Daughter accidentally eats mother's wedding ring; and now we wait. CONCLUDED
This particular story fits the subreddit it was posted in perfectly.
Character_Welder5023 wrote in the subreddit community r/AmITheButtFace about a particularly tricky situation regarding the uncomfortable rescue mission she attempted after her daughter unknowingly swallowed her wedding ring.
"AIBF for not wanting to disrupt my daughters life for a ring"
Character_Welder5023
Disclaimer: I don't want to risk being banned because it's so absurd... an admin thought it was fake elsewhere. So I put it as theoretical to be safe. But trust me, this is true.
Yesterday, I was making steak, carrots, corn and mashed potatoes for dinner, and I was wearing my diamond wedding ring. Unfortunately, I lost it in the process, but I didn't realize it until a few hours after supper was finished. Panic set in, and I began retracing my steps, but it was nowhere to be found.
After racking my brain, it dawned on me that I had the ring on when I was cooking for some reason. On the off chance that it fell off while I was preparing food, my husband decided to use a metal detector to find it "just in case."
Much to our surprise, we discovered that our middle daughter had eaten it. She's always in a rush and eats a lot, so she just shovels it in. While I find it hard to believe that she swallowed my ring, it does make sense it was her out of anyone given her eating habits. Our doctor said it should pass on its own in the next few days. Now, here's where the conflict arises.
Our daughter has an incredibly busy freshman schedule with her swim team practices and schoolwork. Missing practice could be a huge setback for her, and she's really dedicated. My husband is insisting that we do everything in our power to retrieve the ring, even if it means keeping her home from school and practice until it's recovered.
I on the other hand, feel partly responsible for this mess. It was my mistake to wear the ring while cooking, and I don't want our daughter to miss out on her commitments and opportunities because of my carelessness.
She's worked hard to be where she is, and I don't want to jeopardize her academic or athletic future. I talked to her and explained the situation, telling her that if she happens to see the ring, she should try to recover it. She agreed to keep an eye out for it, but she didn't seem thrilled about it.
Now, my husband thinks I'm not being fully committed to getting the ring back. He believes we should do everything in our power to retrieve it, even if it means disrupting our daughter's life for a while.
Here were the top rated comments from readers after the OP's initial post:
goth_moth127
A couple questions:
Is your daughter a freshman in high school or college?
Are you just going off of a metal detector or have you had an X-ray to confirm the ring is there?
I’m sure she didn’t seem thrilled because you basically asked her to dig through her own poops for a ring… not because you want the ring back. I’m a bit torn between you and your husband’s perspectives, but probably because I am very attached to my rings and jewelry in general.
Have you talked to your husband about why he’s so invested in the recovery? Is it because of the cost of the rock or the sentiment of the whole ring?
Also, I don’t know what your ring setting was, but you should get it checked by a medical professional regardless of whether or not you care to recover it. The prongs on the ring could potentially be dangerous to your daughter’s digestive tract, or get stuck somewhere. Best to be safe.
Ultimately I think regardless of how you feel about the ring, your husband is clearly intent on retrieving it and I can imagine it does mean something to you. Maybe once you get your daughter checked out you can impress upon her that it is really important to you and hubby and that you absolutely don’t want to interrupt her life, but pooping is pooping and she can give it her best to find it.
Best of luck, and please tell your daughter to stop and smell a flower every once in a while! Sounds like she’s gonna be great at whatever she wants to do and she should enjoy any free time that can be made while she’s at it.
The OP responded here:
Character_Welder5023
She's in college. We did have an Xray done when we were at the doctors and its there :( The doctor didn't seem too concerned about it causing any issues, but told us to watch out for certain symptoms indicative of a problem.
I never even thought of specifically asking about the setting or if the solitaire prongs would cause an issue. I think my husband is attached both to how sentimental it is and to some extent the cost. I haven't actually had a deep conversation with him on this yet, just surface level.
I'm attached to it as well but I'd put her before anything that can be replaced. I really really do hope that she'll be able to recover my ring. She did say that she will try.
olivefreak
NBH. Tell her to place a trash bag in the toilet before pooping. Once she has pooped just squeeze the poop while it’s inside the bag. If the ring is in it she will feel it and can give you the poop bag to retrieve it.
The OP clearly listened to the readers and provided a small update shortly after.
"Update"
Character_Welder5023
I spoke to my daughter about the option of using a bag for her poop to help retrieve the ring. Unfortunately, she declined the idea but agreed to continue keeping an eye out for anything visible in her stool, just as she had been doing.
However, that same night, she used the restroom at home, and I offered to help her look for the ring afterward. Without going into too much graphic detail, let's just say that I was quite surprised by the size of what she produced. [TMI] This left me doubtful on whether she would ever find the ring. I had initially been hopeful. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
On Sunday, when both my daughter and my husband's schedules aligned, we decided to use the metal detector again, but this time it did not beep. I believe we have insurance on the ring, and I won't be getting a 1.5-carat ring again without it.
Here were the top rated comments from readers after this insightful update:
onahalladay
Maybe she should slow down and chew her food. I assume the ring is a fair size that you can tell it’s a foreign object in your mouth.
Mahjling
This, I have a bad habit of eating way too fast, but I still notice if something in my bite of food is hard (I.E bone chips), how do you not notice an entire ring!?
enonymousCanadian
Maybe???? My thoughts were… What kind of a garbage eating raccoon swallows a ring and is unaware? Who swallows a ring and refuses to get it back leaving their mother to sift through their sh*t? This kid is the actual worst. College aged? What a jerk!
YearOutrageous2333
I think I’d go ballistic if my COLLEGE AGED CHILD consumed a 1.5 carat diamond ring somehow, and then was too fucking selfish to make sure they retrieved it. Is it gross? Yea.
But how the hell do you eat a FULL A** RING? And then to not even care about finding it? It’s a ring that was very costly, but more importantly, it was a wedding band that OP had (assumedly) had for decades! GAH!
TDG_1993
THEY HAVE INSURANCE ON THE RING THE WHOLE TIME!?