Night In The E.R....

We went late night shopping last night at one of the bigger mall style shopping centre in Brisbane, (for this week we have a New Caledonian Exchange Student, Ondine, staying with us for a week...they don't have big malls in Noumea where she lives so she was really enjoying herself here tonight, she just LOVES shopping and found some wonderful bargains). I took Myles with me and the girls headed off by themselves, we arranged to meet up around 8.30pm.

We met up, everyone was happy with their purchases and we were just about to get into the car...

Then...

Matilda tells me that part of the wire on her braces has snapped and she is fairly sure she has swallowed it. She remembers it being there before we went out as she was fiddling with it with her tongue but it's not there now and she hadn't spat it out. After all, it was about 1.5cm long, you don't not notice something like that in your mouth. We all ate dinner while we were out. Myles and I on our own and the girls went and did their own thing so wasn't with her when they ate.

After heading home and talking it over with John we rang the 13 HEALTH phone number (a government funded after hours service that offers phone consultations for medical problems with a registered nurse). My big concern was that the ends of the ingested wire were sharp and could possibly pierce her gut. I wasn't sure what to do.

They go through a check-list of questions and then suggest a treatment. In this case it was "you have to take her to a hospital with an x-ray facility right now". So off we head into the late night, it was about 9.15pm by this stage, to the Mater Kids Hospital in the city (about 25 minutes away) where (thankfully) it was a reasonably quiet night. We were seen quickly and then went through the rigmarole of the Resident consulting the Paediatric Registrar etc . Eventually they decided to x-ray and what do you know, there is the piece of wire, around 1.5cm long sitting right in her tummy.

Now, what to do about it...

After more interminably long waiting and a consult with the Paediatric Surgical Registrar they decide to send us home with instructions to follow over the next 48-72 hours. Matilda has to try and locate the piece of wire...(this she is on her own with...once you are taller than your Mum there are some things a mother's love does not stretch to). If not it's off for another x-ray to see where it has progressed to, or not as the case could be.

If she comes down with an unexplained fever, bleeding from her bowel or abdominal pain it's back to the Hospital for "further intervention". I know what that means but Matilda doesn't as yet and we are hoping for her never needing to have to find out.

After all of that we arrive home around 1.45am, exhausted. Matilda was straight to bed, I was going to keep her home from school today but she had a field trip to attend that was very integral to her SOSE Studies...she went off quite happily but somewhat tired. I sent her phone with her, just in case she gets pain and needs to contact me quickly.

I was still quite "wired", pardon the pun, fully intended, when we arrived
I was still wired (pardon the pun, fully intended)...so made a hot drink and just stared at the television for a while, eventually heading off to bed around 2.45am and up again at 6.30...feeling pretty wrung out today and taking it very quietly, might even have a little siesta this afternoon.

Keep your fingers crossed that this little drama ends well for us, will keep you posted.