For those of you interested in the end of the carrot episode...
On Sunday night we took Jared to Urgent Care. The doctor there tried an age-old trick for ejecting foreign objects in the nose. He said it had worked for him every time except once, and that kid ended up in surgery. So we tried it--three times. It didn't work! So we saw the ear, nose, throat specialist the next morning.
Three young nurses and Adam held Jared down while the physician's assistant went in with tweezers. After five minutes of Jared screaming bloody murder, the carrot still would not come out. We took a break, I consoled Jared, and the doctor came in. His recommendation? Surgery.
I was pretty alarmed to hear the term "surgery," but when he explained that they would simply put Jared under and then pull the carrot out with tweezers, I was more amenable to the idea. I did timidly ask how bad it would be to leave the carrot in his nose. After all, he didn't seem bothered by it. But the doctor assured me that was not an option--infection could result. So we signed consent forms, took Jared to the pre-op hospital lobby, waited an hour while Jared ran around the hospital entrance like a mad man, signed more consent forms, spoke with an insurance representative, and answered dozens of health questions (I was nice to be able to say no to all of them except the "has Jared has a cold in the last two weeks?"). We then had to half-restrain half-bribe Jared with candy while a nurse preformed a pre-operation physical on him (by this time he was throwing a fit at everything any nurse did to him--taking his temperature, listening to his heart, taking his pulse. I hope this doesn't develop into a lifetime phobia of doctors). Finally we had our instructions for the procedure the next morning, and we were free to go.
Tuesday morning at 6:30 saw us back at the hospital. We were admitted into a little room with a child's bed/crib. As we entered I thought how glad I was that we were here for nothing more serious than a carrot. Another battle ensued as the nurse tried to take his temperature and check his heartrate
again. Eventually the anesthesiologist came in, and then the doctor. Finally we said goodbye to Jared as a flock of nurses escorted him to the operating room. It was hard to see him go off by himself, knowing how Jared would fear and struggle as they tried to get the gas mask on him. But within ten minutes, the carrot was out and within twenty-five minutes we were able to see him again. He didn't seem groggy, just grumpy about the pulse monitor that was taped to his toe.
So the carrot is out, and all is well. Thanks to everyone for the sympathetic (if somewhat snickering) inquiries about Jared's nose incident. We're happy that everything is resolved. Now we know what to do right away if this ever happens again:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/foreign_body_nose/page6_em.htm(see blowing technique listed in the third bullet under "Self Care at Home". This is what the first doctor tried and which probably would have worked on Jared if we had done it as soon as we first noticed the carrot.)
*Special thanks to helpful neighbors, including the Hills and the Nyes, who provided last-minute childcare, blessings, and dinner.
