Let me start by saying that my daughter is fine. She's fine today, but three weeks ago things weren't so great.
You see, on a Friday morning, just after breakfast, my daughter swallowed a quarter. She didn't mean to swallow it; it was an accident. That quarter was then stuck in her esophagus and was not moving. After two sets of x-rays, a phone consultation with an ENT and a shot of glucagon (to get her smooth muscles moving,) we were on our way to DeVoss Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. The Island Medical Center called the ferry so they held the last boat for us and after the 20 minute boat ride and four hour drive we arrived at the hospital.
The folks at DeVoss were wonderful - absolutely wonderful. They got her right in because the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurses will still there. As luck would have it, they had been called in earlier to remove a penny from a two year-old. They put her under anesthesia and were able to go down her throat with a little camera and easily remove the quarter. (A 2010 New York quarter if you're wondering.)
They also removed K's loose tooth. Apparently, when people come out of anesthesia they can clench their teeth, so when they put a child with a loose tooth under, they pull the tooth. That way if the child clenches and the tooth comes out it doesn't get swallowed or worse - inhaled. When she woke up K found her tooth, four quarters and a note from the Tooth Fairy that said, "Don't swallow these." You gotta love an anesthesiologist with a sense of humor.
We left the hospital around midnight and headed for home. Everything went along smoothly until we were about 15 miles from my mom's house in Petoskey. That's where we hit the deer. A poor little doe jumped out right in front of us.
In the end it all in all it worked out all right. The car was still driveable and apart from being completely exhausted, we were just fine. Now the bills have started to roll in. As of today that dang quarter is worth about $9,000. $6,000 in hospital bills and $3,000 in car repairs.
Ouch.
This Thanksgiving I am incredibly thankful for insurance.
Ouch.
This Thanksgiving I am incredibly thankful for insurance.
5 comments:
Oh my goodness! Glad she is okay and that the car was not damaged worse. Hope for a nice quiet Thanksgiving holiday for you and yours!
Oh my goodness! So glad your daughter is ok! DeVos Children's Hospital is awesome. You were in good hands. My son has gone there a couple times. You were just 15 minutes from me! :)
I'm so happy none of you were injured in your deer accident! My, what an eventful day! Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and UNEVENTFUL Thanksgiving. God bless. :)
Oh so glad she is ok! You were so lucky about the deer. I guess getting all the bad stuff done at one time doesn't drag it out. I hope you have an uneventful but yummy Thanksgiving.
So glad you're ALL ok - yikes, an emergency trip AND a deer!!!
So glad she is ok. Deer and vehicles are a common problem around here as well, also glad that didn't go any worse.
I can't help but think, here we wouldn't even have seen a hospital bill. Sometimes I forget how different life is just south of us.
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