Kadence Inhales a Cashew

Kadence has been battling a mild couch for a couple of days but it was no big deal. For a snack one day I gave her some cashews and she loved them. We were being silly together and she was laughing when she choked and actually stopped breathing for a few seconds. Her face would turn bright red, then she would be able to get a little air in and then she would turn red again. I managed to get them out of her (with the Heimlich and back beatings) and chewed up cashews spewed out of her mouth. She seemed okay except that she kept coughing sporadically. I texted a couple people I knew in the medical industry and was told to keep an eye on her and to take her in if it persists or develops more symptoms. By the end of the day she wasn't coughing much anymore so I put her to bed. The next morning she seemed okay but as the day progressed she began to get more and more fussy and lethargic. I had a Relief Society activity that night and when I got back, Doug was holding her on the couch and trying to soothe her by letting her pet the cat (only thing that seemed to help). She was miserable. I took her temperature and it was 103. I put her straight in the car and drove her to the nearest open Urgent Care. By this time it was about 9:30pm and she was exhausted on top of feeling miserable. Surprisingly she tested positive for Strep Throat which was pretty random. The doc wanted to do X-Rays since her breathing was so rattily and I informed her of what happened with the cashews. The X-Ray showed Pneumonia on one side so they sent me off to Phoenix Children's Hospital. It was almost 11pm and the poor thing whined the whole way there (which took about 30 minutes since I had been driving on a donut tire after my tire blew out the day before). We went to the ER and they had to get new X-Rays. They informed me that we were going to have to put a scope in her lungs to clear them out and that she couldn't have anything to eat or drink until it was done. Of course that night was miserable for both of us. She couldn't breath very well, wanted to drink her "baba" and kept telling me that she just wanted to go home. Broke my heart every time. Finally at about 10am they took her in for the procedure. A couple of people had informed me that it should only take about 20 minutes to complete so after about 45 minutes of not having her named called in the waiting room, I began to get nervous. Many prayers were said! The elderly man who was volunteering at the front desk called "Kadence DeGraw" and I practically ran over to him. He stumbled around looking confused and finally said "I don't know why they had me call her name because she is still in surgery right now". Of course it is at a time like this where my "Worse-case Scenario" mind-set kicks in. I figured something must have gone wrong and they need my signature to perform an operation or something. I tried keeping it all together but then the man moved me into a small conference-type room with a desk, two chairs, a computer and a window. I had to wait there by myself for what seems like an eternity. That is when the flood gates opened and I became a pathetic mess. A doctor walked by and saw me from behind. He asked me a question (can't remember what it was) and then told me I looked really tense and that he was sure everything was okay. I felt like saying "How do YOU know?! You don't even know what's going on!" Of course I didn't but I really wanted to! It was only a few more minutes when Doctor Graziano came to my room and immediately informed me that the procedure was successful. I wanted to hug her. I loved her in the moment (and always). I got to see her shortly after that and she was pretty groggy still. That poor tiny thing. She came out of the anesthesia fairly quick though and we were able to go back to our room. I ordered a BIG lunch for her and a bunch of milk. She downed her sippy in record speed and ate a nice big helping of some chicken nuggets, french fries, and apple sauce. Yay! She honestly seemed SO much better pretty much immediately after the procedure. They kept us there one more night just to monitor her but all seemed to be well. We took home an antibiotic that we had to give her for 10 days which was a nightmare itself. Kadence does NOT like medicine and never has. When Doug wasn't home I was have to solicit Averi's help in holding her down so I could get it in her. That little TWIT! I am just glad she was okay and that she felt better so quickly. What a blessing that was.

These pics are before the procedure was done:

 These are after it was complete. They are pretty blurry but she was playing with some blocks that the nurse brought her and she was having so much fun building towers and then throwing blocks off the bed or at me.

 

The top picture is her airways before (practically flooding over with excess fluid and gunk). The bottom picture shows her airways after they were scoped out... MUCH better!

I am SO grateful for pediatric doctors who devote so much time and money toward their schooling so they can help save innocent lives. And I am grateful to Heavenly Father who answers prayers and provides comfort when it is most needed.