” We have to inspect every bowel movement for this quarter. If we don’t find it in the next few days, he needs an x-ray to see where it is. I guess the 1% who don’t have a quarter pass through the digestive tract get it stuck in the small intestine somewhere. Yikes!
We have our latex gloves ready.
“What are you doing?” I asked, and not too calmly, either.
“I swallowed money, Mom, I’m really, really sorry!” he replied.
“You swallowed money? What kind?”
“A coin.”
“Didn’t Daddy just talk to you about putting money in your mouth last night?” I asked him, annoyed at my own shrill tone. I had visions of just the night before, Rick getting down to Ryan’s level, holding his shoulders, and telling Ryan that we don’t put money in our mouths because it’s really dirty and you can choke on it and blah, blah, blah.
I’m sure by now, everyone is already impressed with my parenting skills. Getting shrill with my panicked child? Bringing up the lecture from the night before? Eeegad. I was one of those “What Not to Do” parenting videos. Call in The Nanny.
I got off the phone with my mom and vaguely remembered two quarters sitting on the counter for Lauren’s milk money. They were gone. I took a couple of deep breaths and asked, “Ryan, do you know what kind of coin you swallowed?” knowing full well that he has no idea of the differences between coins. I sat down with him and got my purse. I got out all the different coins. “Was it a dime?” I asked.
“No, not that one,” he said.
“What about this one?” I asked, holding up a penny.
“No, it was silver.”
Okay, at this point I was remembering my mother-in-law’s story about Rick’s sister, Linda, swallowing a nickel, and it got stuck in some pipe and it was a huge pain to get out. Emergency room visit and everything.
“Was it this one?” I asked nervously, holding up a nickel.
“No, Mom, not that one,” he replied, “Mine had a cactus on it.”
“A cactus?” I asked, puzzled, thanking my lucky stars that he did not swallow a nickel.
“What about this one?” I pointed at a quarter.
“No, Mom, I said it had a cactus on it.” He’s annoyed at me this time.
At this point, I’m just grateful that it wasn’t a quarter because they are soooo big! But then I had a dreadful thought. I got on to Wikipedia and typed in “50 states quarters.” All the quarters' designs popped up, and right in the top row were all the “A” states. Right away, Ryan got excited and said, “There it is, Mommy! You found it! Yay! That’s the one I ate!” He was pointing at the Arizona quarter.
Now, when I was a ten-year old, I accidentally swallowed a penny. No harm done. But this is a three-year old and a quarter. Aren’t those awfully big for a preschool esophagus? I mean, our esophagus has the same diameter as our index fingers! I didn’t know what to do. We haven’t been to a doctor here. I don’t even know the name of the hospital. Plus, it’s nighttime. In 10 more minutes, I was going to get them ready for bed!
I called the emergency room and asked to speak to a nurse. She told me we should do an x-ray, but it could wait until the morning. At this point, Ryan is running around the house chasing Lauren and laughing and screaming. He was not acting like a child that needed an x-ray. I kept asking him, “Ryan, where do you feel the coin? Do you feel it in your neck? Do you feel it in your chest?” He kept replying, “I don’t feel it anymore, Mom,” or, “I think it’s down to my feet now, Mom.”
Anyway, this morning, I spoke to the doctor that Ryan is going to be seeing for the first time next week, for his 4-year old annual appointment. He told me that 99% of the time, these things pass through the system (he even told me he once had a kid who swallowed an open safety pin, and it passed!). But for now, Rick and I are on “stool watch.” We have to inspect every bowel movement for this quarter. If we don’t find it in the next few days, he needs an x-ray to see where it is. I guess the 1% who don’t have a quarter pass through the digestive tract get it stuck in the small intestine somewhere. Yikes!
We have our latex gloves ready.
3 comments:
Been there...done that! I wish you luck. I will be reading to see if you find it.
oh man! I hope it comes out soon! Bleah......
Holy smokes! I'll be eagerly awaiting the outcome!
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