Titus’ Marble

Definition: The marble that my four year old son, Titus, swallowed yesterday afternoon.

Oh my dear boy and his adventures! Titus has a penchant for getting himself into predicaments that are a mix of hilarious, dangerous, and absurd. It is his wonderfully curious personality that has gotten him into situations like… getting his head stuck in between railings, putting a plastic tub on his head that he wasn’t able to remove, locking himself in a storage room for about 30 minutes until the door had to be broken down, inserting is finger into a metal hole and trapping it in there, falling into a shallow pond and coming back up with his head covered with water plants, etc…

And now, to add to this list, he has swallowed a marble. Where is this marble? Based on last night’s x-ray it is making its way through his small intestines. I saw the white solid circle, measured at 1.6 cm on the computer screen, and I was like, it looks big in in his tiny body!

How did a marble get in there? He was playing with it in his mouth while he was lying down and then he accidentally swallowed it.

Initially I was just happy he didn’t choke on it. It could have entered his wind pipe and for a while, this was the image that kept disturbing me. What if he had choked? After all, Edric and I weren’t home when he swallowed the marble. I just praise God that He spared him from choking.

But at present, we are waiting for the marble to exit his body and into the toilet. Sigh. It hasn’t happened yet…even after laxatives. A part of me feels worried. A part of me wants to force the poop out of him!

Titus, on the other hand, has been a picture of peace…laughing, playing, singing, acting like the marble was just another part of his day (and now, his body).

When Dr. Joy Ty-Sy, the best pediatrician the world, (I just had to say that because my kids love her so much and so do we), asked us to go to the ER to get his abdomen X-rayed, I realized that the marble situation was a little bit serious. Before then, I figured it would probably take its normal digestive journey like everything else. But apparently, a marble in the tummy is no small matter. It has to get past the narrow, winding and bending tube that is the small intestines and this can be tricky.

I waited all day for that darn marble to come out and so far, it has not. Titus hasn’t pooped since the pre-marble incident. It has been almost 30 hours since he swallowed it, too. He ate like crazy today but did not poop! Right now, he is sleeping soundly and could care less. I am the one on edge and trying to be calm and relaxed about it.

This whole ordeal has been a lesson on faith. Titus has been such a good example to me of what it means to chill, be still, and be positive. Before we left my parent’s house, he was announcing to his cousins that he had swallowed a marble and that he was going to the doctor. It was like a field trip for him! He was his usual happy-go-lucky self at the ER. He was even singing, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart…”

This morning, he woke up singing that same song, too!

During lunch today, I prayed with him about the marble and he said afterwards, “Jesus is going to help me, right?” He was not worried at all. Several times I tried to convince him to sit on the toilet to go but he kept telling me, “I don’t have to yet. When I do, I will.” In other words, mom, just relax and let me be! Poop will happen.

For now, all I can do is wait, pray, and remind myself that God is in control. He knows what is going on inside Titus’ body. While I have been preoccupied with the marble DOWN in Titus’ intestines, Titus has been singing about the joy and love of Jesus DOWN in his heart. That’s why he has been all smiles and happiness!

The saga of Titus’ marble will continue tomorrow…

The lyrics to the song, “Down in My Heart” by George Willis Cooke

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy
Down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart