Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Our 5 Hour Evening at the ER....

It all started so innocently.

We'd just finished our evening swim and were headed home from the gym for dinner. Matt had bought some trail mix earlier in the evening and we were sharing it with the kids on the way home. About the time we hit Springville, Steff looked back and saw Charlie sniffing and sneezing. Upon further inspection, we realized he'd stuffed a half a peanut up his schnoz.

Yep. Full on, peanut up his nose.



So we pulled off the freeway and initiated our contingency plans:

Plan A - Our first thought was to grab some tweezers and fish it out. Well, 5 minutes later, with the peanut climbing up higher and higher, we abandoned Plan A. Plan A - FAILURE.

Plan B - Check the clock. It's 7:45pm. We've got 15 minutes until the walk-in clinic closes.... drive very fast. We arrive as they're shutting down their systems, so Matt gets Charlie checked in while Steff takes Charlie back for the Doc to start digging. When Matt and Winston finally get back to Charlie's room, they find Charlie being held down by 3 nurses and 1 Steff... and the doctor is giving up. He's managed to push the peanut up further and make Charlie's nose bleed. (Not his fault... Charlie is being very uncooperative) Plan B - FAILURE.

Plan C - Emergency Room. Boy... I don't even know how to explain this one. First thing: don't go to the ER after 8pm if you can help it. Seriously shady characters there. We had two visits from police men and some weird folks we got to hang out with. Anyways, at around 11:30pm we were finally admitted. The Doc struggled around, trying to get an eye on the peanut. I was frustrated, since not 30 minutes before I'd seen the stupid thing up there, without the use of any fancy equipment. He couldn't see it and advised we started with the 'old fashion way.' Plug the free nostril, put my mouth over his mouth creating a seal, and blow hard. I guess the object is to try to shoot the thing out like a cannonball. Didn't work. So we went with our next option and they sedated the poor little guy. He was basically like a zombie. His eyes were open but he was not there. While sedated, they routed around, looking for the bane of our ER existence, to no avail. The Doc found jack squat. Plan C - FAILURE.



After hanging out to make sure he came out of the sedation OK, we got out of there around 1:15am. We were tired, and as you can expect, the kids were beat. Winston did pretty good, considering all things, but it was a long night. We were all pretty excited for yesterday to end.

End result: 5 wasted hours, unknown costs, and no idea where the freakin' peanut is.

14 comments:

Mike and Adrianne said...

Oh My Gosh! My neice shoved a pea in her nose once...what is it with kids and their fascination with putting things in their noses? I'm so sorry! I hope you all get to sleep in today.

Keri said...

Yikes! All that and they didn't even get it out?? I sure hope it doesn't cause any problems later on.

Josie said...

Oh-My-Gosh! Poor Charlie...and Steff...and Matt...and sure, Winston too.
This is in my past--yes, sweet Reyna stuck a raisin up her nose, although with Jeff and a nurse holding her down, the doc managed to grab it with the tweezers--and my future....I'm sure Jake will do this one day. Thanks for the reminder--hiding all peanuts and raisins for the next 6 years.

Sara said...

I'm so sorry. That sounds miserable. And they never even got it. I'm so sorry.

Tammy said...

CAN'T Find the peanut??? Yikes, I bet it just ended up down his throat and he chewed it up after the first doc? so what do you do now? wait for it to fall out?

Anonymous said...

Oh My Gosh! That is NUTS ((no pun intended!))

Merri Hackett said...

found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut just now. just now I found a peanut found a peanut just now. Oh such funny stuff happening w/ you guys!!! Poor everyone! I hope you guys find the peanut!

Dana P said...

Steff,

I can't help but laugh! I know I shouldn't be laughing but seriously, I doubt the experience was all that funny when you were in it. Let us know if you ever find that stinkin' peanut!

Sarah said...

Oh my goodness! I will never look at a peanut the same again! :) Sounds like a crazy night for all...

Sarah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roy Hobbs Media said...

Hi Steff and Matt. It has been a long time. I stumbled arcoss your blog from Elizabeth and Brian's blog. It is fun to see your cute family. Hope all is well.

Shane and Michelle said...

OH my gosh this sounds like a nightmare! I can't believe they couldn't find the peanut. After all of that!!!!!! How is he doing now?

Shane and Michelle said...

Steph, p.s., you've been blessed with a gift; your wonderful sense of humor is what get's you through all the 'tough' times. I really enjoy reading your posts!

Angie Penrose said...

Oh man...you guys sure have a lot of adventures! :) I can't believe they never found it! Knock on wood we have had nothing up the nose yet.