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My son aspirated rice?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by octavia, Mar 1, 2010.

  1. octavia

    octavia Active Member

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    My youngest son has been coughing for a week now. It's gotten really bad and on Thursday night he told me it felt like he had rice stuck in his throat from when he had choked on it at his Dad's house.

    This alarmed me and Friday I made an apt. at his Pediatricians office and took him in. We saw the Dr. on call and she ordered an x ray. Sure enough, there was something in his lung.

    Her reaction scared the hell out of me. She wouldn't look me in the eye and kept saying she could not dx him and was waiting for the pulmonologist to look at the X-rays and tell us what he thought. She also made it clear that he was an adult pulmonologist and if we wanted a pediatric pulmonologist we would have to take him to dornbechers. After she had consulted with him, she told us he had a localized pneumonia ( I forget the correct term) either with or without a foreign object at it's center, they could not tell for sure. She suggested I take him to dornbechers.

    She called and let them know we were coming and we drove the 2 hrs the same day. We got there in the early eve. and they got us right in and before we knew it we had been visited by an intern, a resident, a supervising resident, and finally the ENT specialists team. They all listened to him and were concerned by the spot on his left lung( apparently unusual to aspirate to the left lung) and his pretty significant rattle when breathing.

    They then had a team meeting or whatever it is they call it and after some disagreement decided to recommend that they go in the next morning and see what was going on. They said they could suction anything they found while they were in there.

    After the procedure the next day, they told us they found gunk but no rice, the ENT Dr. said that his body had probably already "cleared" the rice, because it had been there for almost 6 days already. They put him on a round of antibiotics and sent us home later the same day.

    He's doing really well except for the terrible cough.

    I'm a mess... I'm still trying to recover from the scare. This is twice we have ended up in the ER with my youngest, and both times he ended up being admitted, first for the appendix and now this.

    His dad is a real jerk too. According to him, I overreacted and caused this whole thing. How I could have caused the x-ray, the referral, or the ER powwow is beyond me. His girlfriend is convinced that this whole thing was caused by my son sniffling instead of blowing his nose. Is that possible?
     
  2. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    Ask her if they were allowing him to sniff rice.


    Glad to know he is doing OK.
     
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    You did right, if he had rice in his nose (not outside the realm of possibility in my world) he could have aspirated it by sniffling, but who knows...and who cares.

    The rice is so soft I'm sure it half dissolved, half became part of the phlegm they aspirated out of his lung. When this happens with something like a peanut it's a much more serious issue.

    So, he probably would have recovered w/o going through the bronchoscopy, but who knows, maybe he'd aspirated a whole clump of rice and it did need to come out...hind sight is easy.

    It sounds to me like everyone has reacted appropriately (other than dad and GF).

    Just another joy of child rearing! Where did you think gray hair came from?
     
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  4. octavia

    octavia Active Member

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    Oops. I mean she is convinced that he didn't get any rice in his lung, that his cough is a result of his habit of sniffling rather than blowing his nose when it runs.
     
  5. eaglesight333

    eaglesight333 Senior Member

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    It sounded like you did everything right. I am not a parent, but from what you described I would probably do basically the same thing. I doubt that sniffling would cause something to show up on an xray. If the doctor found a physical spot on the lung, then that was something physical there. All sniffling does, is cause mucus to drain into the lung, thereby cause coughing/hacking. {ask dad and gf for their medical diplomas, since they seemed to think you overreacted. :) }

    I do not think you over reacted at all. What is worse?: possibly overreacting and finding out nothing is wrong. Or not doing anything and finding out something was wrong. The best thing you can usually do is trust your instincts. If your gut is telling you something could be wrong, you do not ignore it and you do what you have to, to get things taken care of.

    Finally I have taken CPR courses, and one thing they tell us, is that is someone chokes on food or other item, even if it doesnt fully block the wind pipe, it is always best to get it checked out from a doctor. Not knowing if the pipe or lung could have been damaged from the coughing or item.
     
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Well, I don't think there's a direct connection b/w sniffling and pneumonia, but maybe she knows better than I.

    But it's entirely possible that the rice issue was a red herring and this was just a run of the mill pneumonia. Kids have a tendency to be concrete and want to associate one thing with another semi-related event.
     
  7. amm0bob

    amm0bob Permanently Junior...

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    We are glad to hear your little one is getting up and about...
     
  8. SPEEDEAMON

    SPEEDEAMON Professional Car Nut

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    I think over reaction in this kind of situation is much better than no action. Unless you are a Doctor yourself, its the best to act fast and find its all okay than being too late. I'm glad your son is on his way to getting better.
     
  9. apriusfan

    apriusfan New Member

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    Here is my 2 cents for what it is worth:

    1. Doctors don't press the panic button because they like to get attention. There was a real concern/sense of urgency in the minds of all the doctors that were consulted.

    2. Sounds like your ex's GF doesn't know boo about medical matters (there is nothing like having ignorant people render medical opinions). BTW, the last I checked, pneumonia is a condition of the lungs, not the sinus cavities. I personally have had 3 bouts of pneumonia in my life, so I know a little bit about it.
     
  10. Sandy

    Sandy Hippi Chick

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    is she blonde? enough said.
     
  11. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Octavia,

    I've heard on medical reports now that they don't recommend you BLOW your nose when you're sick- it actually causes backpressure that feeds gunk INTO your lungs or may cause bad sinus pressure and do other damage.

    Here's a link you may want to read:
    Blowing Your Nose Could Spread Infection, at womenshealthmag.com | Women's Health Magazine
     
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  12. octavia

    octavia Active Member

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    I think it's safe to assume that she does not. I think she used to work in a medical office. I don't think she has more than a high school education, maybe a certificate... I don't know.

    My son is a very concrete little thinker. I don't think we will ever know for sure but I suspect he did have something in there, either that or he developed a little pneumonia patch in his lung for some other reason. I guess I'd rather believe it was rice than have to wonder if it's going to reoccur.
    Thanks for chiming in Evan, it's reassuring. :)

    Yes, it was feeling pretty surreal for a while with the dr.'s in and out of the room and the whole pow wow thing.

    I am having a hard time with his gf. She is very abrasive and is not kind to my sons. I get calls from them all the time when they are with their dad over the things she says and does.


    My son is doing better, but is still coughing. I am going to make the follow up apt. today with his pediatrician.
     
  13. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    How many lines of rice did your son do? Tell him next time to cut it up finer.

    (I figured I could safely switch to humor, since your son seems to be doing well.)

    I have, on more than one occasion, managed to get food stuck in my nose. Kernels of corn are particularly good for this. For me, all it takes is talking at the wrong time, or a poorly timed sneeze. Once it's up there, all you can do is try to snort it back down. I can see how you could easily aspirate a grain of rice in this situation.

    Tom
     
  14. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    hmm. that is debatable.

    either way, i am glad your son is ok. kids seem to do a lot of "adventurous" things

    as i understand it, when you sniffle instead of blow, all the gunk goes into your stomach... i know its gross, but stomach acid kills the germs before they do any harm.

    when breathing, the air for a short distance can go either to stomach or lungs. however, heavy stuff like snot, rice, etc usually goes to stomach simply because its too heavy. its kinda like a filtering system.

    granted, its not perfect and some particles will hit the lungs if small enough and light enough and you inhale hard enough...

    but generally speaking, when you have 3 "enoughs" you are not likely to have issues most of the time.

    last week, we went to Olive Garden for dinner, and first thing my son did was jam about half a piece of bread in his mouth (something he does all the time despite our constant objections!!) well this time it was too much, we were able to get it out before he passed out, but for about 30-45 seconds it was VERY dramatic.

    i did notice that after that, he was much more careful about his eating. all in all, he did not get scared over the situation (great for a not quite 3 YO) but at the same time, realized that what he was doing did not work either.
     
  15. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    Says the local Doc :-p

    I will tell you though... a month or so ago i think i ended up with an M&M in my lung (seriously). Don't ask how, i don't exactly know, other than i know exactly when it happened, and it freaked me out a bit at first. After a lot of coughing over the next few days (and some seriously weird looking phlegm), and a soreness that i swear was in the upper portion of my left lung, it was all cleared out and better.

    The body actively works to remove foreign bodies from the lungs - it coats them with mucus, triggers coughing, all with the goal of dislodging and expelling the foreign body. Odds are, if left for a few days/a week, the junk would have come out and the cough subsided. But it's better not to take chances, and if the doctors thought it was best to go in and look around, then that was definitely the right choice.

    To make you feel better, read this: Fast-food plastic fragment removed from lung of Wendy's customer | New Orleans Health and Fitness - New Orleans Health News & Information - NOLA.com

    you just can't make up stuff like that.
     
  16. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i have also sucked in undesirables that i expelled thru the nostrils as well, and it always seems to happen if i am laughing and eating at the same time...

    i think we need to refrain from swallowing and inhaling at the same time since refraining from laughing is exactly the opposite direction we all need to take
     
  17. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Sure it's possible. It's also "possible" the sun tomorrow will rise in the West and set in the East

    In other words, this woman is not only a fool, but Evil as well. Keep your kids far away from her

    [Sarcasm Mode = ON] Yeah, what do YOU know? Just because you spent all those years in Med School did Internships and Residency, have that fancy but expensive piece of paper, done ER work, this bimbo obviously is MUCH more knowledgeable in Pediatrics, and lungs, than you are [Sarcasm Mode = OFF]

    Good gawd. I wonder what that bimbo has been sniffing, smoking, or injecting to even come up with a deranged comment like "you over reacted, sniffling causes pneumonia ..."

    Holy s***!

    [Sarcasm Mode = ON] Oh hell, then she probably taught Dr. Fusco's med classes! [Sarcasm Mode = OFF]

    Reminds me of that Holiday Inn commercial

    "Are you a doctor?"

    "No, but I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!"

    I'll go into much more detail next time I email you, but long story short: this is VERY disturbing. You keep your kids away from that evil little witch, you hear?
     
  18. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    I'm going to disagree with this. An event with sufficient energy to reverse the direction of rotation of the Earth in one day would probably destroy it.

    I gather Octavia and her ex have joint custody, and the kids have to spend a specified amount of time with their dad. I suffered under a similar torment. My step-mother was evil, and there was nothing I or my mother could do about it.
     
  19. octavia

    octavia Active Member

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    I am walking a fine line. My x husband is a negative, critical, judemental person. This is a large part of why I divorced him in the first place. It was THAT bad.

    His gf is worse than he is. Together they have created a completely unsupportive, negative, oppressive environment. At what point is it abusive though?

    I struggle with this all the time.
     
  20. PriusLewis

    PriusLewis Management Scientist

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    I am an asthma sufferer and have had pneumonia - the slightest issue with my lungs sends me straight to my MD :sick:. So you DID NOT over-react. In fact, because you did something it was probably much less of an issue than it could have been later. Don't take the chance to "wait and see." At least your kid doesn't like to stuff things up his nose and in his ears (one of our grandkids went through a stage of that!). Hope the cough eases for him! I prescribe mommy hugs - one of the best medicines known! :hug: