Remember that time Cole had a cashew nut stuck in his lung?!...

So our Thanksgiving accidentally became pretty eventful...

I'll save the story about how we put the kids to bed and then my husband almost ran himself over with the 1978 Jeep that he'd bought...and discovered the parking break doesn't work...

This time I'll tell you about the time my 2 year old laughed while eating a handful of cashew nuts and without us realizing it...INHALED THEM. Apparently that is a thing...kids accidentally inhaling foreign bodies. It was completely off my radar, and took nearly a week for me to put 2+2 together.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving Cole had choked on some cashew nuts. I figured the cough he had was caused by a mixture of the crazy weather and irritating his throat from choking on the nuts. He was fine Sunday. Then spiked a fever on Monday. Seemed fine on Tuesday, but spiked a fever again on Wednesday...right as I was about to go to the store to get the fixings for Thanksgiving {priorities!} Like any Mom, I hate to see my children sick and had called the pediatrician numerous times to arrange a visit but then the fever would go away. I spoke to the nurse and she gave me some advice. It wasn't until Thursday night (around the time my husband almost ran himself over with the Jeep) that I went to check in on my little guy after he'd gone to bed. He had dark circles around his eyes, and I caught a horror: what if something is seriously wrong?! I went to bed thinking about him being very sick, and was honestly upset by the thought...I woke up on Friday morning and clear as day I knew: what if he had inhaled the cashew nut.

I climbed out of bed and immediately called my Mom (a nurse) and asked her if it's possible to swallow something like a nut, and if so, could that be causing the fever and cough. Sure enough, she thought it was possible...

The day was spent at the Urgent Care...the doctor took x-rays but ended up feeling like it might just be pneumonia. My husband didn't have the best feeling about the exam and felt in his gut we should get a second opinion. We waited for the radiologist for the final word...and because the x-ray was inconclusive, decided to take our little guy to the local Children's Hospital.

After another round of (horrifying) x-rays and examination, it was determined that we would be spending Friday night at the hospital...and a bronchoscopy would be necessary Saturday morning to check for any stray cashew nuts.

Who knew the pulse ox monitor was enough to completely freak out this little guy:


Taking some selfies made him feel better though:


The bed remote did provide a lot of entertainment (and inconvenience for the nurses--sorry!) the black brace is a cover for his IV...


After a restless night in that horrible hospital chair (seriously, couldn't they make the chair lock open so you don't fold up constantly!) Cole was about to catch a nod...and then we had to head out to the OR.



The hospital was extremely nice! They had a little play area just outside of the operating room:


A bronchoscopy was done under general anesthesia. That was honestly the most nerve wracking part, sending him off...the the nurses were so loving and reassuring that they would take good care of him. My big brother is also a family practice doctor---a HUGE reassurance + help. He warned me they would likely need to do a bronchoscopy and gave me a reassuring rundown. It's nice having a doctor in the family!!

Sure enough, he inhaled multiple pieces of cashew nut! Apparently the lower lobe of his lung was completely blocked off with a piece of nut and fluid...essentially his lower lung was completely collapsed and he had pneumonia.



We anticipated going home after the bronchoscopy, but due to the extent of the pneumonia, the doctors felt it was best for us to spend a second night in the hospital.

After the procedure, Cole was groggy, but enjoyed having his big brother with him...{they were fighting about 30 seconds after this picture was taken...I knew everything was okay!}


After two days, he finally was willing to accept his pulse ox monitor...I think the light was showing it was working (?)


The bodies of children are amazing! An adult would likely be in bad shape, meanwhile this little two year old body was still going strong...the doctor was amazed!

Once the anesthesia wore off, he was ready to go home...and plotting his escape. He let the nurses and doctors know he wanted to go home and wanted to go outside...





He was discharged from the hospital by lunch on Sunday. We are so thankful for the wonderful care that we received. We are thankful that this was a relatively minor situation. We are thankful that our little guy is on the mend and home!

Here is an exhausted momma and little boy right before they sent us home...

I had kept relatively quiet, letting a few friends + family know what what was happening...but the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I should share this experience. It is possible for children to inhale food when you think they "choked" on something...I had no idea!
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