I spent yesterday evening, most of last night, until 4 am, and all of today at the hospital. The grandbaby got my brooder thermometer, which I had disinfected, and was on a shelf to finish drying, until I put it back in the brooder. It was one of those cheap Little Giant ones, with the laminated paper backing. She pulled the glass tube off the backing, put it in her mouth, and bit down. A very tiny piece of the bulb broke off, and apparently she swallowed it, along with the little bit of red liquid. I knew for fact the liquid was not mercury, and was non toxic. We checked her mouth, no glass, no cuts. I was not really concerned, but nowadays one has to be careful, so I told my daughter to take her to the little local hospital. She was there all day. They checked the baby over good, gave her something to drink, took some X-rays, and released her with a clean bill of health. Dd stopped at Dairy Queen, and they got something to eat, and a Blizzard.
When they got home, the baby was tired, and said her tummy hurt a little, so she went to bed. A little unusual for her, but she had a long day, and under the circumstances, a bit of tummy ache was not out of the ordinary. Every hour for the next 4 hours, the baby woke up crying, and complaining of tummy ache. My daughter would rub her tummy, and the baby would fall asleep again. The fourth time it happened, I told my daughter to take the baby back to the hospital. She wanted me to go too, so I did. It was about 10 pm. To make a long story short, the nurse was incompetent, inaccurate, and flat out lied to me. I went outside, and called DD #2, and she met me in the parking lot, then we went in together. All 3 of us were discussing whether to check the baby out, and take her to the big hospital in Tampa, when the doctor walked in. We began discussing things, and he ordered a different nurse for us. While I was out waiting for Dd #2, they had put in the IV hook up, and drawn quite a bit of blood. The doctor wanted to try an ultrasound first, but if that failed, a CT scan as a last resort. In the meantime, I asked to see the results of the bloodwork when it got finished. Dd #1 took the baby off to get the ultrasound, and while she was still on the table, the tech called the radiologist in, and the doctor. They also took a picture for me, so I could see what they saw in the ultrasound. When the doctor returned to the room, he handed me the picture, and the results of the bloodwork. I said the appendix were badly inflamed, had been for some time, and it showed both in the ultrasound, and in a couple levels in the bloodwork. Due to their screw ups, I was hesitant to let them do the surgery to remove the appendix. They should NEVER have released the baby the first time. The doctor reassured me there would be no more screw ups, and that the pediatric surgeon was very good. I knew of the pediatric surgeon, and yes he is a good one, so the baby was scheduled for surgery this morning.
It was 4 am, and I still had to drive home. I got up very early this morning, with hardly any sleep, tended the chicks in the brooder, fed my cats, and took off to the hospital. They did the surgery, and the baby is doing good. Her pediatrician came in, and apologized for all the hospital screw ups. He has lodged complaints about their screw ups. Normally the baby would have been released tonight, but her pediatrician said no. He called my daughter, and told her he will come check the baby over again in the morning, and thoroughly review all that has transpired since he saw her this morning. He's not taking any chances.
Sorry for the rough night, but glad for the positive outcome.
to baby, daughter & grandma 
