A trip to the ER

Poor Miss Ellie swallowed a button battery over the weekend! We didn't see her do it - but we knew that she had taken apart a little flashlight and I thought I had confiscated all the pieces. Turns out she was lying on her back with one of the batteries in her mouth the other morning and when she went to sit up, she hit her head against the coffee table causing her to swallow it. She immediately ran over to Luis and said, "Daddy, daddy where's the flashlight?" Pointing to her mouth. He asked if she had eaten it and she said yes. We took her to the ER and sure enough, the x-ray showed that it was lodged in her esophagus. Unfortunately they don't do endoscopies for children in our town, so we had to be transported an hour away to Akron Children's Hospital. Ellie was quite the trooper! She did not cry while having to be separated from me in the squad. She didn't even fall asleep! She thoroughly enjoyed watching a movie and we think she enjoyed the attention of having her vitals taken every so often. She has been really into playing doctor recently so everything we had pretend played with her was coming to life! 

When we got to Akron we had to wait a couple hours. When the operating room was finally ready we took her up, and she did not cry as the nurse carried her off. About an hour later, the surgeon came out to tell us that they could not find the battery in her esophagus or her stomach. Another x-ray showed that it had moved down into her intestines. He also said the surgical staff was very much impressed with her - she was the first child they had ever had who did not cry as they put her IV in, and even watched it going in! Later she commented to me, "Mommy, that man poked me". I asked he if it had hurt her and she said no. They also said she was a star patient waking up from the anesthesia - she did not cry or act out at all! Her throat was a bit hoarse and her lip a bit swollen. Thankfully the surgeon found no burns or damage from the battery in her esophagus - just a little bit of irritation. They discharged us with instructions to watch for the battery to pass naturally. I'm sure this will be an experience that we never forget!