A 3-year-old Oregon girl underwent invasive surgery over the weekend after she ate 37 magnets, ripping holes in her lower intestine and stomach.Payton Bushnell s parents thought that she had possibly come down with stomach flu when she started showing symptoms.When they took her to a doctor on Friday, an X-ray revealed a bracelet-shaped object in her stomach. But the object was no bracelet -- Bushnell had swallowed 37 high-powered Buckyball magnets, a desktop toy.The magnets throughout her digestive tract forced the little girl s intestines to snap together. They punctured four holes in her intestines and stomach.
"The surgeon came out and said, I wouldn t do this unless I absolutely have to but we have to cut your daughter open, " the girl s father, Aaron Bushnell.
Payton Bushnell is on her way to a full recovery, but doctors said that if they hadn t conducted a routine X-ray when she came in for a checkup, she could have died. Her symptoms -- abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea -- were flu-like and common among children who have swallowed magnets, which is why the problem is difficult to diagnose without an X-ray.The station reported that there have been 22 cases of children swallowing magnets since 2009.
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