When Your Child Swallows A Coin

Ewan was never a baby who puts things in his mouth. We counted ourselves lucky to have a baby with such discipline. He would crawl and play amongst little toys but they were never tried or tasted. What changed him? I do not know but he started putting things into his mouth at three years old. 

Receipts, toy ice-creams, unwrapped lollipops, legos and *rolls eyes* coins. 

We had a really hard time putting Ewan and Faye to sleep last Saturday night. Well, it was Faye who was toddling around insisting we read her 20 books before we could all turn in. Winding down for the night started at 2000 hours and they were still laughing away 80 minutes later. I gave them an ultimatum, "Daddy and I are going to sleep in our own room now." I pulled Meyer up from Ewan's bed and we exited their bedroom. Before the door closed behind us, the two little rascals cried out in unison, "NOOOooooOOOoo!". I gave them a stern talking to for lights to go out and closed the night with a less sombre manner when I noticed a coin on Ewan's bed. 

"Hey! Look! There's a coin on Ewan's bed! Anyway, Lights Out Now." and I proceeded to switch off the lights.

I lay beside Ewan in the dark and I heard some Click-Clacks in his mouth. I did not see him pick that coin up and I questioned him in disbelief, "Ewan! Did you put the coin in your mouth?" He could only let out an ummm-hmmmm. A delighted sounding one. I rolled my eyes and demanded for him to spit it out right away and went on to lecture him about how dirty it is. As I went on with my nagging monologue, my son let out a cough. I sat right up and asked, "Oh my goodness Ewan! Did you swallow the coin? Where is the coin? You really swallowed it?" 

Wails. He couldn't stop crying and was scared stiff he swallowed the coin. We deliberated on letting him sleep in or going to the hospital. [Why is it that the children always fall ill or meet with an accident on public holidays or weekend nights?] Meyer did his fair share of googling and so did I. I read about the negativities while my husband found only positive news on swallowing foreign objects. Eventually, we went to the hospital because Ewan was so frightened that he begged his daddy to bring him in. Oh and I called the hospital and they requested for us to head down immediately. 

30 April 2016 at 2120 hours - Yang Ewan swallowed a 20-cent coin.

I knew it was going to cost us a bomb at Gleneagles 24-hour walk-in clinic for after-hours consultation but I will pay for the assurance. Although Meyer did not agree with my paranoia, he brought us to the hospital nevertheless. We choose to see the doctors at Gleneagles rather than NUH or KKH because we do not want to wait hours at end for a consultation. It was late and the children need their sleep. At Gleneagles, we are usually in and out within the hour. 

So. Daddy was more angry than worried about the incident. He was grumpy and couldn't let out an easy smile the whole time. After we registered Ewan, we were whisked into a room with the nurse who checked Ewan's blood pressure, weight and temperature. He asked Ewan if he felt any pain in his tummy. My three-year-old paused and thought about it rather seriously. He frowned and with his hand over his stomach, he replied, "I am not sure really."

It may not sound like anything but the three of us [the nurse, Meyer and I] burst out laughing at his response. It's just that you do not usually hear a kid speak with such maturity. We were expecting a Yes or No reply.

I went around telling the whole world that my son swallowed a new 20-cent coin. We've just transited from old coins to new coins in Singapore and my well-educated cousins started to confirm on whatsapp that the new coins are magnetic! I know swallowing batteries are life-threatening but what about magnets? Oh I couldn't stop thinking about the worst that might happen. I sat him on my lap as we waited for our turn, 

"What were you trying to do putting a coin in your mouth Ewan? You want to be a kiddy ride?"

The doctor saw us rather quickly and he shared his concerns about the location of the coin. As long as it went into the stomach and passes out through the intestines, we shouldn't worry that much. However, if the coin found its way under a certain area which cannot be passed out by excretion, they will have to take it out manually. How? I have no idea. First up! X-Ray. 

We were told that a paediatrician will also be called in but because it was after-hours at 2200 hours, the fee to call in Dr Nancy Tan [I love her by the way] was S$500. We already know this well by heart because before Ewan was a regular at Gleneagles 24-hour walk-in clinic, I've been coming in during my pregnancy for pains and to call in a gynaecologist to attend to me costs S$500 as well. After a quick discussion, we told the doctor that we will admit Ewan for observation. A hospital admission will have all bills claimed from insurance while our walk-in consultation will be upon us. 

By this time, Ewan and Faye were playing catching, reading storybooks and chatting up with other patients. Looking at him, healthy like a fish, I started to question my fear. Well well, I talked myself out that it is always good to be safe than sorry.

The X-Ray film was returned to us as soon as Ewan and Meyer walked out of the X-Ray room. There. Solid and Round. The Coin. The coin that dropped out from daddy's pocket when I pulled him up from Ewan's bed earlier that night. We found it a little amusing actually and had a laugh with the people around us. The staff nurse stifled a laughter when she saw the X-Ray and told him, "You know? Next time, if you see a coin, put it only in two places. Mommy's wallet or your piggy bank. Not your mouth ay?"

Our consulting doctor gave the paediatrician a quick call on the phone to inform her of the results. She hasn't made her way down to the hospital yet and their discussion ended positively! We will be able to go home without having to stay for observation or pay that S$500 for her appearance! Yahoo! The coin was in Ewan's stomach and it looked promising that it will pass through his intestines without any trouble. Dr Nancy Tan [the paediatrician] added that 20-cents is an okay size. Only if a 50-cent coin had been swallowed, it will alleviate the seriousness to the situation. Note: whether you are an adult or a child, you will need to be seen by a doctor immediately. 

The children fell asleep in the car. We reached home at 2320 hours and slumped into our very comfortable Simmons bed. Relieved that there was nothing to worry about. Then I called Dr Nancy Tan the next morning because I wondered if she KNEW our new coins were magnetic?

"Oh don't worry about it. Our coins are made of magnetic material but it is not a magnet."

Alright folks! So now we all know! 

Every single day after, we looked forward to Ewan saying, "I need to bang sai*". For once, we were thankful he still hasn't transited from pooping in his diapers to the toilet bowl. It is the weirdest thing to hear me say, "Yay! Can kio sai** today! Cannot wait to find that silver!" but well, we looked into his poop once a day [armed with gloves and a disposable spoon] ever since he swallowed that fateful coin. We were getting worried when the coin did not show up by day three. I couldn't have missed it because I was meticulous! Oh gosh.. disgusting. I made him watch me every single time and when we found something uncanningly round this morning, I nearly jumped for joy! I held back my excited self because I had expected seeing the coin as it is - silver. But what I found was totally covered with poop. I set it aside and began to wash it through thoroughly.

Let us do a happy dance!

"He pooped the coin out on Day 5 at 0740hrs, this very day!"

And hey! It is a 10-cent coin! *hahahah* Ewan was beaming from ear to ear when he saw that coin and kept going, "The coin is out of my stomach already? I bang sai the coin out already? YAY!" He was so pleased that he asked me to photograph him and willingly allowed me to film it all down. 

Look at how black the coin is! Daddy begged me to throw it away but I'm so going to clip it with his X-Ray! I scrubbed it and soaked it in Dettol.

Our coin saga has finally come to a close. Thankfully it was only a 10-cent coin and not a life-threathening foreign object. I hope he learns from his lesson and parents out there can pick up some valuable assurances from our experience. Please tell our story to your children and teach them how dangerous it can be if they've swallowed anything other than food in their mouths. Lastly, let them know that they are not going to grow money trees on their heads if they swallowed a coin.

Note: See a doctor immediately if your child has swallowed a sharp foreign object, a battery or a real magnet. 

* bang sai - poop

** kio sai - digging into poop

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