Should have listened to mom...

Remember all those times you did something and then thought...I should have listened to mom? Colton had one of those experiences on Friday. When he came home from school he told me he had a bead in his ear. I grabbed the flashlight and sure enough, way down in there was a red bead. We tried to flush it out with water for a while, I knew I couldn't dig it out because it was too deep. I finally decided there was no way I could get it so I took him over to the instacare. They tried to flush it out with no success, and then tried to dig it out, again no luck. So they sent us to the ER at Primary Children's. Just where I did not want to spend my Friday night.

When we got there they checked him in, weighed him(which is always kind of funny since he is so tiny, we tend to get a lot of raised eyebrows), and sent every doctor, resident, and student in to look in his ear. It was at this point I took the picture. Then they started to dig, and dig, and dig in the poor kids ear. After three rounds of digging, accompanied by some of the worst screams I have ever heard, they thought they had moved it enough that they could flush it out. So again they tried the water torture treatment, except this time it hurt because his ear was so traumatized. Once again it did not work, so they dug again, at this point I just about told them to back off for a while because he was hurting so bad. Luckily the nurse had also reached this point and told them he needed pain meds, so they gave him some fentanyl. Then they tried some skin glue on the end of a cotton swab, but the bead was too smooth and wouldn't stick, that would have been too easy. So they retreated to the hall to think. A few minutes later the doctor comes dancing in, "I found what I need, I know this will get it!" he waves a long metal tool with a tiny loop on the end. So once again we pin the poor boy down and they start to dig, except this time the doctor immediately starts saying "It's coming, don't move! Don't move!" and after about 30 seconds or so they finally get the stupid thing out.

They had him lay with that ear down so the blood and stuff could drain out, and then checked to make sure the eardrum had not ruptured. We were lucky and there was no significant trauma to the ear and we were able to go home after a few more minutes. The nurse who discharged us looked at Colton and said, "Next time when Mom tells you not to do something, it might be a good idea to listen." Colton quickly agreed and said "I won't ever put anything in my ears again."