Our ER Trip

I forgot one of our very exciting and scary moments this week. Tuesday, not long after David had dropped off 3 extra kids to us, Broc came to me saying he needed to throw-up. Not a big deal. Well after about 20 minutes of trying without success, he was getting really panicky. He started hysterically crying and finally told me he had swallowed a quarter and it was stuck in his throat and hurting pretty bad. It was obvious he wasn't having trouble breathing, but what worried me was he couldn't swallow either. And he really was needing to throw-up but it couldn't come, so it was blocking somewhere. I went and told Thomas, who, thankfully, didn't have to work that day, and we decided to take him in. Now what to do with the other 6 kids. We couldn't leave them here, we didn't know how long we'd be gone, and we'd be too far away. We could barely squish them all in one car. This is were we become extremely thankfully for really great friends. One phone call to my great friend Staci and she said she'd take them all. Despite the fact she had 4 of her own and was on her way to Wal-Mart to get stuff for her husband who was leaving the next day for a 5 day backpacking trip. She made one call to try and drop off just the 4 youngest girls so her trip would be faster and my other dear friend, Monica, insisted on keeping all of my kids, my brothers kids, Staci's kids plus her own 2. That added up, gave her11 kids for several hours!! I am so blessed with great friends.

Back to Broc, we kept William ( 22 months) with us, 1- because he was sleeping and 2- he doesn't go to strangers very well. We got to the hospital and they brought Broc right in and did his workup. After being there about 20 minutes he had a good cough and then a really good throw-up. He felt so much better after that, we knew something had changed. At that point it had passed into his stomach. They wanted to make sure so he went for an x-ray. I couldn't go in with him, but Thomas said it was right there as clear as could be in his stomach. The doctors had questioned him numerous times if it had really been swollowed, if it was really a quarter, even making him point out a quarter from other coins. He got it right every time. And sure enough, Thomas said by the size of it you could definatly tell it was a quarter. Unfortunatly, now we have to search for it, you know where. Because of it's size, if he doesn't pass it in a few days, they will have to take more x-rays to make sure it isn't blocking his intestines or his bowel. So for now he is on a laxative and lots of fruit and fiber. Lets hope that quarter comes without a problem.
Broc learned a very valuable lesson. Don't ever put money in your mouth, and it is always a good thing to tell the truth from the beginning.
I can't tell you how thankful and grateful I am for such wonderful friends. The kids were all happy, fed and played out by the time we got back. And the best part is, I didn't once feel like I was intruding them on someone, or like they were an imposition. And I never once worried about them. I knew they were in great homes and being well cared for, no matter how many there were. That is one of the best blessings of the day!!!