A Milestone I'd Rather Do Without

On Friday night Zusha was eating salmon when he ran to the garbage to spit it out and began to cry, "Very sharp! Very sharp!" I thought he meant the spices on the fish, so I gave him a tomato to cool his mouth. When he spit that out, too, I got concerned.

I didn't realize what really happened until I was pinching off a piece of the fish for Gedalya and found a bone in it. I have never seen bones in salmon fillet, but there it was. Apparently, Zusha had a bone stuck in his throat!

Hillel tried to look in Zusha's mouth if he could see the bone while I went to nurse Gedalya to sleep. He was already upset over all the commotion, overtired and crying.

Hillel was able to see the bone, and we decided to call Hatzola. We thought that they might be able to help us at home, and not wanting to call them on Shabbos, we decided to first ask our downstairs neighbor if she knows any Hatzola members nearby. She did, and Hillel went to get him.

Meanwhile Zusha had fallen asleep in his little chair. He was so exhausted from crying, and it was past his bedtime already. The Hatzola member came to us by car, even though it was around the corner. He took a look at Zusha, asked a few questions and called for an ambulance.

We grabbed our coats (with a reminder from the Hatzola man) and headed to the ambulance. Zusha woke up and was crying. I didn't think to tell him that he was riding in a real Hatzola, to distract him.

In the hospital the doctor checked him, but didn't see any bone. We went on to wait for about 45 minutes, during which time Zusha realized that he doesn't have shoes. Eventually the doctor came again, and this time he saw the bone. Hillel held a light for the doctor, and after four tries, he was able to get it out with tweezers. A nurse checked Zusha for any bleeding, and we were released.

We put on our coats and got ready to go. But we didn't bring a stroller, and Zusha didn't have shoes! Besides, he was extremely exhausted after the whole ordeal, and it was 9:15 PM then: two hours after his bedtime.

So our only option was for Hillel to carry him. All 40 pounds of him, for a mile and a half! And it was drizzling, too.

B"H it all worked out in the end. On the way home, when I was able to think clearly, I told Zusha that it was a Hatzola that he rode in, and that we went to the hospital. (I tell him about when he and Gedalya were born, so he knows what a hospital is in theory.) He would've been thrilled if I had the presence of mind to tell him that when we were still there, but he was excited anyway.

Gedalya slept through everything. I was concerned that he'd wake up, but I'm glad at least something went right.

The past two nights Zusha has been snoring while sleeping and breathing loudly while relaxing. I told the doctor this and she said to bring him in- there might be swelling in his throat. He's not complaining, so I don't know what it might be.