.coin

so today I was holed up in the OR storage room charging my computer -
which despite the dust, rat droppings, and mysterious leaking chemicals
is actually a fantastic place to be, and Olen asked me if I wanted to
help with something.

He said we were going to insert a foley catheter as an NGT and then
showed me an xray taken 2 months ago -

well it took my brain a little too long to process what exactly was the
connection between the NGT as Foley and the CXR -

until he pointed out the fact that it showed a coin lodged in the
esophagus.

2 months ago - this 2 year old boy had swallowed a coin, and had an Xray
but the coin remained.

well, he came in today with a fever and wasn't breathing well - so Olen
decided it was time to remove the coin.

He knocked the kid out with a little bit of Ketamine, and they first
tried to put the Foley in as an OG tube but he started throwing up so we
moved into the OR where there was suction.

He started waking up so I tried putting it in as an NGT and got it right
away - then Olen inflated the balloon on the Foley and I started pulling
it up very slowly.

after it was about half way out, we started meeting resistance but I
kept pulling slowly. Dr. Bland shined a light and depressed the tongue

and then suddenly Olen said excitedly, wait, wait, hold it right there -
and then he proceeded to reach into the back of the throat with forceps
and pull out the coin.

it was a brilliant plan. by inserting the Foley as an NGT, then
inflating the balloon, the coin was caught and dragged upwards as I
pulled the tube out until he was able to reach in and grab it.

so pretty much Olen is a genius and it was the amazing highlight of an
otherwise rather frustrating day for me.

so, you can see a picture of the coin - 25 CFA (5 cents)- the price of a
gato....or a bag of peanuts....or a piece of candy......or almost a life.

in the picture it is placed where it originally was in the Xray although
it moved down further afterwards.

next picture: Olen pretty psyched about this groovy highlight to his
medical career.....