Let me say at the outset that I'm not currently in any physical distress.

It's now 1440. I was eating a hamburger at 1415. I noticed something poking at me as I swallowed one of the first bites. It hung there for a bit. The second bite knocked whatever it was loose and it all went down. Shortly thereafter, Moose's girlfriend noticed a steel bristle on the plate on which the burgers had sat. Shortly after that, I found a 3/4 inch steel bristle in another bite and put it all together. Moose had used a steel brush to clean the grill before lighting the fire. We figure the brush shed a bit and a few bristles stuck around.

It's down in my stomach. I figure I've got about 3 hours from ingestion before it tries to pass out of the stomach. The question is what to do next.

The complication are as follows:

1) I'm 50 miles from the hospitals in downtown Cincinnati.
2) I'm supposed to be turkey hunting until Tuesday PM.
3) I'll be alone starting Sunday PM

My current plan is to leave things alone and see what happens. I did some quick reading on the Internet, and the big problem is if the booger gets stuck in the esophagus and gets out into the lung or heart. That is not a problem. Otherwise, it's a crap shoot (literally) until it decides to leave via the southern portal. I figure I'll be in the clear in 72 hours.

I'm loathe to pack up and run to town. I figure that the emergency room route is something that is best left as a last resort. I'm looking for ideas and experience. Besides being a good Methodist and praying a lot, what do you recommend?

Eat a few tablespoons of salt.
That schit will eat a truck up in no time.

That is an interesting problem. I worked as a paramedic for a long time but never encountered this.
It is possible that stomach acid will dissolve the thing. Don't know what to tell you.

Good luck.

I wouldn't fret it, might even see a little blood when it passes.
Keep in mind, a little blood from a slight scratch goes a long ways when it comes to turning a bowl of water red, don't let it freak ya out.

2 Liter bottle of Coke? If it doesn't dissolve it, it should come out shiny.

Buddy’s wife did the same thing, it got stuck in her liver, had to have surgery. Good luck

Hopefully it wasn’t a SS brush! That may add some potential issues! memtb

If it made it through your esophagus chances are it will make it all the way through.

That said, you do have a problem. I don’t think I’d be alone for the next 2-3 days. Will you be in cell phone range? I’ve heard of people swallowing toothpicks, Bobby pins and needles. These are much longer than 3/4 of an inch. I’m betting you probably have an 80-90% chance of it passing through fine but it’s going to be your call on taking the risk.

Just call the fughing doctor. I would rather get it taken care of (if necessary) before I had to get it taken care of.

You could try sphincter putty (bread) to encapsulate it.
Or the hospital could probably stick a magnet down your throat to try and recover it.
Calling to ask would be the best bet since it will be in your upper or lower intestine by the time you get to the hospital.


industrial strength ex lax might speed its passage..

A well known reason for E room visits during grilling season. Might be googleable for legit cures or suggestions.

And this might not need to said; but for future grilling, the grill brush needs to be long gone. Heavy scotch brite pad with a special handle now sold in the barbeque dept. at the WM now cleans my grate.

I’d fire that fugker from grilling ever again

JFC

I use some wadded up aluminum foil and a long set of BBQ tongs

Get one of those magnets that they make for car mechanics. Save yourself some moolah

Well, being a good Methodist boy seems to have worked so far. I put myself into the Lord's hands and laid down for a nap.

I'm up now. Angus just showed up. He burst through the door and said the neighbor's trailer was on fire, grabbed a shovel and took off. He's back now. The neighbor had lit a trash fire and then went and sat on the couch. It's still burning, but so far hasn't caught the trailer. It's raining, so I don't suspect it spreading too much. The neighbor didn't seem to mind; he's burned himself out once before. He knows what he's into, so. . . I'll pray for him as well.

I'm up. I'm happy and healthy. I do have a bit of a scratch in the back of my throat from the bristle going down, but that's it so far.

I figure if it starts to turn bad, I've got a working cellphone, a responsive 911 unit within 20 minutes, and I just found out a few weeks ago that the county pays for Air Care rides.

Film at 11. Bulletins as they happen. We return you now to our regularly scheduled program.

Thanks all for your concern.

Next time just have him put out some tufts of 000 steel wool for hor d'oeuvres?

A few years ago for first time ever cooking, I used toothpicks to hold bacon around some jalapeno dove poppers. My wife realized she had eaten a piece of tooth pic that came apart leaving some wood in the popper. She swallowed it and it also scraped as it went down the esophagus. I talked with a shooting buddy who is an anesthesiologist. He said it will most likely pass.

The next day my wife complained that her stomach hurt. We went to emergency and the doctor poked her abdomen and determined that he had to operate the next day. After the procedure while my wife was in recovery, the doctor came out and showed me the tooth pic piece. It had lodged in the stomach wall close to the pyloric sphincter!

I sincerely hope your issue passes all the way through without issue.

I just saw a story a couple days ago about a woman that had a wire bristle in her throat. Same cause. She had to undergo emergency surgery. Dr. told her she came close to dying.

I'll see if I can find the story. It had pictures and everything.

I'd go make sure, Shaman.

This wasn't the one I saw, as it was more recent than the link herein, but it's about the same thing.

https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/otolaryngology/news/archive/201908/doctor-finds-grill-brush-lodged-woman%E2%80%99s-throat-months

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mother-...h-bristle-lodged-in-her-throat-1.3932829

Shaman swallows a quarter.

See if he craps out two dimes and a nickle.

Wadded up aluminum foil in grilling tings here as well.

I thought you self-proclaimed Shaman types had all the answers. Between this and the 'what do I do about my well' thread, I believe a handle change is in order...

Vets solution for when a dog swallows something it shouldn't have is a can of pumpkin pie filling, This encapsulates whatever was swallowed and eases it's passage through the digestive system.

Maybe drink a few glasses of Metamucil? Keep it from traveling solo and getting lodged somewhere?

Go get an Xray. Any local urgent care should be able to do it. When I was an RN I had a patient almost die from swallowing a toothpick. A big old farmer who was in septic shock and had raised white count and liver enzymes through the roof. It was tough to figure out because the toothpick didn't show up on Xray.

The toothpick made it past his stomach into his small intestine but when the pipe zigged the toothpick zagged and went through the intestine and stuck into the liver and caused a hell of an infection.

We had to take out a third of his liver. These things are much better delt with before infection sets in. I'd avoid an MRI. If you don't do anything and start to get really sick in a week or so, fever, throwing up etc, be sure to let thr Dr know.

Got any cow magnets?

Bb

Being a shaman does not give you access to all the knowledge or wisdom of the Universe. It just lets you do things like talk to frogs and interpret dreams. If you get a visit from a spirit animal, I'm the guy to see. The rest of it? I rely on you guys for advice.

I am pretty good with computers.

Where is Slumlord when ya need him, gawd knows he'd have a elixir
just for this ailment!

Sounds like it could be a serious sheit. Probably nothing to it but why wouldn't you go to the emergency room?

What about the 3 percent processing fee?

Bb

Shaman, We call that hardware on the farm and it kills a cow or horse occasionally. More often when folks fed wire tied hay bales. If'n you was a cow, we'd already have shoved a four inch long, cylindrical magnet (available at most farm supply stores) down your throat.

Shaman, get yourself under a Dr's care. Let him do the X-rays and monitor that wire until it passes. SOOON

Killing a turkey is not worth losing your life, or even the need for emergency surgery.

'All the knowledge or wisdom of the universe' is a pretty long way from needing advice on a potentially lethal liability on your land, but OK.

Talking to frogs though? Cool. What kinds of hallucinogenics we talking?

https://vitalitycapsules.com/truth-files

This is Dr Jennifer Daniels email. It's the first highlight near the top.

She doesn't always answer personally, but might do so tomorrow morning approximately 10 AM when she posts her Sunday morning pre recorded broadcast.
She usually covers several emails and might pick yours. Hint...she reads brief ones that are clear and to the point. Then gives her take. She was an emergency room physician. Her archives should be bookmarked regardless because it's very valuable information. There's hundreds of hours of classes on that page, for future reference.

Next,
I know what it's like to swallow something like that.
I recently shoved a wire like that through my thumb while crushing garlic that I used for years. That's probably what was used to scrub off soil. Not a good feeling to think about getting hung up on the way down.

Another time I swallowed shards of fine glass from a salad at Outback. I am OK, but the typical,(not Daniels), Dr. didn't want to get involved and had no solution. That was my limited experience. I just wouldn't have wanted exploratory surgery for something that was not going to kill me. Most decide based on "standard of care", or hospital policy. That might mean running CAT scans or whatever insurance might cover, and doing whatever is typical. I have no answers myself other than contact Jennifer now, before you forget, and listen to the morning broadcast. Refresh if it isn't posted by noon. Check date to determine which is for April 24.

https://vimeo.com/drjenniferd
PS: The Q&A is in the last 15 minutes. Purpose of Life was last week for reference. The next broadcast should appear above that. Contact me with any questions since I might not check back here until after the weekend.

You know that I'll pray for you.
Also as I remind anyone I pray for, please watch the links in my signature for encouragement.

To your health and happiness,

Happy Camper

I'd go have a look at that brush. Pull a few bristles off and let them sit in a glass of coke overnight. You'll see if they disolve or not. Give you an idea what to expect.

Those wire grill brushes should be illegal!
I had to extract a wire from my tongue once. I walked back outside and threw the brush into the trash.

Call a doctor.

Dang...this thread has been educational!

Shaman....I hope you came through this ok.

Going out to toss the wire brush now....

Well, it's 1933 LIMA and so far no ill effects. Whatever went in at 1415 LIMA is now out of my stomach and into the small intestine.

Whatever I et, it sure wasn't a 3/4" bristle. That was just what I picked off the burger. The one that went down the gullet must have been shorter. How short? I guess I'm on the road to finding out.

So far no ill effects. I still have a bit of a tickle up in the back of my throat, but that's it.

I'll keep the cell phone handy, but I think I'm past worrying for now.

Thanks again, everyone.

Well, I hope everything comes out alright.

Tie a small magnet to a string and go fishing for it.......

I didn’t read the responses but I would let an ER doctor give you his or her opinion.

You might get lucky and it will pass through. But, it might perforate something along the way and that would be very bad news. Call your doctor.

You are beyond help

Become a Christian?

Good fortune and God bless. Done did prayers.

It sounds like maybe somebody doesn't have health insurance...

It sounds like someone has half a brain. You, Upkiker.

Did it sound to you like Zero was a lying corksucker?

Don't get an MRI in the next few days..

I'm sure you'll be fine. As a kid I once swallowed a penny. Folks made me go through my duece for days with plastic forks. Never found that thing.
Maybe my investment is still growing?

I was merely giving a reason why shaman could be so averse to going to the ER. I'm sure you give free care to patients all the time...

No, you were postulating. You should have done that with the lying piece of schatt, Zero.

He told you. Long way away and no symptoms. Maybe he has hemmhoroids or wants to hunt turkey or not sit in an ER room 4 hours while the Drs treat emergency colds?

Did you consider he may have medicare?

It sounds like somebody has cataracts and doesnt want to drive at night. Or believes in the power of prayer.

Shaman, i would eat a bunch of cat head biscuits and greasy gravey and southern fried chicken.

If that doesnt grease the wheels it would insure you had a great last meal

Gotta pay attention when grilling.

Had it happened to a guy I knew.
Punctured his duodenum. ( sp?)
Lots of internal bleeding

Hospitalized 6 or 7 days.

This happened on an episode of Mystery Diagnosis. The kid dang near died before they figured out what was wrong.

I would get to a doc ASAP.

I read somewhere (might have been on Cook's Country) where you should use a brush that has twisted bristles, not the straight ones that are inserted into a handle.

Well, I'm done with dinner, and headed to bed. All is well. So far so good.

I'm always amazed at why people ask medical advice from strangers on the Internet instead of going to the urgent care center.

Hope you're well tomorrow morning. whatever you do, don't get an MRI.

With 63,000 members, it’s a high probability several have had the same issue.

The only time I remember nobody having an answer was when BobbyBrown swallowed his red gag ball by accident during rough sex with his boyfriend.

🦫

Well, like its a long way and hes having no problems. He prayed.

As with all things, this too will pass.

Hope you have some good dreams that are not about brushes and such.

Shaman's plight stirred an old memory of my mother telling me a story of some young relation or another (details fuzzy) that swallowed a sowing needle. This would have been WWII era. The docs solution at the time was to force the kid to eat cotton balls, and the needle passed through encapsulate in the cotton balls.

No clue if that was an old urban legend, and it's 4 am over there, so I can't ask.

Damn Shaman don't screw with this.. Seek advice at the very least with a doc and let them know about an MRI. They do stupid stuff too. It may be passed or dissolved but there may be other possibilities. Find out all possible scenarios. Make them aware of what to look for.

Don't dismiss it as routine. Hopeful for your best outcome.

Yeah, that happened to my young niece. Didn't make it down to the stomach, but got lodged in the esophagus. ER doc went in and got it. No more wire brushes.

I would think with stomach acid having a pH of around 1 or so that the bristle would be broken down fairly quickly. Unless, of course, you're on PPIs or H2s.

I guess if you're reading this Sunday morning that you didn't bleed out overnight, but next time, go to the ER just to be safe.

Taking all at face value, I remembered this case for its possible apparent similarity:

A young women came to the surgeon via her family doc complaining of vague abdominal pain for some time (I don’t remember the length of time). X-rays were read as negative. I can’t recall if an MRI was done but all physical exams and a barium enema, etc were also read as negative.

Finally, at a loss as to the problem the surgeon decided to do a diagnostic laparoscopy — putting small instruments into her abdomen via a couple small wounds after the abdomen is inflated to give room to work, one a camera and another to manipulate soft tissues allowing visualization. Yes, this is a surgical procedure.

After “running” the small bowel, a small area of inflammation was noted on the distal bowel. A close-up view showed a very small bone had penetrated the bowel incompletely, sticking out about a centimeter and a half. It was removed. Had nothing been done what would have happened? Hard to say, from getting worse and abscess to the small bone being walled off by an inflammatory process. Neither are a comforting resolution.

Post-op, the patient remembered eating fresh fish with rib bones in the meat a week or so earlier.

Steel bristles I know are stiff, non-bending and sharp and will doubtfully make all the small bowel turns easily. If you believe you did swallow steel bristles, you are a step ahead of this lady. I would make preparations to get in to a doc to explain the situation and get direction. Steel bristles should show up on x-rays or other tests and confirm their position to be followed up and at least be watched. It could prevent an emergent situation. If nothing shows, you may not have swallowed anything and be relieved.

Doesn't anyone chew their food?

And yes, I believe strongly in a sovereign God and the power of prayer, but also including using our intelligence and reason to work through our decision.

The one that skeward my thumb had a fine twisted bristle. If I swallowed any without knowing, I don't know how it would matter.
How to get shards of glass and metal out without high risk surgery that has far more trauma and scar tissue is what I would like educated opinions on. Very curious having left the super pokey glass go and the law suit.

Slumlord has excellent insurance and would be at the Endo’s office/ER in 45 mins.

Had a couple of endo scopes down the esophagus before. No big deal and you get to have fentanyl. I love that stuff.

👍

The gut is a pretty fragile organ.

Remember a few years ago when those 5 mm rare earth ball magnet toys were popular? Until a few kids swallowed two balls and got gastroenteritis and or peritonitis. The balls would move down the gut separately until they came along side each other and became attracted through the two walls of the gut. There they would sit, locked together until they perforated one or both sections of the gut.

And those were 5 mm spheres. Not a sharp piece of hardened steel wire.

Urgent care facilities often have X-ray machines and do not charge like an ER. I would be getting abdominal x-rays daily and tracking that thing until it was gone. Even if I had to sleep in the back of my pickup in the clinic's parking lot for a few nights to make it happen.

Old people:

Ice cream and naps.

Priorities

You seen the size a that sucker ? Ain't got time for chewin.

Don’t forget the “why did my lawn mower tire blow up after I filled it with too much air.”

Leave yourself a note to buy a decent brush just in case you don’t die tonight.

The mystery remains.....

That was a great story.

Lol

Drink a coca cola. My mother swallowed a thumb tak and lived...... its gonna be ok.......seriously.

If you remember correctly, I told folks about the lawnmower tire in the context of "Life Comes at you Fast." I had no worries as to why it happened. Y'all are swinging wild.

Yes, thank you. I'm awake. I'm apparently healthy. No ill effects so far.

I'm off within the hour to hunt turkeys. Moose and Remnar are both bringing their skirts. Angus and I are going solo. We all have cellphones and walkie-talkies. So far we each have a tag filled.

Give 'em hell, shaman.

Back in.

@0900, I had a gob come out of Hootin' Holler and started closing on me. He got within 30 yards and I got my gun up. I was waiting for him to clear some bushes. A few minutes later, he appeared 90 deg off to my right. He circled around below me, and popped up just above the grass. He caught me moving my barrel around and left.

It turns out everyone else had seen him as well. He's started the morning about a 1/4 mile away on the east side of the property. He came around Angus' blind and then took off towards Moose's blind 500 yards away. Moose saw him come up out of the hollow and then veer off towards me.

No aches or pains. I'm feeling blessed.

Glad to hear you are unperforated and unscored Shaman.

Did you die>? I'll contribute to your funeral/

I hope you made it though

Can you put seafoam down there???

There ya GO! Defend that FORT!!

George, all due respect and all, but people swallow all kinds of scheit all the time. It almost always passes through without a problem. I probably see a dozen such cases annually. They come in because they're sure they swallowed something (or their kid did) but almost never with symptoms other than a scratched throat, if that.

I get xrays done if they come into the ER, which has some value if it's a metallic FB. Otherwise you won't see anything. I invariably send 'em home and tell 'em to follow up with a surgeon if they develop symptoms like abdominal pain or rectal bleeding over the next few days. They almost never do. So they get to pay the hospital a whopping $1000+ ER charge for advice to come back or see a surgeon if they develop those symptoms.

Easy money.

Yeah, right... ER docs get paid pennies on the dollar billed. Corporations run medicine to enrich themselves, not the docs that have no alternative if they want to work.

Here I figured you'd chime in with :

"Put you a mustard poultice on it an drink some sassafras tea. Pickin' up an swingin' a viper never hurt nothin neither"

Is it too late to offer advice? I think you need to purge your system. Castor oil would work. Then get a Vietnamese enema. Most nail shops can do it. Just go in and ask. They’ll know what you’re talking about. Then about three days after all that, schit on a plate, cover it in foil, and take it down to the closest ER for examination. If they don’t find anything, you didn’t do it right and you should start the entire process over.

Dr JoeBob knows his scheidt.

Well I bet your stomach acids will dissolve it. A long ago dog of mine grabbed a baited hook on my fishing rod and swallowed it. I had no choice bit to cut the line. next afternoon I was watching him take a [bleep] and out comes the fishing line and the only part of the hook still there was what was covered by the knot. No matter what good luck to you.

Makes sense that the barb and point would be the first parts to dissolve removing the chance of a poke through..

The problem with a wire is it is too thin to round off, although shortening and weakening may be the key...
Also the pancreas or gall bladder is meant to grab that stuff...

Just ta be on the safe side.........................

Don't let your nephews get anywhere near your logged-in computer.

Couple years ago I had an ER surgeon in Yuma misdiagnose me for something similar. Still dealing with the issue, when I told the surgeons up here in first world medicine, to a man they laughed and were very incredulous. One asked where they went to school, and i told him very likely India. He shut up after that and wouldn't say another word except to keep on point going forward. What she told me happened, they said is an almost impossibility. Between that and several other instances over the years, I try to trust my docs, but I put no one on a pedestal.

That dog sounds like a keeper.

Happy schidting

He knows you are a schidt head

A nice, big healthy poo with no blood or pus in it is a beautiful experience that should not be taken for granted.

Skip to 5:00.

I see what you did there.

One of my professors pulled a fast one on the sophomore class.

We had research cattle at the farm with plastic windows on their stomachs for sample analysis.
He would reach in a little with the extraction device to show us the procedure. Then he said, " oh NO, I LOST MY WEDDING BAND!
Then he asked for a volunteer to retrieve it. Up shoots a hand and the guy rolls up his sleeve and fishes around for a while.
Then, out of the blue, the Doc finds it. " It was in my pocket! "

Nobody wanted to sit near the guy on the bus trip back.

I am amazed at the number of posts on this site (among others) that ask for legal or medical advice, instead of contacting an attorney or doctor. Opinions on those topics vary as widely and as uninformedly here as those concerning which cartridge for dangerous game.

That is all.

Those work too. But with humans you have to shove that up your ass and keep it there for at least week in order to draw the metal through your intestines.

word

Oh, certainly, I recognize that mine was one incident out of the 20k cases I’ve done. The kind you always remember because it’s the rare and unusual; never saw anything similar. And that as an ER doc you’ve daily seen people who’ve shown the culinary discretion of a Wolverine, intentional or not.

But when I thought of the steel bristles of my grill brushes I remembered that small but sharp fish bone..

Nana says “eat some hush puppies” that’ll push the bones and nails out.

Hell I didn't even see that other post, which is similar to mine.

I guess I went through this thread too quickly without reading everything.

Oh well. Beer is a good thing.

Don't forget the bonus is the clean patch.

I've learned over nearly 20 years that the Campfire actually has enough people with the right experience that you get pretty good advice from the been-there-done-that folks. My first reaction was to assume that if it got past the esophagus, I was pretty much in the clear. If I'd left Saturday PM and gone to the ER, there really wasn't anything they could do except sit and wait for something bad to happen. After 4 hours, it was probably past the duodenum and into the small intestine. The reason I contacted the Campfire was I was double-checking to see if anyone had any dread experience.

As it is, from the volume and instances, I can fairly safely guess that anything that might have been in there has departed safely via the Southern portal.

While there are a large number of really mean-spirited folks on here that find a way to spew venom at every opportunity, I will say that the overall level of advice on here is top-notch. Of the former group, it is pretty easy to spot them. They're like a cow that's been feasting on green apples. They just can't help it.

My mother was possessed with a fabulous memory for this sort of thing. I'm not quite sure where she picked it all up, but it was probably from the Welsh farmers on her Dad's side. My guess is she picked it up in kitchen talk among the old women when she went visiting. You give her a situation, and she could recall a similar situation from generations back and quickly spout cause, symptoms, treatment and outcome. Most of it was before doctors or modern disease theory was a thing. It wasn't folk medicine per se- However it did include a bunch of things you don't normally find at the drug store anymore. She's still alive, but most of that knowledge is now gone, except what I've retained. In years past, I would have turned to her.

On this august forum, what y'all lack in depth, you more than make up for in breadth.

Well, glad you are apparently well and didn’t have to cancel a Turkey hunt. 😀

I had a friend that swallowed a toothpick without knowing. He was in his recliner and fell asleep, yes after drinking. I think it took 2 or more days. It was fairly serious and required surgery. Seems like it showed up in the intestine at some point.

I still recommend the Vietnamese enema. Any nail shop can do one if you go in and ask.

Well Dang,.. I reckon all turned out ok for you, damned if I didn’t just do the same thing eating a reheated rib that I cooked yesterday. Bit down on a stainless wire about 5/8 of an inch long. We used the brush right before the meat was thrown on. I’m gonna be looking a lot closer from now on.

I smoked 3 butts yesterday. I still use a heavy steel bristle to clean with.


I throw my grates down in the gravel afterward to finish knocking anything off and do a double eyeball exam.


The thing I have watch out for, there were several bristles that went into the bottom ash pan of my smoker.*IF* I was to go dump that into a ditch, (charcoal and ash) my mutts would go pilfer through it and they’ve been known to eat those chunks of hardwood coal, because of the drippings and sauces.

So I thought of Ol Shaman yesterday and scooped all that mess out and it went into a trash bag for otto the gobbitch man

Shaman last seen Apr 30.

Hope he aint in a hospital with a bleeding bunghole issue.

Best wishes Shaman.
Get well soon.

Ive never heard of such dumbassery

LMAO

The shaman woman might object lol