Sunday, June 21, 2009

Wren swallowed pennies (updated)

I arrived back from the supermarket to hear that was a little incident while I was gone. Apparently Wren was lying on the couch and he swallowed two pennies. Joshua has googled this and it is not terribly uncommon and the initial danger of choking and it lodging in the oesophagus seems to have passed.

Here is my interview with Wren:

Wren, what happened to the pennies?
I ate them and I swallowed them and I ate them and I cried about them. I ate one, two.
Why did you eat them?
I don't know.
Was it a mistake? Was it owie to eat the pennies?
No, it won't.
Where are they going?
They are going in my mouth and down my throat and in my tummy?
Where are they now?
They are IN MY BLOOD. (he rubs his legs)
Are they coming out your legs?
No, they are not. Look, there is no space there. No hole there. (showing soles of feet)
They will come out in your poop.
No, there is no hole there (rubbing bottom).
Yes, there is... they will come out in your poop.

I am waiting to speak to the on-call nurse.

Update:
The nurse asked a lot about his swallowing and asked me to check he could eat white bread (hamburger bun went down fine). Asked about pain. He seems fine now. The pennies need to pass in 3 days or we shall have to see the pediatrician semi-urgently (like 24 hours). I have to watch his poop for pennies and any sign of distress / blood. Also to watch for abdominal pain, abnormal lethargy or illness and recurrent vomiting.

For now, we are doing OK.

2 comments:

P said...

Hi Shannon, I am a new father and was touched by your son, Wren's experience with pennies. I believe that everything is relative - so comparing health issues is a bit like comparing apples and cement-trucks. Still, I want to acknowledge your courage and compassion - it takes lot of strength to love.

Chris said...

Hi Shannon, in an effort to procrastinate on listing 15 Books (I am such an illiterate...), I followed your blog link instead. Sora also swallowed a dime a few years ago and we have the lovely $400 x-ray to prove it. The radiologist was *so* comforting, "Oh we see kids swallow all kinds of things; AA batteries, open safety pins. We just tell the parents to let them pass it out..." We were just glad we didn't have to deal with the aftermath of a child passing an open safety pin :)