Travel Games & Clown Doctors....A&E Fun and Games

These travel games are a brilliant idea and the counters are fascinating things.....but I really didn’t think they were meant to induce travel but rather be entertaining while one travels. My dear sweet tiny little almost-three year old made the distracted decision to insert a magnetic travel game counter up her nostril while my back was turned. When I turned back she looked all watery-eyed and sneeze-y and I asked, ‘are you okay, is something tickling your nose?’ because I am intuitive enough with my children to know what is normal behaviour and what is not. She looked a little sheepish, but more uncomfortable and bothered and then hastened to add that she had stuck ‘this’ (for the record that IS a counter) up her nose. By this time 'it' was nowhere in sight, with her obviously trying to retrieve it and only forcing it further up said canal. Ouch and Yuck simultaneously.

Not having a vehicle this day, I called upon my obliging mother to return to my house whence she had just left as we really needed to visit the local Accident & Emergency room as I felt it was an emergency since I hadn’t been able to retrieve the item!

Towing trailer behind vehicle (refer to blog about new Treadmill for reasons for having trailer), my mother arrived in a timely manner and, after I grabbed both a silver and black counter – because who knew which she had and heck it’s dark up one’s nose so better have complete examples of possibilities, we proceeded to A & E.

Our conversation during the 5 minute drive went something like this: what we need is a strong magnet, I bet your Father has one at the farm, surely the doctors could have one, well they will at least have a tool that will remove it anyway. This in between my ranting as to why you shouldn’t stick things up your nose...even fingers.

After a short wait, the very kind Doctor greeted us with a very confident I have done this before and do not worry it’s no big deal kind of spiel (excellent but still oh my lord are you kidding me...and WHAT is wrong with children and why did I even let her play with these things?).

After a quick review of the situation, a long light shoved up a small nostril, a few ooh’s and ah’s and a comparison of the empty nostril (I was so hoping it was empty), the Dr decided that the tools would be gathered and we would begin the procedure of extracting said game counter so that we might have the complete set again (I prefer to throw out the complete set to be sure).

Right, tools gathered, hold your daughter like this so she can’t move and let’s begin. My daughter is very strong-willed and so STRONG! Okay mum, hold her tighter or these tweezers might scratch her. No, the thing is, it is so far up I cannot reach it. In fact, it’s in the bony part now! Oh, great!

Tap tap tap on the phone, ‘can I have ‘E.N.T?’ Oh right sorry, ‘O.R.L’ as they are now called though we still call them ENT. Implosion as I think, I really don’t care what they are friggin called now, could you just get the ‘A’ Team ASAP? Thanks.

So, E.N.T or O.R.L is a department at our local major city hospital. Right. Well, they have all the tools and technicians (technicians?) and will be more equipped to handle this matter delicately and safely! Hopefully they won’t have to sedate her! Excellent!

I have determined the counter is of the black kind. That will be $19.

Brilliant, thanks for that. Charged me $19 to determine the colour!

By the way, since you say it could go down from the back of the nose, couldn’t we just wait and see? No, we can’t leave a magnetic thing in one’s body! Okay.

Okay, quick stop to drop said trailer because it would be awkward for parking in the central city hospital carpark! Though not as awkward it would seem as retrieving a tiny counter from a tiny child's nose! I digress...Off we go. More ranting, a bit of stress (kids generally fine and little one falls asleep). I spend the entire journey prodding her and poking her to ensure she is breathing.

Arrive at Starship Hospital in time to catch the Clown Doctors floor show, which the children gave a standing ovation for! Whilst I filled forms and frowned, in general and at my daughter, my mother and son were in hysterics as the clown impaled himself on a large plastic vehicle, which he then proceeded to ‘wear’ around the A&E department!A short wait more and we were seen. The doctor was confident that although it was more than 1cm up the nostril we should be able to extract it without sedation. Thus she returned to her superior to discuss the plan and line up the other staff required. I returned to clown town for another round. Clown Doctors do an amazing job and I was well-impressed by their nature and jester for the littlies (and parents and my mother)!

So, after trialling this whole picking-counter-out-of-my-daughter's-nose thingymabob, we realised it wasn’t possible because a) I just could not keep her still no matter how I tried and b) it really was too far up and we didn’t want to damage her nose in the meantime. Right. Don't you have a magnet you could try to retrieve it with? No, and generally suction and those kinds of things can cause more damage than good. Right. Next....

Sedation. No thanks. No choice. No thanks. NO CHOICE! Right then. Another 45 minutes while the numbing cream prepares the hand for the drip and for the team to be assembled from all parts of the hospital. Then it will be 20 minutes under while said counter is removed. Then a one hour wait after that. An iceblock after that, and then home.

So, while the cream irritated my daughter's hand and I irritated the staff about dvd’s, we waited and watched Pooh. Then they were late taking the cream off so I set off to triage to get that removed...being the pushy mother I am. Then we waited there so that my son could be nutritionally rejuvenated in the waiting area without said sister feeling left out, since she was nil-per-mouth. We watched the fish and talked. By this time, the sedation procedure was about 5 minutes overdue.

Then I notice a watery eye, and then she rubbed at her nose, and then her nostril shape slightly altered and then I grabbed a tissue and dragged it down her nose. Her face looked different. She said ‘all better’. I said ‘huh?’. Not realising at all that I had it (thinking no way, that’s too easy after how this day has unfolded!). I squeezed the tissue and felt something....hard?. Yup. There it was. It was indeed black and a magnetic game counter.

Geez, I'm glad we determined that then! Imagine if, after $19, it had turned out to be silver. I wouldn't have been very impressed!

All I could think through teary eyes was, thank goodness she didn’t have to be sedated. Oh and ‘why didn’t I just stay and wait at home?’ Never a dull moment, but most of all, my daughter was safe and not all wobbly and woozy and sedated. I'm really not good with sedated people!

Sigh.

Ed. xx