Man, I haven't updated this thing in quite a while. There's been so much going on. I don't know where to start. How about the most memorable... is it that I've gotten a new job as a 6th grade Science/History teacher? nooo.... that's not it.....is it that Sam is crawling around every where like a mad man and eating food like nobody's business? not exactly, that's just not it...... is it that Sam and I have grown a fabulous garden this summer? noooo.... .that's not it, either..... is it that we went to Josh's family reunion while Josh was in Guyana-- and Sam swam in the Elk river? nooo.... that's just not it either.... what could it be? OH! I know-- Sam swallowed a penny and had to have it removed... yep, that's the most memorable... how could I forget that???
Last Monday night, I was on the couch and Sam was crawling around (yeah, he's crawling everywhere now, too) and he got really still with his fists in his mouth. I thought that he was unusually still, so I went to investigate and sure enough, there was something in his mouth. But when I tried to get it out, I gagged him, he swallowed, then threw up. Well, I thought, kids swallow stuff all the time. I'll just make sure he's breathing and eating ok, I'll check his poo, it'll be ok. No need to bother the Dr. with this one.
Josh decided to call the Doc Tuesday morning. He advised us to bring him on in just to do some X-rays and make sure he in fact DID swallow something. After all, I wasn't 100% sure he had. They took the X-rays and it looked like Sam was wearing a medallion right on his neck! The coin hadn't gone down and was stuck at the top of his esophogus. Because of its' location, they were afraid he'd cough it up, choke on it, get it lodged some other way, or worse. I got a phone call from Josh around 12:30 telling me they were going to have to put Sam to sleep to get the coin out. I left school and headed straight to the ER. Sam was a champ. He hadn't eaten since 9:30 and continued his fast until after the procedure. He was so cute in his little hospital gown, too! I'll try to get pics of the X-ray up for ya'll to laugh about!
