This is one of our Christmas ornaments. Inside, you'll find a small, square styrofoam that looks like this.
Now this is Alva at 15 months. At this stage, she is very inquisitive and adventurous.
Last Sunday, when nobody was looking, she tore apart one of the ornaments from the Christmas tree and stuff a piece of styrofoam ball deep into her right ear. When hubby discovered this he went ALAMAAAAK in the most dramatic manner which sent me running over to the living room in seconds. The moment I saw Vava's ear, I went ALAMAAAAK too. I guess we both panicked.
My first impulse was to turn Alva on her side and give her left ear a gentle tap. That's what I normally do when water gets into my ear, so I thought this method could work. I did this a few times tap tap tap but nothing came out. Damn! I looked at hubby and his expression read: Are you nuts? That will never work. My expression read: Shut up. After a few failed attempts: tapping her ear, turning her upside down and tilting her head, I got a bit frustrated cos I still couldn't get styrofoam out. Hubby said there was only one rational thing to do and that was to go see the doctor immediately. Right. Why didn't I think of that?
So we went to the after hours clinic at Upper Riccarton and saw a lady doctor. I think she must have had a tough day cos her eyebrows were not drawn, her hair was a mess and she had eyebags the size of China. That probably explains her unfriendly demeanour towards us. Anyway, she examined Vava's ear with an otosope and confirmed that there was indeed a tiny ball of styrofoam inside. She asked hubby to hold Alva firmly while she tried to extract the styrofoam with a special forcep. Slowly but surely, she manouvered the instrument into Vava's ear and after a minute she managed to get it out. Phew! I wanted to make sure that everything was okay so looked into Vava's ear once again. When I did, I almost fainted.
OMG!!!! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!!!!!!!!
Miss-know-it-all who was already seated on her comfy chair didn't like what she heard. She knitted her brows in disbelief and said Are you sure? Of course I was sure. She stood up reluctantly, took her otoscope and look into Vava's ear once again. Seconds later she confirmed it. "Yeah. There's another one". That's the bad news. The worse news was, the second styrofoam ball has gone too deep for her to extract using her normal forcep. We were told to wait outside while she made a few calls.
Ten minutes later, she came out with a paper in hand. Due to the delicate nature of the situation, Alva needed to see a specialist at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department in Christchurch Hospital. We were given a referral to see the doctor and the appointment was scheduled on Monday. Before we left, she dropped another bomb on us. During the procedure, Alva would need to be really really still. If we fail to control her, she may be given an anesthetic. I was shocked. This whole styrofoam thingy had just become my biggest nightmare.
On Monday, we got to the hospital at 9.15 am and headed straight to the 5th floor. After the routine registration, we were asked to wait at the waiting room.
Since there were 5 others waiting there, hubby thought it would be a very long wait so he went to the cafe to get some pastries. I was against this but he said he was very hungry. *Eye roll* Come on la. How can one be hungry when one's daughter is about to be anesthetized right? I mean, the wise thing to do was to ignore one's hunger pang and just stay put. You're with me on this right? Okay. Whatever. So he went down. No sooner had he left when a nurse came out to call Vava's name. CRAP! Just what I expected. I walked in, all the while cursing under my breath. SHIT SHIT SHIT.
In the doctor's room, I was in a foul mood. The procedure began with the usual Q & A about when and how the 'accident' happened. When that was done, I was told to get onto the bed with Vava on my lap so that the nurse could wrap her up in a white sheet. This was done to keep her still during the removal process. Using an LED otoscope, the doctor showed me the location of the styrofoam inside her ear and told me he was going to start immediately. I suddenly felt sick inside. Oh God! I can't do this alone. Just seconds after that, hubby appeared. Phew! I could breathe again.
Hubby took over and held Vava on his lap while the doctor inserted the slim forcep into her ear. It wasn't an easy task cos Vava tried hard to break free and when we wouldn't let her, she went hysterical. She screamed and screamed at the top of her lungs and she made sure everyone on the 5th floor heard her. You know how you get brain freeze when you drink your smoothie too fast? Well, that's the sensation I got when I heard her scream. I'm sure everyone felt the same way. Just look at the doctor in the picture.
After ten minutes of torture, it was all over. The styrofoam ball was finally out! Yay! Everyone in the room sighed simulatenously when this happened cos all the screaming stopped too. Peace was once again restored on the fifth floor and now everybody could hear themselves think. Me? I was just relieved that no anesthetic was used in the procedure. That was my greatest fear. When it was time to go, we thanked the doctor, bid the nurse goodbye and headed home. Everybody's happy.
My little Alva is okay now. A great lesson to learn from this incident? DO NOT let your babies touch styrofoam. It's dangerous and it'll make your life miserable. The End.
