Swallowing a diamond ring... (need medical advice)

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Rachel Udin

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I've read that sometimes guys propose and try to "hide" the ring in the dessert or food and then the woman ends up swallowing it and having to go to the ER.

I understand that one would need X-rays, but is it possible for it to get "lost" and what would they do if they couldn't find it? Would they wait for it to pass anyway?
 

King Neptune

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They could handle it the old fashioned way and wait for it to pass. It is possible that her esophagus could get cut, but things like that are eaten everyday, and the eaters survive with no problems. Thesed days it would appear of X-rays. There are devices for reaching into the digestive tract, but I think that the advice would be to wait.
 

benbenberi

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Yep, wait it out. If it hasn't reappeared in a few days, she may need to go back for a fresh X-ray to see if it's stuck somewhere & needs help coming out.
 

Becky Black

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Could someone really swallow a ring accidentally, before they've realised what's happening? They'd have to be eating pretty fast! I'm pretty sure I'd notice.

Maybe the stone could come loose from the setting, so she fishes out a ring, with an empty setting where the diamond should be, and then they can't find the diamond in the food, and realise, oh damn, she must have swallowed it.

And it being small it would be very hard to spot on an x-ray in the hospital. I'm not sure, but diamonds may not even show up on x-rays at all, at least not the type you get in hospitals. The hospital would probably tell them to let it pass through naturally, and give our romantic idiot hero a pack of disposable gloves...
 

WeaselFire

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Could someone really swallow a ring accidentally, before they've realised what's happening? They'd have to be eating pretty fast! I'm pretty sure I'd notice.
Teenage boys wouldn't. :)

Laxatives are the standard recommendation, otherwise, it's a waiting game.

Jeff
 

Rachel Udin

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Thank you! What I thought.

I've read it happening and actually heard that it's a common emergency room appearance.... the Romantic idiot thinks he's doing something smart and then the surprise is "lost" in a swallow.

I'm playing it for laughs. So waiting it out is the best bet, then? Seems so from consensus... Do Diamonds show up in x-rays? (I mean without the metal)
 

benbenberi

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A diamond is a rock. It should show up in an x-ray unless something else is in the way. (Same reason bones & metal things show up: it's solid & dense.)
 

melindamusil

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From what I've heard, the ER usually sends you home with laxatives (as WeaselFire said) and a sort of a bowl that you put over the toilet bowl to catch the... uh... logs. Then the happy fiancee has to dig through every single log until the ring is found.

Although, if you WANT to make it a bigger deal, you could give the girl some kind of intestinal disorder. Maybe she has a history of ulcers, or she has Crohns disease, so they have to admit her, give her extra strong laxatives to clean things out, and then go in after the ring (I think it would be a procedure similar to a colonoscopy or... whatever the procedure is from the other end. The tool they use is called an endoscope, where they have a tube with a camera on the end.)
 

ElaineA

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Just to let you know another way this can happen ring, rock and all, Rachel, my husband tried to drop my engagement ring into a glass of champagne. Luckily, he missed the clean drop and I heard the clink. Otherwise, I might have gulped it down. I really couldn't see the ring that well through the bubbles. I was so annoyed all I obsessed about "what if I'd had to have the Heimlich at the restaurant after I started choking on the ring?" 23 years later, same shenanigans. Regularly. Oy!
 

shaldna

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As a mother and someone who worked with animals for years, I can tell you that you'd be shocked at some of the things that can and do get swallowed.

My dog once scooped up and swallowed three wheel nuts while I was changing the tyre. We never did find where he passed them, but that must have been uncomfortable.

Waiting for things to pass can be hillarious fun - there's nothing like collecting every poop and sorting through it.
 

shaldna

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Here's the real question though - would you still want to wear the ring after it's done the full tour?
 

melindamusil

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Here's the real question though - would you still want to wear the ring after it's done the full tour?

Nothing says "I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you" quite like giving the her the chance to dig through her poo to find the prize.
 

Becky Black

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A diamond is a rock. It should show up in an x-ray unless something else is in the way. (Same reason bones & metal things show up: it's solid & dense.)

Yeah, I was thinking even if diamonds do show up under x-ray, it's small enough that if it just happens to be behind a bony bit, it probably won't be spotted.
 

melindamusil

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Yeah, I was thinking even if diamonds do show up under x-ray, it's small enough that if it just happens to be behind a bony bit, it probably won't be spotted.

I would think this would depend on two things:
1- if the doctor knows there is a lost diamond that might be in the gastrointestinal system, then he would pay more attention to small spots on the x-ray
2- the skill of the doctor/radiologist reading the x-ray. A really super experienced super skilled doctor might be more likely to pick out unnatural spots on the x-ray
 
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