Source of Fallon child’s coughing found — stuck penny

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 | 11:37 a.m.

FALLON, Nev. AP) - It took eight trips to the doctor, but a Fallon couple have finally learned the source of their infant daughter's health problems over the last four months: a penny lodged in her throat.

On previous visits, doctors diagnosed 15-month-old Erin Spaletta's breathing problems and persistent coughing as a respiratory infection and prescribed antibiotics.

But last week, physician's assistant Cameron Byers of Banner Churchill County Hospital suggested a chest x-ray and the culprit clearly showed.

"I thought it was a quarter," her mother, Lynn Spaletta, told the Lahontan Valley News & Fallon Eagle Standard newspaper.

Erin then was taken to Washoe Medical Center's emergency room in Reno, where a doctor used an instrument to remove the penny.

She has had no health problems since. "She's doing absolutely fabulous," Lynn Spaletta said. "She was pretty cranky for a long time, but she's smiling and energetic again."

She thinks Erin swallowed the penny in November, but is unsure where.

She doesn't fault doctors for failing to detect the problem, saying the truth was masked by the illusory cure of antibiotics.

The stuck coin prompted Erin's body to produce mucus for lubrication of her irritated throat. The antibiotics temporarily slowed mucus production, making breathing easier and symptoms disappear.

"What's amazing to everybody is she didn't swallow it or throw it up," the mother said. "That's what usually happens."

Lynn and her husband, Cliff, have put the penny on display on a fireplace mantle at home and plan to keep coins away from her.

"We were actually relieved (after the x (rays)- because we finally had an answer to what was going on," Lynn Spaletta said. "We were thinking the worst and didn't know what was going on."

Information from: Lahontan Valley News, Fallon