detergent scare!

I never know this could happen to me.. today, i rushed my boy to NUH A & E becoz he might have swallowed some detergent powder.. :( felt so helpless then.. n kept hoping tt he will be okie and there will be no serious consequences....

i was still telling hubby tt we shd bring him down to the playground for his daily workout.. PH wanders away to our master bedroom while our PT helper is washing the toilet behind closed door.. hubby called PH to ask him to wear his shoes so tt we can go out.. but PH din respond.. knowing tt the little boy must be too engrossed in his mischiefs again.. hubby walk over to our room to look for him..

hubby shouted for me urgently n kept saying 'oh dear oh dear'.. i thot PH muz be naughty again coz hubby tends to overreact sometimes.. when i enter the room, hubby told me that he saw PH playing with the tub of detergent powder which my PT helper left outside the toilet.. beside the tub, he saw a pool of vomitus.. i quickly look at the vomitus.. seems fine.. din see powder in the vomitus.. juz his breakfast n lots of water.. his mouth smell of detergent.. we figured tt he could have tasted the detergent, found it replusive n vomited out his breakfast..

the first thing i thot of is to make him gargle his mouth.. but he still can't.. so we wipe his mouth with the hankie.. PH juz kept biting my finger as i was quite rough with him to make sure i clean out as much detergent as possible.. after tt, i called KK hosp hotline to ask the nurse wat i shde do and was advise to go hosp asap.. wanted to go KK hosp initially, but we r not sure of the way there.. so went to NUH instead..

we saw the doc 1hr aft his possible detergent ingestion.. vital signs all gd.. other than feeling lethargic due to missing his morning nap, the boy was fine.. he can even snatch toys with other kids.. run ard.. laugh etc... the doc ordered for xray.. due to the radiation n me not sure if i could possibly be pregnant, i got to go away n let hubby hold on to PH while PH is being xray-ed.. the poor boy was teriified.. i nearly cried.. we got to pull down his pants, pulled up his shirt, n lay him on the film.. he was so scared of the cold hard surface tt he was crying.. n hubby got to hold him still so tt they can hav a gd exposure.. i was looking behind the shield.. PH look so small on the big bed.... the sight was really heartbreaking...

aft waiting for a while, the doc called us in and told us the xray is okie.. no sign of burned throat n stomach.. we can admit him for 24 hour observation.. but hubby dun like the idea.. felt tt PH will not be able to sleep well.. and it seems like PH is fine.. so the doc suggested tt we can bring PH back and send him back to A & E if he vomit again or show signs of distress...

several hours have passed.. PH seems fine.. still as mischievous n playful.. but he seems to know tt we r guilty towards him... very yang ow.. will be on leave tml to keep a lookout of him.. hopefully he will be alright... felt so guilty.... :(

we hav hidden all detergents out of his sight.. really need to childproof our home better..... can't take things for granted... :(

Note:

1) surprisingly, the doc told us that alkaline burn is more serious than acid burn. For acid burn, it will juz 'corrode' the tissue to certain thickness and it will stop.. but for alkaline burn, there's no end to it.. it will juz 'corrode' the tissue all the way... this is especially worrying.. there may be detergent powder stuck in the esophagus.. next to the esophagus is the trachea.. wat may happen is tt the super concentrate blob of alkaline detergent powder will eat away the tissue fr the esophagus until it reaches the trachea n burn a hole.. subsequent vomit will result in the stomach content going into the trachea to the lung n cause serious infection.

2) in case baby swallow the detergent, it's okie to give water. BUT, do not give bb so much water till baby vomit. This will result in abrasion of the esophagus.