Cute things.

Cute things happens in the ER. Sometimes.

Little boy. I think he was 7. Let's say 7 year old boy.

Chief complaint: Smelly discharge from nose.

Thought to myself, gotta be kidding me. This to the ER? (Of course, classic case).

Resident I was working with picked up the chart. Sure, go check it out. Let me know if you're worried about anything.

Resident came back. "The kid's just got a booger up his nose. I'm going to remove it".

Great. Done. That was easy.

Wait, that's too easy. Can't be. Let me take a look.

Resident showed me the booger. That was tiny. Can't be it.

Kid looks cute. Giggling. Shy. Brave.

Where's the nasal kit? (Resident didn't have the right tools to examine the nose).

Ah, there it is. (Taking out the kit that has the nasal speculum and bayonet forceps).

Kid freaked out, just a little. But then he braved up again. Showed me his nose.

Peek in. Something funny going on in there.

Ah. I see it. Let me go grab it.

Sticker pulled out from the left nare. Pretty big thing rolled up into his tiny nose. Cute but gross. It was a Captain America sticker, I think.

Showed it to mom (mom was hiding behind the curtain).

"Do you want to keep it?". Come on. Definite scrapbook material, I thought.

Shook her head. Guess not.

Sometimes the most silly cases still require a little digging. Reminder. No sane person (or parent) would willingly sit through hours of ER wait if it's not something they've sat on already for hours at home contemplating if they should come in (I could be wrong, I can actually think of quite a few too many who shouldn't have been here). Anyhow, if they're here, they usually get the full meal deal. Plus, this is probably as textbook as it gets when it comes to cute kiddies and nasal foreign bodies. It was a cute way for my resident (and me) to remember not to take things too lightly sometimes, even if they come in cute and giggly small packages.