Again

Tuesday afternoon I was enjoying a little quiet time. The kids were playing together nicely, and I went out to watch the goats. Perhaps a strange way to get a little quiet, but I do enjoy just observing the animals and sometimes even the garden. The quiet did not last long.

Nolan came storming out the front door. He was screaming and crying. I was a ways off and couldn't really tell what was wrong. Kellen was out the door right behind him. Nolan has a tendency to be a tad dramatic so my first assumption was that the two boys were fighting.

I called to Kellen to tell me what was wrong, but he could not hear me over Nolan's screaming. Then Nolan was bent over like he was going to throw up. I walked a little faster to get to the boys.

When I was close enough Kellen could hear me I asked him what had happened. He shrugged and said he had no idea. Still thinking they had been fighting, I asked Kellen what he had done to Nolan. He said, "Nothing mom. He was just playing on the bed, and ran out screaming, and grabbing his throat." What?!

Nolan was quite hysterical, and loud. I was very thankful for the loud part. At least then I knew he wasn't actually choking.

I asked, "Did you swallow something?"

He responded, "Yes."

"Was it food?"

"No."

"What was it?"

"Metal." At this point I began to panic a bit. Metal? A nail? A piece of scrap? Metal with a sharp pointed end?!? What had this kid put in his mouth?

"What kind of metal?"

"A penny." I felt a little better, but he was still very upset.

"Did it go all the way down?"

"No. It is right here." He pointed at the space at the bottom of his neck between the collar bones. It was all I could do to remain calm. I could just imagine the penny slipping, and him not being able to breath. Somehow I kept it together, and had one of the other kids get the phone for me. I was able to get Nolan calmed down a little, but he was obviously very uncomfortable and scared. So was I.

I called Tim. There was no one else here to stay with the other kids. We figured the best thing to do was to meet at the main road, and Tim could take Nolan to the ER (again.)

X-rays revealed that the penny was indeed stuck. Thankfully it was low enough that my fears of him not breathing were unfounded. An anesteologist was called. A surgeon was called. My little boy was put under while the surgeon used a tube to remove the penny from his throat. The procedure took less than five minutes. The penny is now in a specimen jar.

Chalk it up as another hospital visit for Nolan. His fifth in five years; twice this summer. More than any of the other kids, combined. *Sigh*