Between a rock and a hard place

This episode on our parental journey is all about foreign bodies and their relativity to our own bodies. It is also about intelligence and common sense and how they lose out to curiosity.

Earlier this week, Eka was at school per his regular schedule. Like all school days we expected this one to be similar. A few happy faces, perhaps a sad face here and there... Lunch uneaten or stationery misplaced. We thought it to be an ordinary school day. Who knew.

Returning back from school everything seemed normal. A bit of leftovers, some school notices to go through. Nothing untowardly. Eka finished his evening play time, completed his chores, and returned from his bath. Then while sitting with us he matter-of-factly blurted that he had inserted a small pebble in his ear.

First there was silence. Then panic ensued. It was mixed with wonder and amazement, anger, confusion, and panic! Did I mention panic?

I was amazed that Eka being an intelligent kid could do something so daft. Angry for him having done it to himself. Confused on why would he do something so irresponsible. And panic at the fact that the pebble had made itself home for over 8 hours now.

Then bravado and pseudo-rationalism kicked in. I turned from parent to medical expert. My mental copy of the Quick Thinking Parent's DIY Medical Journal said get a flashlight and a tweezer. Nurse Neerja was beside me waiting for the doctor's orders. In a jiffy she was back with the instruments of the moment. As we peered down Eka's ear trying to locate the pebble, it felt like we were trying to search for treasure. A little maneuvering of his ear and the flashlight and there it was, deep in the abyss lay a pea-sized white pearl like pebble; the object that was the subject of our abject horror (take that English professor, meh). It was way down his ear canal in a place his tiny fingers couldn't have gone. Yet there it lay, shrouded in mystery to its origin, a white little pebble.

The next step was to try prying it out with the tweezer but Doc McChicken went cluck cluck and gave up before reaching the pebble. As it dawned on us that this is no DIY project, we called onto Google's help to search for emergency services. This was 8 in the evening which is pretty nightly in any Brissy suburb. Zeroing onto a hospital with an Emergency Department still functioning we packed a few things and drove down to the hospital.

I won't go into too many details but the emergency services couldn't do much. Since then we have visited our GP, a private ENT practice, and we are back at the ED. The pebble lays stuck with ear wax in the far depth of Eka's ear like Pirate Captain Kidd's treasure chest waiting to be rediscovered, extracted, and exalted upon.

I type this as we continue to wait at the ED for the next update. Perhaps an excavation team, perhaps another appointment. As I wait, I wonder... why the bloody hell did he pop that pebble in his ear?