Andrew's Ambulance Adventure

Last night I put out some carrots, celery and peppers for the kids to eat, as I often do, while Steve and I finished making dinner. Yes, he was home in time for dinner because I called him and said that Andrew hadn't napped and Marcus hadn't taken more than a 45 minute nap and I thought I might lose my mind so he came home to help with dinner. Andrew was devouring the carrots and he got down without us realizing that he hadn't finished eating them. And as he does he went and climbed on something and fell down. He made a kind of crying noise, but as soon he stood up where I could see him I could tell something was wrong and I turned the stove off and Steve and I both rushed over and he started coughing bits of carrots out. He couldn't quite get the coughing under control, we gave him a drink and then kind of moved on with dinner.  Towards the end of dinner I could hear him wheezing and it made me nervous so I started googling, "wheezing after choking" and everything I read said to seek medical help.  I talked with Steve about it and he didn't think it was that big of a deal, but I couldn't let it go and I definitely didn't want to put him to bed wheezing thinking that he might stop breathing without us noticing. So at 7:40pm I decided to take him to the Tanner Clinic Urgent Care that closed at 8pm. We snuck in and the doctor walked in the room and could hear the wheezing and said, "has he ever had any asthma symptoms before?"  I explained he choked on a carrot earlier that evening and the doctor got real serious, looked in his mouth and said I can't see anything and a carrot is not going to dissolve, you need to go straight to the ER, no running, no jumping we don't want that to dislodge and cause more problems.  I recommend you go to McKay Dee or Primary because they're better equipped for these young ones. He said I won't call you an ambulance, but if he stops breathing or loses consciousness while you are driving, pull over and call 911.  I was a little in shock and called Steve and said what do I do.  He said, "well if that's what the doctor says then you should go."  Keep in mind he has some clients who were on their last night in China and he was trying to help them get things running and it was supposed to be a long night for him with them so he had a full plate.

In the back of my mind I thought I should go to Primary because they are just awesome, but then a part of me thought this was still not a big deal and Lila has had a few procedures done at McKay Dee that went well I'll just go there. So we headed there. The nurse who took his vitals and checked us in got a kick out of all the questions Andrew was asking and enjoyed visiting with him. The nurse asked all the normal questions including the one about smoking that Andrew answered yes too. So the nurse laughed and asked him how many packs a day and Andrew without hesitating said, "4".  Good times.

After waiting 45 minutes they called us back and the doctor came right in, he was the first one in our room.  He listened to his right lung and then the left and I could see the concern on his face as he moved it around the left side more. He said I'm pretty sure there's something in the left side so I want to do an x-ray. We went and did that which takes 30 minutes to develop so more waiting. While that was happening the Child Life Specialist came and checked on us and gave Andrew a car, blew bubbles with him and he honestly was so wound up, talking everyone's ear off and asking all sorts of questions like, "what this? what's that? what does that do". He learned so much that later that night he pointed up to the monitor and said, "that's my heartbeat." He had every nurse and doctor push their walkie talkie buttons and they all obliged him and said things like, "Beam me up Scottie" and the walkie talkie would respond with appropriate noises. 

The doctor assigned to us came back with another doctor and said the x-ray didn't show anything, but I want to get a second opinion and I just want him to listen to your son without me explaining what's going on and see what he says. The new doctor did the same thing, listened to the right then moved to the left got concerned and moved it around.  He concurred that there was definitely something stuck in there.  They decieded to send us to Primary because they are just better equipped to deal with this in such young kids (ugh--kick myself for not just going there). Then the doctor went on to say, "now the great medical question of the night, do I let you drive, do I send you in ambulance or by helicopter."  I got emotional.  It was almost 10:30pm, my phone was dead and to hear we might be sent by ambulance or helicopter to primary. I asked what they would do there and he said they will sedate him and go in and retrieve the carrot. I called Steve from the hospital phone while a social worker brought me a charger to borrow for my cell phone. I knew Steve was still busy with work and the girls still had school in the morning and Marcus . . . so I said, I'll just call someone to come get us when we're done, but I should call them now to give them a warning so I'm not disturbing someone at 3:30am. We talked about who to call and so many names to came to us, we knew my Mom & Dad would drive down in a heartbeat, my sister, Steve's sister in salt lake, my cousin down the street and a lots of loving friends in the neighborhood. Steve said, let's call your sister, "Nessa". So I did. I could tell I woke her up, but I explained what was going on and she said, "I'm gonna head down to your house. I'll stay with the kids and do what you need so Steve can come be with you." And in that moment I knew she was right, that was what I needed.  So I called Steve and told him my sister was on her way, gave him a list of things I needed him to bring: Andrew's blanket and stuffed animal, diapers and wipes, charger, nursing pads and the pump etc.  Then I told him I would text him when we left in the ambulance so he could meet us at Primary Children's Hospital. So he frantically worked hard on the China stuff hoping to wrap things up before he had to go. I managed to get Andrew to fall asleep for almost an hour while we waited. 

Then the EMT and Ambulance driver arrived and asked if I could go get his carseat so I did (miracle I could unlatch that thing). He was not happy to be awakened and I was glad he could be in his own carseat and I could ride with him to comfort him.

I sent Steve a text saying we were in the ambulance. He beat us to Primary by about 10 minutes. I told Andrew that Daddy was at the hospital waiting so he kept looking out the back windows saying, "that's not my daddy" (One of his favorite books is "That's not my tractor").  They were ready for us when we arrived and started taking vitals and stuff.  Andrew was so happy to see Daddy when he came back.

Andrew was so tired it was past 1am, he hadn't napped that day and he only slept an hour at McKay Dee. The nurse checked him, the doctor came in and then the NP of the surgeon came in and they determined that he was stable (his oxygen levels had been fine all night) and they would sedate him and do a bronchoscopy to retrieve the carrot. They said he can't eat or drink so they wanted to do an IV which was torture--he was so tired and it freaked him out, but once that was done and all of the paperwork they finally transferred us into a rapid release unit at 2:30am with beds so we could try and sleep. Andrew finally conked out on Steve and didn't even wake when they came in and out taking his vitals. Steve and I were lucky if we got 1.5 hours of sleep. I woke up at 5am when Andrew cried a little and couldn't really go back to sleep so I plugged my phone in, said another prayer, many had been going through my mind all night, but this was the first quiet chance I had to really pray. Then I sent my Mom and Dad the following text "Andrew took a ride in an ambulance last night to primary children's hospital and is having a broncho procedure this morning at 6:30. He choked on some carrots at dinner and then was wheezing so I took him to urgent care who sent me to McKay Dee ER who called the ambulance to take us to Primary. There is some carrot in his left lung- Oxygen levels are fine so they waited until this morning to do the procedure. Venessa's at the house with the other kids. It's been a long emotional night a few extra prayers would be appreciated."  They managed to send back notes of love right before Andrew was wheeled down to the surgery area at 6am (they let Steve stay on the bed with him so we would be comfortable).

The doctor and anesthesiologist came in and spoke with us which made me nervous and emotional again. The risks were minimal, but with any anesthesia there is risk. They sedated him a little so he wouldn't panic to be leaving us and then they showed us to the waiting room where we waited for what felt like an eternity. A little before 7 am the surgeon came in and said everything went well, Andrew is doing good and they'll come get us soon. He showed us the pesky little piece of carrot that caused the whole adventure and I couldn't believe how small it was, I was kind of expecting a half of a carrot or at least 5-6 of those small pieces, but the surgeon assured me he made sure his airway was clear and all was well.

It felt even longer to wait another 15 minutes for them to come get us and finally the desk phone rang and I had noticed the sign before that said please answer the phone if receptionist isn't present. So I sent Steve to answer the phone and was surprised to hear him say, "This is he." They said Andrew was awake and we could come back (I was a little upset we weren't there when he woke up). He was crying and very upset. The nurse was trying to unhook him from all of the monitors.

I asked the nurse some questions I forgot to ask the surgeon, like if he needed a special diet and if he could take tylenol/advil for pain. She said no special diet, but they wouldn't release him until he was drinking and feeling better. She offered to give him some pain meds through his IV and I said let's wait. After another 15 minutes I asked if we could give him some tylenol so she got some oral tylenol that I gave him because at that point he had asked if I would hold him. I carried him back to our room (which I'm glad I did because the lady driving the bed this time kept running into walls). Once we were settled back in the room I tried to relax on the bed with him and he screamed, "no laying on the bed. I want to sit in that chair." I think he was afraid of what might happen in that bed again. So I held and rocked him in the chair while he slept for 30 minutes. He woke-up we turned on a show and he started to come back to life. He downed a whole cup of milk and then moved onto the juice they gave him after surgery. I ordered him up some breakfast which he insisted have blueberries so they were nice enough to put some blueberries in his pancakes and may I add the food came fast. After I ordered I went and told the nurse he was doing well and we were ready to start the discharge process and the food was there when I got back. 

The nurse came in gave us our paperwork and said whenever he was done eating and ready to go we could take off. Andrew was so excited to be going home. He told the tech, "I'm going home. My Dad's going home. And my Mom's going home." He wanted to make sure we were all leaving. I carried out the carseat we had taken for the ambulance ride, but Steve had put one in his car too (we didn't know he would be using one in the ambulance) so when we got to the car I put the carseat in the trunk and Andrew kind of panicked and said, "I don't want to ride back there." We laughed and said there's a different carseat in the car buddy. . . poor guy just didn't know what to expect any more. I was glad he fell asleep pretty quickly in the car to get some more rest.

Steve drove straight to McKay Dee where I got the van and then headed to pickup Marcus from Venessa's house (she took him back there after getting the girls off to school). When I got home I found them like this.

We kept it low key this evening because we are so tired. We ate mac&cheese and leftovers, watched Kung Fu Panda 3 and chilled together. Andrew is definitely back to his crazy self for better or worse. ;) This evening the Urgent Care doctor called to check on Andrew. It was so kind of him--he said he saw us right at the end of the day yesterday and was worried about Andrew and wanted to see how it all turned out. Steve said, "my wife was right to be concerned and stick with it. We're thankful it all worked out"