An Unexpected Easter Surprise

After all of the Easter travel and festivities this weekend, we were looking forward to a quiet SUnday evening at home. This was not meant to be.

Brandon was over and we had just finished eating pizza, and were hanging out downstairs. Lucy was, per typical, traveling between the upstairs and downstairs, dragging various toys and Easter gifts here and there. Just before 8:00 that evening, I heard a call from upstairs – “MOMMY!”

Husband actually went to check on her, but then called me. “She won’t talk to me, she’s just hiding on the couch.” I went up and based on the slightly guilty-looking face, I thought she’d had an accident. He went back downstairs, probably thinking along the same lines. But no. “Mommy,” Lucy said, “I swallowed my money.”

Her money. She had a fistful of coins from an Easter egg and was supposed to be bringing them upstairs to put in her piggy bank. “How many?” I asked calmly. She stuck up one finger. I spotted some coins on the coffee table, and I put them in my hand. “Which one was it?” She pointed. At that point, a little composure was lost. I called down, “She swallowed a quarter!” A quarter. We tried calling a nurse line, but were put on hold and it said I was the third in line. Lucy was saying her throat hurt, so we decided to just take her to the ER.

So we headed to Methodist Hospital and waited almost an hour to get in, and waited a bit more for an x-ray, which showed it was indeed a quarter, and it was stuck in her esophagus. After more waiting, the doctor came in and said it couldn’t stay there, and we had two options: 1) stick a tube down her throat there in the ER, which would be very uncomfortable but quick, in hopes of pushing the coin into her stomach, where it could safely move through the rest of her system. If #1 didn’t work or we didn’t think she would tolerate it, then #2 would be putting her under anesthesia and performing a scope to remove the coin. This option involved a transfer to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, because they didn’t feel comfortable doing the procedure on children at Methodist.

We skeptically elected Option 1, and waited another 45 minutes for the doctor to come back and tell us he didn’t have the right size tube and we’d have to go to Children’s anyway. Then another very frustrating 45 minutes to get all the paperwork for discharge and transfer. Meanwhile, Lucy was generally OK, but every once in a while would get really agitated and cry, “it hurts!” In one way we were relieved because it seemed the ER doctor was uncomfortable and inexperienced in doing the procedure in the first place, but we were also frustrated at having been there so long with no solution.

So, with already over 3 hours under our belts at Methodist, we were headed to another ER. At Children’s we had to wait again, explain everything again (tell me what is the point of a transfer?!) and then finally got back to where somebody could help us. We saw the actual doctor pretty quickly, and got in for another x-ray to determine if the offending coin had moved. No such luck. So we were back to Option 1. They explained everything to us, and we felt we were in very capable hands. So we waited a bit longer until they were all ready to go. This was taken about 12:45AM:

The doctor came back in with an EMT who was there to gently “bear hug” our Lucy and hold her down while the dirty work took place. Then they stuck about 20-25 inches of a rubber hose down our girl’s esophagus, with only a little spray anesthetic to numb things in the back of her throat. She had to be awake to basically gag repeatedly and get the hose down. It was not pleasant for any of us, trust me. It was quick, but we weren’t sure if it worked because Lucy threw up a little bit, and the doctor couldn’t get the hose down as far as she thought she should for fear of tearing her esophagus by forcing against the constricting. Only another x-ray could tell, but after the initial shock wore off we could tell Lucy felt better, so we were hopeful. Sure enough, the next x-ray revealed the coin had moved to her stomach. WHEW! It was 2:00AM and we could finally go home!

We’re all a little tired today, but Lucy is good. She slept in this morning but did go to school a little later and is eating, drinking, and playing just fine. It’s likely the sewer system will be $0.25 richer within the next couple of days, but we’ll go have another x-ray in a week or so just to be sure.

There have been plenty of quips about only giving dollar bills in the Easter eggs next year, and we’ve had a few conversations about only putting food and beverages in our mouth from now on. After her first x-ray, the tech gave her a little stuffed bunny. She decided to name him “Quarter” to commemorate the experience. This will certainly be one of those “remember that Easter when…” or “Lucy’s first ER visit was…” stories.

For posterity, here's Lucy's take on the evening.

Lucky

Saturday morning turned out to be quite eventful. When I got up, Husband said, "put on your shoes and grab your coat, we're going to take Buddy for a walk." I loved the idea, as it was a beautiful morning, and Husband rarely wants to take walks with me. Brandon decided he wanted to go too, and Buddy was SO excited. With all of the subzero weather lately he hasn't been walked like he should. So we all headed out and were having a perfectly lovely time in the near 40-degree weather.

Toward the tail end of our walk, I turned to head toward home, but Husband led us down to a little wetland/marsh area. He took Buddy onto the ice, and then walked out and we had Buddy run between us. I stayed near the shore; I never have gotten my head fully around the whole lake ice thing (don't get me started on Minnesota's favorite winter pastime, ice fishing). Brandon stayed with me for awhile, then decided to venture the other way and have Buddy run to him. This progressed for a while, all of us laughing. Brandon started to head in, and all of the sudden Buddy meandered off the other way, and then suddenly dropped from my sight. He had fallen in an unseen spot of open water.

Oh, the calamity that ensued. To our knowledge Buddy had never been in the water before. Brandon was the closest one to him, and I kept trying to tell him to lay down on the ice, but he wasn't sure what to do. Instead of laying down he was kneeling and Buddy was flailing around in the water. Tears came, I couldn't help it. I was worried about both of them, even though I knew the water wasn't very deep. Husband sprinted over and took control of the situation, telling Brandon to lay down on his belly and pull Buddy up, and telling me to stay where I was, because I kept wanting to walk toward them. Buddy kept trying to swim toward me rather than Brandon, but finally he got close enough Brandon could grab his collar and pull him up. It was only about a 30-second ordeal, but it felt like forever. Buddy's swimming (or at least treading water) instincts kicked in, and Brandon and Husband did a great job. I was a blubbering idiot. Once the tears start these days, it's hard to make them stop.

Needless to say, I was the only one visibly shaken by the ordeal. Husband and Brandon were concerned but relatively unaffected, and Buddy acted like he was having the time of his life. When we got home Husband administerd Buddy's first home bath, as he stunk to high heaven of swamp muck (a smell reminiscent of my unfortunate kayaking incident a couple of summers ago). After a few barks at the hair dryer, he did let us blow dry him, but it took an hour and all three of us to get him fully cleaned up. All in all, no worse for the wear, but we learned a valuable lesson...and we all definitely had to work a nap in that day!