"I'm dying"

[PrincessFiona]

I had to pick Alex (age 6) up from school today because he was choking/gagging after eating a granola bar. The school nurse was ready to dial 9-1-1 because he was hysterical... He cried hysterically in the car that he was dying (and asked me if we had a second chance at life here on earth ) and I was terrified. When I got him to calm down, it sounded like he had gotten food stuck in a permanent retainer he had placed until one of his 'big molars' grows in. So...we went home and tried to clean it out...no luck...so we went into the dentist.

The dentist did find a small piece of granola under it, so I thought the problem was solved. I bought him a 'happy meal' on the way home and when we arrived here, Thomas was home early....Alex started to try and drink a cup of water he began shrieking and screaming and crying that he was in pain..that something was in his throat, that he was choking to death. "I'm dying mommy, do something, someone help me, oh God, I'm dying"

I rushed him to the ER.

Of course, he was perfectly calm once he got there....He showed no signs of distress, though he did tell them where it "hurt".

So...the nurse came in and said "well, I think what the doctor will want to do is...."

and Alex interrupted her: "Scope Me?"

The nurse's eyes practically popped out of her head.

"What honey?"

"You know, put a scope in my throat and look and see if something is there?"

She looked at me like "what is going ON here...." I told her I didn't know where he had heard that and before I could explain more, she told Alex he'd have an x-ray first and then quickly left.

A couple of nurses/PA's walked by and peeked in and I started to get paranoid.....then one of them recognized me and said "AHA...It's a MATH kid...that explains it." Everyone had a good laugh then.

Amazing what they pick up, isn't it?

Oh...and of course he is absolutely fine now.... 8)

kris

That part about "are you going to scope me" just cracked me up.

Everything prior to that would have been a little scary!

They were probably thinking you were a munchausens-by-proxy (sp?) case until they recognized you. Too many episodes of ER for that one.

I'm glad he calmed down. My son has taken to telling me he's broken his neck if he has a crick in his neck, or broken his back if he bumped into something ..... I KNOW there's no way it's true, but just hearing the phrase scares the bejesus out of me. That had to be terrifying.

[SueC]

Does he have a flair for the dramatic? I love what he said at the ER, that sounds like something a dr.'s kid would come up with! I'm glad to hear it all turned out OK--did they ever figure out what was causing him so much distress?

[PrincessFiona]

Jenn, that's exactly what I was thinking....I got so paranoid!

He doesn't usually have a flare for the dramatic which is what was so scarey! Thomas was home when he started screaming and we were both mortified. Generally speaking, he is very laid-back and easy-going. That's why I rushed him to the ER...I thought he must really be ill. I put him in the van and ran in to get Thomas' cell phone and he came screaming back into the house that he was "dying....please help me, someone do something".....It was scarey...but at the same time, I could see that his breathing wasn't compromised. I assumed he had something stuck in his esophagus possibly...but...I was afraid that he could work himself up into.....not breathing or something...at least for that moment...I know that sounds silly now.

In any case, they x-rayed him and saw no swollen tissues in the neck and didn't need to "scope him" . Within an hour, he had more water and said he felt the thing moving lower and lower.....the doc said that he probably never had anything stuck there in the first place and that he'd just panicked ...maybe he had a "little scratch"...but I believe that he did have something stuck....I mean...when I picked him up from school he was wretching into a bucket...we spent the whole day running from dentist to ER, etc......I think it was more than a "scratch"...and I think it just slowly worked it's way down.

Thank goodness THAT is over! He was too afraid to go to school today so I let him stay home.

[Meenah]

Kris,
That is very scary. I work in Endoscopy part of the time, where we 'scope em". If someone has something stuck that eventually moves down they generally feel that it is still there. An erosion form something stuck hurts like hell. We look with the scope and usually nothing is there, but it still feels like it to the patient. Usually with older patients they have a stricture that we have to dilate every so often. Had he been eating something? If so maybe he didn't chew it very well and it was temporarily stuck. I hope he feels better.
Luanne