Like Mother, Like Daughter

There are many stories that I heard growing up about how my Dad always had to deal with drama/trauma when my mother was out of town.  One of the most memorable was when I was 2-ish, grabbed a glass ornament, and bit into it like an apple.  To this day I can still hear a bit of panic in Dad's voice when he recounts holding my tongue so I couldn't swallow, flicking the glass off my tongue while simultaneously calling the doctor.  In the seventies - the doctor's response went something like this ...
"Is she bleeding?" - Amazingly, no. 
"Ok, she'll be fine.  Give her some apple juice.  Kids swallow open safety pins all the time and do just fine.  A little bit of glass should pass right through."   - Really?...ok.  Click.
We could debate the how sensible this response was, even for the seventies.  But end of a long story is that  -  I'm fine.

Fast Forward 35 Years.
Last night I spent the night in the ER with Zailey because she swallowed a metal barrette.  In this case it wasn't blood we were worried about, it was the fact that she choked when she accidentally inhaled it.  So, one point for her, it was accidental rather than purposeful.  But, Jesse had to do the Heimlich on her to get it unstuck from her airway.  Might I add that Jesse reacted swiftly and calmly.  I, on the other hand, FREAKED OUT!  Once it was dislodged, I decided we should call the pediatrician just in case.  Now, here's where the stories diverge drastically.  They sent us straight to the ER to make sure it wasn't in her lungs or lodged farther down her esophagus.  Turns out, it got stuck in her esophagus, right above the stomach.  Schedule surgery with the GI specialists. 

5 hours in a waiting room, 2 X-rays, an admission to the hospital, special muscle relaxant medication, and SEVERAL doctors later, we were sent home in the morning to see if it would pass.  The medication seems to have helped get the barrette to pass into the stomach where it much less likely to cause harm.  But, ultimately the stories have the same outcome.  She's fine and since the title of this post is "Like Mother, Like Daughter", from experience I know that we're just waiting for the next medical calamity that sends us to the hospital. 

From Feburary 2013