Gemma Update. long.

sara~b · #1 January 23rd, 2010, 06:51 PM

Thank you Amy and everyone for your T&P's! Gemma and I just got home from the hospital. I bathed her and put her to bed and I'm hoping tomorrow things will be fairly back to normal.

For those wondering, apparently Gem has a taste for metal. I never have had a problem with her putting things in her mouth and haven't worried about it, especially now that she is almost five. She broke the barette a few days ago playing with her hair. She snapped the butterfly off the actual barette. I just left it on the computer desk to be repaired when I had some time. Shane found it and told Gem to put it in her room. Well apparently, after I put her to bed last night she decided to play instead of sleep. Around 10-10:30PM she put the butterfly in her mouth and somehow swallowed it. I'm not sure if the blood was an immediate effect or if it came from the butterfly lodging in her esophagus.

I was Pm'ing back and forth with Angela about some cloth diapers when I suddenly heard Gemma cough and then scream. I thought it was a nightmare and went back to her room to find her standing in the hall covered in blood. Her shirt was covered and her hands were covered and it was pouring out of her mouth. I hurried her into the bathroom and washed all the blood away to try to identify what was wrong. I couldn't see anything in her mouth so I grabbed my work flashlight and checked her throat. That looked fine as well and that was when I really started to worry that she had a lung or stomach problem causing her to be vomiting blood. I still didn't know at this point that she had eaten the butterfly.

I called Shane's parents and they called an ambulance while I got dressed and got Gem wrapped in a blanket and put the dogs in their kennels. Almost as soon as I was ready the paramedics were walking in our front door with Shane's parents following right behind. They looked at her and couldn't find a problem so they threw her in the ambulance and we went lights and sirens to the closest ER. On the way she mentioned her butterfly barette and something clicked. I asked her if she had eaten something she wasn't supposed to. After promising her that she wouldn't be in any trouble she admitted to swallowing the butterfly.

The ER's X-ray showed the butterfly lodged in her esophagus. She began vomiting blood again and screaming that it hurt and she was so sorry she had eaten the butterfly. They felt they weren't equipped to deal with the situation and called for another ambulance to transfer us to Children's Hospital. Again we went for a lights and sirens ride. Upon arrival a second X-ray verified that the butterfly was lodged and hadn't moved at all. She didn't vomit anymore blood but we were on pins and needles all night waiting for an ENT specialist to come see her. She had to have an IV for fluids because she couldn't eat or drink and she was screaming that she was hungry and thirsty. It was so horrible not being able to help her. She finally wore herself out and fell into a fitful sleep. She kept tossing and turning and crying in her sleep.

At 6AM they came and took her for a third X-ray. It was so hard not being able to go with her for the X-rays. The last X-ray verified that the butterfly still had not moved. She slept again on and off until 9AM when they came to take her to pre-op. They had to give her a sedative to get her to let go of me and then they wheeled her back around 10AM. Shane and I were led to a waiting room. Finally around 11AM the doctor came out and said she had done fine and was in recovery. He gave me the butterfly and also Gemma's tooth (bottom front) which they had knocked out during the scope/removal.

When we were finally allowed to see her she was still out of it. They took her back to our room (on the NICU floor... weird huh?) and she slept for another few hours before finally waking up. As soon as she was awake she watched Hannah Montana the Movie and then ate jello and a popsicle and drank some water. She also was able to go potty. We all felt very relieved but they still weren't ready to let her leave. They observed her through dinner time and finally got started on discharging her around 7PM. They gave her several booster shots (flu, H1N1, etc) to help keep her esophagus from becoming infected and removed her IV and let us go around 8:30PM.

She seems quite happy now and took her bath and went to bed willingly. We are going to try to go to her cheer competition in the morning but it's entirely up to her. We're just happy at this point that she didn't actually tear her esophagus and she was able to come home feeling like a big girl. She is very excited to have her first visit from the tooth fairy. So I guess there is an upside to the fact that she will probably be missing at least one tooth for 2-3 years and may be missing another if the loose one falls out. I'm just glad it's over. I forgot how much I hated hospitals. I'm so glad to be home and I can't wait to go catch up on my sleep but I thought I should let you girls know that all your positive thoughts worked! Thank you so much!

I will keep you updated as she heals!

LisanAndy · #2 January 23rd, 2010, 07:12 PM

Oh my gosh your poor baby

I can't even imagine the emotions coursing through you when you first saw her. Hope she feels 100% normal very soon!

Resi · #3 January 23rd, 2010, 07:21 PM

Thank goodeness she is going to be alright. I would have flipped out when I saw all the blood. Your poor little girl. It sounds like she is doing okay with everything she just went through. Get a good nights rest!

Mod-LadyCoconut · #4 January 23rd, 2010, 07:42 PM

what an ordeal! so glad shes ok! the butterfly xray is kind of cute

if it hadto be something stuck in there at least it was something shaped kinda cool. lol

nak

~Caroline~ · #5 January 23rd, 2010, 07:47 PM

Poor Gemma. I'm glad she's ok!

soImarriedAnerd · #6 January 23rd, 2010, 08:08 PM

OMG THATS why you didn't finish replying to the pms! I just figured nightmare or something.
SO GLAD she is ok! She is in my T&Ps.....
And now that we know she is ok....
how cool is that x-ray!!!!!! Man thats going to be a favorite at show and tell! I would put that in a frame (but i'm weird)

oh and you have a few pm's in your inbox from me! LOL

ShannonMVT · #7 January 23rd, 2010, 08:29 PM

I bet you were so scared at all that blood, I know I would be! I'm so glad she is okay. I guess you just never know what kids are going to do huh?

I agree with the others, it does make for a cool xray picture. I bet her Dr will hang onto that one!

~*Bethy*~ · #8 January 23rd, 2010, 09:32 PM

oh geeze

what a miracle you got to her in time!!!

JediRach · #9 January 23rd, 2010, 09:32 PM

How scary! I'm happy she's okay. Goodness.

greeneyes · #10 January 23rd, 2010, 09:33 PM

Poor Gem and poor mama!! I'm so glad she is ok, I cannot imagine the ordeal y'all have just been through. *big big hugs*

soImarriedAnerd · #11 January 23rd, 2010, 09:48 PM

Has she ever been checked for low iron (well not right after blood loss) but normally. I crave metal flavor when my iron is low (its called something but I can't think of it right now). But its a real sign of anemia.
I swallowed a penny when I was younger and thats how we found that out! LOL *I* never got the x-ray though...I begged for it. Nor did they have to go after mine...mom just had to "search" for it to make sure it got out.

Mars · #12 January 24th, 2010, 02:59 AM

I'm so glad she's alright. I can only imagine how scary it was for you all.

Trannyfromtheuk · #13 January 24th, 2010, 03:46 AM

yikes! I am so Glad she is ok now!!

sara~b · #14 January 24th, 2010, 04:48 AM

Thanks everyone. She seems much improved this morning. She said her arms hurt from all the shots and the IV and it hurts to eat but we're going to the cheer competition. Hopefully she will get a trophy to come home with and make it all better! It also looks like the loose tooth is going to stay! I pushed on it this morning when I was brushing her teeth and it didn't move so I'm very hopeful!

Angela, I will ask her pediatrician about low iron. She really doesn't like meat and high-iron foods so maybe I will start her on a kids vitamin if I can find one with iron. Thanks for the tip! I got all your PM's but I just wanted to go to bed last night. Thank you so much for the package and all the extras you threw in! I'm sure I will be even more appreciative when all the bills for Gemma's experience start coming in!

midnight_starr · #15 January 24th, 2010, 05:26 AM

So glad she is ok!!!!! You must have been so scared!!!

Yes I have to admit that xray is pretty cool!!

freesiangel · #16 January 24th, 2010, 06:35 AM

I'm so glad she's okay! What a scary experience.

Agreed. The x-ray is super awesome.

**jessie** · #17 January 24th, 2010, 07:12 AM

Ahh, poor Gemma. But isn't it amazing how quickly kids heal?! How did the cheer competition go?

Chelnae6 · #18 January 24th, 2010, 07:14 AM

I agree that a taste for metal has a correlation to iron deficiency just like someone who always craves/eat ice has a highly likely chance of an iron deficiency.

I know that had to have been a nightmare to have to go through that. I'm glad that she's okay and that you guys are home.

chellerenee · #19 January 24th, 2010, 07:30 AM

so glad she is ok. it's crazy what kids will do sometimes. i agree that the x ray is really cool too.

ScottishBrit · #20 January 24th, 2010, 09:29 AM

Oh Gemma!!!! Thats so scary! I bet she'll never do anything like that again! Does she think her Xray is "cool", lol. Im glad she's better! Man they must have been trying to get that thing out pretty hard to knock a tooth out! At least it was her baby teeth! I hope she's feeling better today! Im sorry you had to go through all that! I think Mommy needs a spa day now!