9-1-1

Yesterday, I called 9-1-1 for the first time.  All thanks to the traditional Christmas Lifesaver books Santa got our kids for Christmas.  I was working on the computer.  The kids had gone downstairs and were being quiet. (I should have known!)  They had gotten out their Christmas candy and were eating the Lifesavers in the laundry room; I'm sure they were hoping I wouldn't catch them and tell them they had to put it away.  Suddenly Kylene and Spencer came running, yelling that Skyler was choking on a Lifesaver.  I ran down as quickly as I could and he was gagging really hard.  He vomited a couple of times and was choking.  I hit him on the back; he seemed to be breathing okay, and started crying, which made me feel better.  But when he swallowed, there was a loud noise as if something was still lodged in his throat.  I tried to get him to drink some water and he wouldn't.  He was still really upset and telling me something was in his throat.  So I called 9-1-1.  I should have known everything would be okay, but really I was freaking out. 

The fire engine/paramedics were here within about five minutes.  It was a long five minutes.  He threw up a few more times and was still really upset and uncomfortable.  The 9-1-1 operator told me to keep him as calm as possible.  He finally did calm down as the EMT arrived.  I think they scared him, too, because he would hardly respond to me while they were here.  And the sound he was making while he swallowed went away, so I think the Lifesaver dissolved enough that he swallowed it the rest of the way.  They listened to his lungs and said everything sounded clear.  It could have gone into his lungs, so the EMT said we could go get an x-ray to look at it, but even if it went into his lungs, he said it would eventually dissolve and wasn't likely to cause any problems.  And I was doubtful it went into his lungs.  I really think it got lodged in his esophagus for a few minutes, then went into his stomach.  So we declined the ambulance transport, I signed a few papers, and they left. 

It was a scary few minutes but turned out to be an unnecessary call.  I should have just been calm and trusted Skyler's body to take care of it.  But as a mom, you never know, and your mind is racing with all the potential problems.  Life can change in an instant, and I didn't want to risk life changing for the worse. 

I hope I don't have to make that call ever again.

p.s. Santa had given Skyler the gummy Lifesavers for Christmas for this very reason.  But his big sister and brother were kind enough to share their hard Lifesavers.  The rest are now in the trash.  No more hard candy for a little while!  (I wonder how many other emergency calls have been thanks to Lifesavers!)