The kernel is finally out! It's now in a plastic specimen bottle, ready to take its place amongst Devlin's keepsakes on his bookshelf.
We received a call from Sick Kid's hospital last night instructing us to bring Devlin in this morning. Also a suggestion that he not eat or drink anything. So off we went. Due to the time change, we had to rouse all 3 children and bundle them into the van. While Daddy and the girls went for breakfast, Mommy and Devlin headed up to the ENT clinic and waited. And waited, and waited. Mommy was getting grumpier by the minute - it may have been because she hadn't yet had her morning coffee. Since Devlin was not allowed to eat or drink, I had promised him I wouldn't eat or drink anything. Finally, we were seen by a young doctor who was very personable and who put Devlin at ease by commenting on Devlin's Spiderman shirt.
The doctor took a look, and was confident he could retrieve the popcorn kernel in 4 seconds, but Devlin would not lay still. The moment Devlin say the long steel instrument that had caused much angst earlier in the week, he freaked out. So, the decision was made to put Devlin under and remove it in the operating room. Luckily for us, there was an opening in the OR schedule. Within minutes we were whisked off to be registered, and Devlin was being put into a large flannel hospital gown. He was a bit concerned that people would see his underwear. We raced through the consent forms and patient history, and then we were meeting the nurses and doctors. The pediatric ENT specialist advised us he would be applying a little bit of butter and then some heat to the ear, and hopefully the kernel would pop its way out. Devlin looked up from the toys at that comment. When the doctor assured him it was a joke, Devlin cracked a smile. I kissed Devlin good-bye, while assuring him I just had to call Daddy and that I'd be with him shortly. The nurses led him while keeping up a conversation about his Transformers rainboots. I was led into the OR waiting room. I knew it would be a simple procedure, and that he wouldn't be "asleep" for long. I knew the doctors were well-trained, as were the nurses. I also knew this was probably the only way that darned kernel was coming out, or we'd have a corn plant growing out his ear. I had no reason for concern. Yet, it was a bit nerve-wracking to see my first-born being led away and to not be with him during this procedure.
Before 15 minutes had passed by, the doctors were back with the offending kernel in the specimen bottle for me. All went well. The only complication was a small perforation in his ear drum - likely caused by one of the earlier attempted retrievals. But I was assured that it should heal nicely with some ear drops to be prescribed and a follow-up appointment was scheduled. I'm glad they warned me, otherwise I would have been troubled by the blood stains on the bedsheet by his ear.
Another 15 minutes and then I was taken to the recovery room where Devlin was sucking on a popsicle, looking a little pale and tired. He was excited to be taken down to the car in a wheel chair, although he kept calling it a "go chair".
We're finally home now. Mommy got her coffee. Devlin's had three bowls of chicken noodle soup and he's back to his normal, energetic self. The girls are in good spirits too. Mommy and Daddy and the rest of our extended family are relieved the great popcorn ordeal is now over. I calculated we had spent almost 16 hours in various hospitals and doctor's offices since this whole adventure began. I'm sure nothing smaller than an elephant will ever make its way into Devlin's ear or nose from now on. As Devlin says, "I've learned my lesson."
Mommy and Daddy have learned their lesson too - if anything ever happens to the kids requiring medical attention, we're heading to Sick Kids immediately.
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