Just after 5pm on Tuesday, Austin was laying on the floor in the office and Trevor was playing with the book light he found in my nightstand. I was on the computer and I noticed that Trevor had opened the battery compartment and I planned to take the light away from him, but I waited because I just needed a minute or two to finish up something on the computer. Next thing I know I heard Austin gag and cough. I spun around and asked Trevor what happened. His response was that he put a battery in Austin's mouth. I grabbed Austin, flipped him over and started pounding on his chest. When I felt to see if the battery was still in his mouth I found that it no longer was. He had swallowed it.
I immediately called 911. They got me in touch with a nurse who told me that we needed to go to the ER immediately. That's when I started to cry, no sob. After assure the nurse that I would take a deep breath and that I was OK to drive, I hung up. Seconds later my doorbell rang. It was a little girl about 12 years old who wanted to sell me something. I was sobbing and I told her that now was not a good time because I needed to go to the ER and I shut the door. A minute later another knock at the door. Turns out that girl was my neighbor's daughter and she ran home to tell her mom that I needed help. They helped me get the kids into the car and we were on our way.
I dropped Trevor off at a friend's house and still sobbing I took Austin to the local hospital. After waiting for over an hour it was finally our turn to have an x-ray. Austin did great, but the x-ray showed the battery still close to his esophagus. The danger was that the battery might burn his esophagus, so we waited until 9pm and then did another x-ray hoping to see that the battery had moved down into his stomach. Fortunately, it had and after 4+ hours in the ER we were sent home with instructions about what to look for that would indicate something was not right and an appointment to have another x-ray on Friday.
Through it all Austin was still his happy go lucky self. Always smiling and easy going, but he was spitting up after every meal, which was not usual for him and one of the things they said to be on the look out about. I forgot to mention that we were referred by the ER doctor to the National Battery Hotline and I was given a case # and case worker who would be in contact with me every day until the battery passed. Thursday morning, I was concerned about Austin and so I made an appointment with his doctor to have him checked out. I called our case worker to let her know what was going on and she told me to go straight to the hospital. She said she was concerned about Austin and that I needed to be seen right away.
I started crying again and off we went to the hospital this time dropping Trevor off at another friend's house to play. (Trevor had no real idea the severity of the situation; he just knew Austin had swallowed the battery he put in his mouth.) After a quick check with Austin's primary doc we went in for another x-ray. This time it showed that the battery had moved down, but whether it was in the small intestine or the colon was hard to say. The pediatrician referred us to Children's hospital, so after 4+ hours we packed up and headed north.
I was hesitant to check in at the ER. I knew that Austin needed to be seen, but I was also concerned about how expensive all of this was going to be even though we have insurance. The triage nurse was very kind and assured me that getting Austin checked out was important. I needed to know that he was OK, so we checked in. We got to our room and Austin started to get fussy (which is not like him at all). Can you guess what happened next? Before the nurse even came in to see us, he pooped the battery out!!
I was elated, and yet I felt so stupid for creating such a fuss just to have him poop it out no problem. I told the nurse and she said that what she thought was going to be her most difficult patient of the day, just became her easiest patient of the day. The doctor came in to examine Austin and the battery. There was a lot of corrosion on the battery, so he wanted to have a conversation with the GI specialist to see if he was concerned about Austin having any internal burns due to the battery acid.
While we were waiting, Austin got to wear a tiny little hospital gown. He looked so stinking cute (and he was extra happy because of the big poop he just had) that I took his picture and a picture of the battery.
The GI specialist determined that the battery was in his body for less than 48 hours and that it is unlikely that there were any internal burns caused by the battery acid. Before leaving the ER I grabbed the battery and I'm glad I did because the National Battery Hotline in Washington DC asked me to mail it to them. For what purpose I have no idea, but I'm happy to do it.
The best part about this whole situation was all the one-on-one time that Austin and I had together. I held him while he took naps in the ER and doctor's offices. We played lots of peek-a-boo and I listened to him practice screeching and screaming. Because of this experience I have gotten to know Austin better and I love him more than ever. I think he loves me more than ever too.
