On December 18th, Sunday. I found little Corby playing with a medicine bottle outside in the dirt, that had had prescription anxiety medication, left behind by some family member a while ago. It was kept up high in a kitchen cabinet where my kids were not known to get into. They had not seen me put it there, but there Corby was playing with the empty bottle in the dirt.
When I asked him why he had it, where he found it and where the pills now were, he told me he found it on the kitchen floor near the trash can. He showed me where, and with closer examination I was able to see the tiny blue pills on the floor. I immediately began cleaning it up and tossing them into the trash thinking I'd better clean this up before Brenna gets into them.". I also asked Maren, Conner, and Corby if they had gotten into them.... "No" was the response. Then I noticed Brenna walking a little funny, saw the chair next to the kitchen counter, and put two and two together. Brenna had gotten into them, and quite possibly taken one thinking it was candy.
I immediately called poison control, and related what had happened. They told me to take her straight to the hospital. On my way out I called Sean at work, and he met me there.
After many wires and needles an an x-ray, they told us they didn't find anything, but would like to airlift her to a different hospital more then an hour away, and I would not be able to join he. I'd have to drive up and meet her up there, and she would have to be monitored there for 24hrs. Not what a parent wants to hear.
When I finally met up with her at the hospital, they said she was a real gem the whole time. Thank goodness. She was smiling and dancing with the nurses. We had a few more procedures before being admitted into the PICU. She refused to go to sleep until about 1am, continually trying to tear out her IVs, wires, and wanting to just run out of there and go home.
She woke up again at 5am trying to free herself again. She was like that until about an hour before they discharged her, which was around 1pm. We had to wait until the DCF could show up and basically accuse us of child abuse, and she told us there would be another case worker the next day that would come around the next day to insure we were "fit" parents, "protocol" for "these" situations.
We were so happy to finally be home. The next day the case worker came over because of an "abuse" report, as she so blatantly put it. I informed her that we do "abuse" our kids, then continued with what had happened. After "talking" with the kids, more like baiting my kids, she looked where we keep our meds., which mostly consist of tylenol, and Advil type things, she demanded we put them all under lock and key, and that we take a drug test within 24hrs of her meeting with her and she would check in on us in about a week. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. She made me feel like a criminal.
At least Brenna is still alive and kicking. That is the most important thing. We prayed so hard during the whole ordeal. Lesson to learn, keep all meds under lock and key, tell all guests to keep any meds. In their vehicles, and I never want to do that again:-/
