# Just ate a glass marble....ER or Bathroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419 "2002-12-22T20:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/21 "2002-12-23T02:08:04Z")
Er, that’s in danger of **losing** life or limb. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/22 "2002-12-23T02:13:17Z")
I don’t want to further hijack this thread by asking the many questions I have about the US health care system, so I’m off to start a new thread. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/23 "2002-12-23T02:17:57Z")
Speaking from experence here. I once swallowed a guitar pick. I had to go to the ER because is got caught in my throat. I went to the ER and they used a fiber optic thingy and pushed it down my throat and told me to go home and wait for it to pass. It passed a day later with no pain. I wouldn’t worry about it unless there is pain or it doesn’t come out. (Regretably you gotta check for it) Slee ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/24 "2002-12-23T02:28:57Z")
My crushed vertabrae didn’t _need_ hospitalization ( just stayed in bed there and took painkillers until it healed - stuff I could have done at home) so I don’t think a digested marble will. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/25 "2002-12-23T02:30:18Z")
Brings new meaning to the phrase, “… losing your marbles …” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/26 "2002-12-23T02:32:52Z")
or brings a new phrase “… eating your marbles …” ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/27 "2002-12-23T02:35:25Z")
Do people really search poo to see if something passed? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/28 "2002-12-23T02:39:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > \*\*Do people really search poo to see if something passed? \*\* My mother, bless her heart, has some graphic, disturbing stories on the subject. One of her children (ahem) had the habit of carrying coins in his or her mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/29 "2002-12-23T02:54:20Z")
Did that child, by any chance, ever grow up, and then register on a popular message board under the name of **InternetLegend**? ---
**Author:** ![Snetho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Snetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snetho)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/30 "2002-12-23T03:19:35Z")
Can I ask why she had a marble in her mouth in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/31 "2002-12-23T03:26:37Z")
As long as the glass doesn’t break there will be no problem. It looks like this question has already been resolved though. I wonder - if the thing DID get caught somewhere, perhaps one of the turns of the small intestine, it would cause blockage. I mean, the SI is supposed to only have semiliquid mush going through it - and I don’t know how wide said gut is supposed to be. I wonder I wonder… how long before such a blockage would cause serious problems. Certainly less than a day before pain is felt, but hours, tens of minutes? Hmm. Stuff is supposed to be moving constantly. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/32 "2002-12-23T03:33:58Z")
The glass is highly unlikely to break. It is not likely to be digested (taken into the bloodstream). And if a turd the width of a golf ball can fit through the intestines then a marble can. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/33 "2002-12-23T03:36:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snetho \* > \*\*Can I ask why she had a marble in her mouth in the first place? \*\* Yes. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/34 "2002-12-23T03:45:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > \*\*Did that child, by any chance, ever grow up, and then register on a popular message board under the name of **InternetLegend**? \*\* She may have, but if so, the other members of that board can be assured that she no longers uses her mouth as a coin purse (although she still has a vivid memory of the different ways that dimes, nickels, and pennies taste). Should you ever find yourself needing to inspect poo, you can obtain a specimen by stretching plastic wrap (or one of those brown paper inserts from the newspaper) over the toilet rim under the seat. I think the inspection process itself is fairly intuitive, although I will say that plastic gloves and plastic knives can be very helpful tools. ---
**Author:** ![benson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@benson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/35 "2002-12-23T04:23:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > \*\*Do people really search poo to see if something passed? \*\* You betcha. In the hospital we often have to check to see if someone has passed a polyp. ---
**Author:** ![Jonno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jonno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonno)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/36 "2002-12-23T06:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by InternetLegend \* > > Should you ever find yourself needing to inspect poo, I also believe that the liberal use of a freezer can be very useful to those needing to inspect. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/37 "2002-12-23T09:21:41Z")
Would a glass marble even show up on an X-ray? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/38 "2002-12-23T11:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > \*\*Would a glass marble even show up on an X-ray? \*\* Sure. Silicon absorbs twice as much X-rays as carbon (i.e. it’s twice as opaque) for the same area density. Glass is also much more dense than human tissue. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/39 "2002-12-23T13:16:40Z")
**Wikkit** , yes glass does show up on X-Ray and **Scr4** is right, it was quite a different color than anything else she had in her midsection. So we ended up at the ER because my wife, Mrs.Phlosphr has a little node in her brain that makes her worry incessantly over small seemingly trivial things. Thats not to say this was a trivial thing but we did end up spending an hour and a half in the ER just to have a Physicians Assistant stand in for the radiologist and say, “_Well if it doesn’t pass in another day or two come back in for another x-ray…I wouldn’t worry though and you should be fine…_” Uh yeah…thanks alot, this premi-doctor seemed so happy with himself looking at our friends x-ray and touting the fact that if she were not ok in a couple days to come back in for another x-ray, pay more money to the hopsital he works in, and wait in the same waiting room with three people who want to self commit because they think they saw **GOD** and a teenage mother who lost the thermometer up her babies ass and can’t get the child to stop screaming… I think not…though we did get a call early this morning from Mrs.Phlosphrs friend saying it “_IT CAME OUT!!!_” so that was good. But the whole ordeal last night brought new light to the situation in hospitals, as I have witnessed things in the past similar to last night and they has to be a better way to diagnose, treat and follow up with patients who don’t have insurance… Our friend did have insurance but the mother sitting across the hall from us who needed a baby-proctologist didn’t… she was still there when we left. How can someone not have insurance with a brand new baby, this girl could not have been over 16 and I just don’t understand it. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419/40 "2002-12-23T13:39:44Z")
My dentist told me that sometimes tooth caps come off and people swallow them and they have to retrieve them after they pass. Sometimes they put them back into their months. (Insert barfy smiley here) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-ate-a-glass-marble-er-or-bathroom/144419.md?page=3)