When a Fishbone is Stuck in Your Throat

How to Remove a Fish Bone Stuck in Throat: (via google)
 
1) Cough. The very first thing you can try is coughing.

That did not help, in fact it made it worse.

2.  Drink Salty Water. If coughing does not work, you should take a glass of lukewarm water, add a pinch of salt to it, and then drink the mixture. 

So reason being, fishbone can feel it is at sea and swim away?

Warm, nor cold water helped. I did not know about adding salt other wise I would have poured the entire salt shaker into my glass.

 

3)  Ingest Marshmallows.

Because every French restaurant has marshmallows, and I carry them in my purse just in case.

No marshmallows to be found.

 

4) Drink Olive Oil.

If only I had known I would have tried it, as well as #5- vinegar and #6 banana.

7) Eat bread, in my case a baguette. Crusty yumminess that needs chewing, and chewing was not easy to do.

Tough as it was I did, and it made it worse, I could hardly swallow.

___

My friend Gina and I went to St. Remy to visit a home that Gina's friend was going to rent this summer. Before going to the home we stopped for lunch. 

The first bite I took of a Accras de morue a bone lodged in my throat. I ate bread, drank water, tried more bread, but it felt worse. So I excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom to cough and clear my throat. The pain increased. It hurt bad enough, that I gently tried to stick my finger down my throat to nudge it. I now know why that is not a good idea.

 

The next step was to ask for help, I asked the waiter to help me, who asked another waiter to help me, who went to ask the boss to help me…

Talking made the pain worse, so my accent was made even more bizarre. Add to that, only English words came to my mind. I could not remember the word for "stuck" in French which is "coincé", nor could I remember the word for "fish bone" which is "arete de poisson". Finally, I managed to utter something about fish, bone, throat, pain and that I needed a doctor. The manager said, "It is impossible, the beignet is made with a puree, there are no bones in our Accras! Eat some bread."

Many angry French and English thoughts ran through my head, but since talking was too painful they stayed put in my mind.

Without going into all the details that the JERK manager said, and did, and did not do, Gina took me to the hospital twenty five minutes away.

During the ride I could barely swallow due to pain. I was amazed at the nuance of movement made in one's throat, and how often one does swallow. To distract myself from the reality at hand, I imagined playing the piano, which I do not do, nor have I ever played. Why I thought of that is to say I suppose the idea of music I found soothing. Anyway, we made it to the hospital, only to find a car blocking the emergency entrance, while Gina honked, the two women yelled, "You cannot drive up this way, it is for emergencies only!" At that point, the piano playing stopped, I got out of the car, walked passed the two ding-dongs, and up the entrance way to the hospital.

As I stood in front of the hospital secretary, the fish bone swam down my throat to God knows where.

Note to self: Carry marshmallows, or give up fish.

  



Comments

47 responses to “When a Fishbone is Stuck in Your Throat”

  1. I once accidentally swallowed a toothpick that had broken off in a deli sandwich. Lots of coughing and pain as the toothpick lodged. The nurse friend I was with said it was not an emergency as I could still breathe..easy for her to say. The toothpick came out when the ENT doctor had me gag. Puréed food for two weeks. Glad your fishbone adventure resolved and you avoided the hospital visit in the nick of time!

  2. oh my gosh…Thank GOD you are okay….I wish you had dislodged it- coughed it out- put it in a pretty brocante thingy you have around the house and drove back to that manager and presented it to him – why could he not just jump into action and HELP-I am so glad you are fine-

  3. Scary! And so dismal a testament to some other people’s callousness at such a time. So glad you are ok after all that.

  4. Corey, I am so glad you are ok. That must have been scary. Glad you were not alone.

  5. Jacklynn Lantry

    Wow! Sounds scary. My daughter was sucking on an ice cube and swallowed it by accident, it lodged in her throat and she could not breathe at all! I just happened to come downstairs to the laundry room (laundry room and TV room were both in the basement.) I took one look at her and Heimliched! The ice cube flew out of her mouth and across the room. My brother-in-law, who was watching TV with her had panicked and couldn’t move. He sat there, wide-eyed, and watched the event unfold. Terrifying. I cannot imagine a bone-sharp and not easy to dislodge…so glad you are ok Miss C.

  6. You must have been in a right panic you poor thing. Typical that it dislodged right at the last moment but thank goodness it did!! Mama Cass comes to mind but that was a ham sandwich with an unfortunate ending…eek!!

  7. Oh my, how scary! I can’t even imagine! Glad it finally swam away.

  8. Oh Corey, how frightening and painful for you. Hope you’ll heal quickly from the injury and the emotional trauma.

  9. Urban legend. Cass Elliott died of a heart attack, NOT while eating a sandwich of any sort:
    http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/mamacass.asp

  10. “At 96, Heimlich performs his own maneuver”:
    http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/26/henry-heimlich-finally-uses-famed-maneuver/85003350/
    Just a few months before his own death (of a heart attack), the good doctor saved the life of a fellow resident at a senior living facility.

  11. Thank God you are well. May you be blessed with many healthy years to come.

  12. TerriNTexas

    Thank God you are ok. What idiots you had to encounter during an emergency! It happened to me also, at midnight I decided to fry up some fresh fish my boyfriend had caught that day. It was so good I was wolfing it down when I swallowed a bone. I ate bread – no help. I could feel my throat swelling and I could breathe but not talk! So, while my boyfriend slept I was gagging & coughing! He didn’t hear a thing! Somehow I made it through the night & drove myself to the emergency room at dawn. They x-rayed my throat with a special machine that could see soft tissue. The bone had gone down into my stomach where the stomach acid would dissolve it. But, my esophagus had been cut all the way down to the stomach by the bone. I was so relieved! It took a few days to heal but I was ok!

  13. Leonie Buchanan

    My Nana told us to pump your arm up & down in the air, the movements dislodging the bone, has worked for our family. It happened to me in a restaurant once & had to go to toilet so people wouldn’t think I was crazy. It is a very frightening thing to happen, so glad it finally swam away. I would still carry marshmallows though, but make sure you don’t eat them & they are all gone when you need them…….that would be me!

  14. Teddee Grace

    How painful, frightening and frustrating! Would make me want to carry around a little card indicating, in French, “Fish bone caught in my throat. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!” Translate that so we can print one up for ourselves before departure!

  15. I was feeling your pain as I read your post! Glad all is well! its so important to chew thoroughly and eat slowly, I have been told I inhale food!😀M husband had a very nasty experience with steak at his company dinner a few years ago,felt himself choking,meat stuck in his throat,fellow diner did the ” heimlich” manoeuvre on him and dislodged it,horrible experience!

  16. Oh my can’t imagine how frightening. I know the time passed so slowly. Can’t believe hospital was sooooo faaaaar away from St Remy. So glad you had a happy ending. Kept thinking if Yann had been with you he would have made sure the manager understood, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY 🚨

  17. Prayer to St. Blaise, right? Glad you are OK.

  18. Oh, Corey!!! How frightening ! i am so thankful you are ok.

  19. Horrible experience but lucky timing that it resolved before you had to go through any procedure.
    A pointy little tortilla chip piece stuck in my throat once when I was at dinner with friends. I pretended nothing was amiss and excused myself to go to the restroom where I quite noisily tried to cough it out, which I did. I returned to the table still as if nothing was amiss, but I think the patrons closer to the restroom might have been a bit traumatized. Couldn’t help it. The restaurant was on a busy pedestrian filled street, so going outside wasn’t an option. It is very scary.

  20. Tongue in Cheek

    SO sorry! OUCH that must have hurt badly!

  21. Tongue in Cheek

    I wish he had done something other than accuse and YELL at me. The rude man did not score karma points that day.

  22. Tongue in Cheek

    Well said Isabel. Callousness indeed is his strongest trait.

  23. Tongue in Cheek

    Thank you. I was scared.

  24. Tongue in Cheek

    You are a heroine! You would be my pick if we were creating teams!

  25. Tongue in Cheek

    As long as I could breath, but I was scared that if the bone moved that might not be the case.

  26. Tongue in Cheek

    Me too! Though I was pooped out afterwards.

  27. Tongue in Cheek

    I drank wine! That was sooth my nerves, lol.

  28. Tongue in Cheek

    Those were my exact words, I was praying that I could be equal to the task, but at the same time I just wanted to be well. Thank God indeed.

  29. Tongue in Cheek

    OMG, what a scary night you had! I am far too chicken and wanted to go to the hospital right a way. You are brave to wait! And injured inside!!! Glad you are okay!

  30. Tongue in Cheek

    Funny you should say that (one the marshmallows would never last in my purse) because I think walking up that hill dislodged the bone.

  31. Tongue in Cheek

    Yann said in an emergency dial 18, and write cards, and hope for helpful people to be by your side.

  32. Tongue in Cheek

    Poor farm boy!! I do eat slowly. I have been told that many times. But a bone is a bone is a bone.

  33. Tongue in Cheek

    The manager was a jerk and understood his own ego restaurant needs.
    Living in the country has its pros and cons. Gina drove amazingly well under the pressure and in unknown landscape. I keep thinking of Aunt Velma. xxxx

  34. Tongue in Cheek

    Oh that is true.

  35. Tongue in Cheek

    Thank you.

  36. Tongue in Cheek

    Glad you are okay. Yes, coughing in a public place brings on stares. I was hacking and hacking, but it hurt too much so I stopped.

  37. Kathleen Botsford

    so scary! I am so glad you are ok and just like one of your other stories….it has alerted me to be present in the moment and to stay calm. You are amazing!

  38. Oh gosh Corey glad you are OK. This is one of my pet fears – I am obsessively careful when eating fish, always afraid of a bone lodging and being unable to breathe. I kind of wish you had called emergency instead of that long drive to the hospital just in case. Where was the hospital? Arles or Marseilles or Avignon or???? Breathe easily now. Really sorry you had such a trauma. Hope you feel better.

  39. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    What an experience!
    When I was little, we’d go fishing in a farm pond and catch littly (bony) fish that my mother would fry up for us, and we would proudly eat with many MANY reminders to chew carefully and watch out for bones. I would masticate each bite into a paste, and was generally terrified.
    Flash forward 20 years, at David’s and my first visit to the CA home of my sister and her husband. The guys went fishing offshore and caught mackerel which David probably cooked and we sisters ate with less than enthusiasm because of scary fish bones. The guys chatted happily and finished up and looked at the plates of the two sisters and realized we had each BARELY STARTED our dinners. Comparing notes, we realized we’d both been scarred by all those warnings from Mom.
    Over many years of being married to a fisherman (who, most wonderfully, catches – cleans – AND cooks the fish; I eat it once he presents it to me) I have learned to be braver about fish bones. But still, I feel around in each bite. Just in case.
    Sorry about your distress! (but it makes a good story)

  40. Irene Thomas

    How terrible you had to make that 25 minute trip to the hospital in such pain. I kept thinking of St. Blaise’s Blessing while reading today. . You must have had that happen in your Catholic upbringing. Guess it worked! http://aleteia.org/2016/02/03/the-real-story-behind-the-churchs-tradition-of-blessing-throats/

  41. Ah! DC, do be careful to have an emergency stash of large marshmallows, olive oil and a bottle of salty water kept warm in your bra next time you mean to eat fish.

  42. Diane Belforte Lewis

    XO, so happy for a happy ending

  43. Since I assume you’ll NEVER want to eat at that restaurant again (LOL!), can you post a brief dispassionate account of your experience with the staff at an online review page (like Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc.) of the negligent way they treated you, as a public service to other potential patrons — without violating libel laws, of course?

  44. Marshmallows. Interesting. So glad you are alright.

  45. I am so thankful you are fine. Very frightening.
    Big hugs
    Love you

  46. So sorry but thankful all is well now.

  47. So glad it all came out in the end! So glad you are okay. xoxo

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