Ten cents down

 

We consider ourselves pretty lucky in the health care department so far for our kids. Despite Iver having been diagnosed with a rare neonatal obstructive condition called pyloric stenosis as a five-week-old that required urgent (but totally curative) surgery, we have yet to have any true emergencies and have yet to deal with fractures in either of our two rambunctious boys (we reduced one nursemaid's elbow in Iver on our own, and Niall had a pretty bloody scissors-to-the-soft-palate incident which was our actual closest call. We have expired lidocaine and suture material at home just in case).

We are very careful about kids not putting choking hazards anywhere near their mouths (and I really never worried about choking in either of them as toddlers as they never even got close to trouble; I also admit a bit sheepishly that I was never one bothered enough to quarter grapes or blueberries when they were younger). I remember one time talking to a mom who took her toddler to an ER after he apparently swallowed a coin (unwitnessed, however. When I asked her how she was sure he swallowed it, she said he pointed at his mouth and said, "MONEY!").  I was fairly sure that, despite our (now older) kids putting random things in their mouths from time to time, which seems more gross and really annoying than actually health-hazardous, we'd never be in that boat... however, parenthood has a way of humbling even the most vigilant of us! 

On Saturday evening, the kids were playing in the living room area near an AirFort and Iver got bumped, then pointed at his chest with some discomfort. 

Me: What's wrong?
Iver (7): I accidentally swallowed a dime.

Me: Why was there a dime in your mouth?!

Iver: Niall put it there. 

Me: <<Sigh>> (trying really hard to not to give him a lecture on "I told you that's why we don't like you to have random things in your mouth"!)

He seemed a bit uncomfortable and shaken initially (probably until it passed from the esophagus into his stomach) but obviously was breathing and talking fine. I had him drink some water and he bounced off, unfazed (and was immediately hungry for a banana, which he devoured. Apparently the dime wasn't very filling). 

While I'm a pretty nervous person by nature, I thankfully hardly ever freak out about personal or family health issues (is there an opposite of being a hypochondriac? I almost dismissed Iver's neonatal condition as bad GERD but thankfully took him in to get him weighed and then his abdomen ultrasounded. Doctors make the worst patients [or parents of patients]!). I know that the vast majority of swallowed coins end up in the stomach and then pass uneventfully into the intestines to be eliminated some days later (although previous pyloric surgery is a risk factor for this not happening as smoothly... just our luck!). I did confirm with Up to Date (an actual medical resource) that you should be more concerned with large items (i.e quarters and obviously caustic items like batteries or sharp things) or if you don't see the coin after a few weeks but one less reputable source suggested slicing the poop to locate and document the coin's passage. Unless my kid complains of severe abdominal pain, I am letting this one go (deferring any x-rays at this time, and I am certainly not going to be slicing his poop digging for a dime. I'm not sure I would do it for a diamond, either).

After reassuring Iver (and his brother) that he wasn't going to die from the incident (because they've heard the choking lecture a million times; we rediscussed that a trachea is worse than an esophagus), Iver replied, "Phew. But, man! I'm so upset because now I'm down ten cents!" (But I guess he’s free to mine his own poop … natural consequences?!).