Henry Heimlich's Maneuver

Have you ever had to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on somebody? I've had to. Twice now. And fortunately I know how to do it. The first time I ever did it was years ago on the dog we had before Glenn The Dog, Gus The Dog. Gus was eating something meaty, and he must have been gulping it down instead of taking the time to thoroughly chew it, and it got lodged in his throat. He was lucky that I happened to walk by him right at the moment when he started choking. He looked frantic and had a wild look in his eyes and he wasn't making ANY NOISE. That was the clue for me that we was choking so I got behind him, put my arms around him below his rib cage and did the old Heimlich Maneuver. A wad of meat came flying out of his mouth and lo and behold - he could breathe again! Being a dog he then proceeded to eat the piece of meat that he just spat up, but this time he properly chewed it and all was good again in his little dog world. Prior to that I didn't realize you could do the Heimlich on an animal, I just sort of did it without thinking. And I found out that yes, it even works on animals.

The second time I performed this maneuver was Monday night while we were eating our good dinner and the worst thing that could happen happened; little Bee started choking on a piece of steak. I was in the process of sitting down next to her at the time, and I looked at Sparky who was facing her, and asked if she was really choking. She was waving her hands around and wasn't breathing and like Gus before her she wasn't making ANY NOISE. (For some reason I needed Sparky to confirm the worse for me.) "Yes," he said, "It's go time!" I picked her up, wrapped my arms around her and pushed up with my fist underneath her rib cage. It took a couple of thrusts for the meat to come shooting out, and when it hit the floor Glenn The Dog, being a dog, ate it. The whole thing only lasted about ten seconds but it felt like minutes. When I picked her up I had tunnel vision - I could literally only see her, everything else in the room lost its focus. My heart was hammering furiously in my chest and I remember thinking of what I would try next if the Heimlich Maneuver didn't work. (Turn her upside down and thump her on her back; stick my fingers down her throat to try to fish the offending piece of meat out; call 911!) Luckily it worked like it was supposed to work, and I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. Sparky and I were both in shock and feeling kind of giddy, and I held Bee on my lap through out the rest of dinner. We decided from here on out that Bee should only eat soft foods. Liquid food, food you don't have to chew! But that is highly unlikely, so the next best thing is cut everything up for her into even smaller pieces, and to always remind her to chew, chew, chew. Thank god for Henry Heimlich and his maneuver!