Never a Dull Moment

We've all heard of the song "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross", well, this incident brings new meaning to that song! It's amazing how fast accidents happen! Literally, it takes seconds! One second, all was calm and we were getting Kaeley ready to go to Papaw's house for her first sleepover, and then suddenly, we're rushing her to the ER! It just so happened to be my dad's 20th anniversary (April 19th), Dad was here to pick her up when we heard a little frustrated "whaa"... we thought it was Ella Beth, but it was Kaeley, she said "I can't get it out". Dad and I panicked and knew immediately she was referring to the .25 cent, bubble gum machine, blue & metal cross necklace charm she had been playing with. (We don't think she intentionally tried to swall it, she was looking for something in the pantry and must have just stuck it in her mouth to free up her hands, then accidentially swallowed.) We headed to the ER at Baptist West for an x-ray. Sure enough, it was stuck plain as day in her esophagus. They gave her a Sprite to see if it would go on down. We were told that if it had made it to her stomach, she would have passed it. After another x-ray to confirm it was indeed stuck, we headed to Children's hospital. After yet, another x-ray to confirm, yes, it's still there, and hours of waiting for a doctor to decide what to do, Kaeley was admitted to the hospital to start IV fluids, headed for surgery the next day. Still, a little optimistic that it would go on down to her stomach, they waited till morning and did another x-ray. It was still in the same place! She had surgery about 10am and by 10:30 it was over. We were told it could have been a difficult/tricky surery, but they were able to easily run a scope down her throat and pull it out. She woke up pretty groggy, but was soon able to drink fluids and she ate a big lunch - chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. She topped it off with her favorite Dunkin Doughnuts chocolate munchinks. She was discharged around 2p.m. and has been completely fine ever since. It is amazing how quickly kids bounce back. She was home playing the same afternoon as the surgery. It was quite the experience, luckily she was not ever in great pain. She had minor discomfort when it happened and then at Baptist hospital. I think the Sprite helped it into a better position so while we were at Children's hospital, she was pretty much pain free. Thanks be to God for answered prayers! At first, Kaeley wanted to throw the charm away, but after all the x-rays, surgery, and hospital stay, needless to say, it's appraised value is well over .25 cents!