The Daily Inter Lake

Nibbling on pumpkin seeds out of her parent's sight nearly cost little Makenna Foster her life.

Fortunately, an ALERT flight earlier this month got the toddler to Missoula for life-saving pediatric surgery to remove the seeds imbedded in her airway and lung.

Her parents, Jeff and Monica Foster of Columbia Falls, were thrilled to get their now 2-year-old daughter restored to health. But the incident devastated their financial well-being since Jeff had just changed jobs and was briefly without family health insurance.

Now, their friends and family have organized a benefit Nov. 18 to help them pare down nearly $50,000 in medical bills that followed an evening of pumpkin carving. Monica shared their experience as a cautionary tale for other parents.

"My husband was carving jack-a-lanterns with the children," Monica said.

Like many people, Jeff always roasts the seeds taken out of the pumpkin. Neither noticed that the baby had ingested some of the seeds.

When Makenna began coughing as she laid down with her bottle, Monica thought it was just one of her spells. The baby suffers from asthma and other medical conditions.

"It kept going on and on," she said. "Her chest wasn't retracting and she had this real dry sound to her voice."

The couple became concerned and rushed her into North Valley Hospital's emergency room. After an examination, the physician sent Makenna home with breathing treatments, diagnosing the problem as a bronchial spasm.

He told them to return in the morning if the problem wasn't improved. Monica could see that Makenna was worse by morning.

"She was turning lethargic," she said. "Her head kept falling on my shoulder - she was limp."

This time she took her into Rayne Beach, a nurse practitioner at Glacier Peak Medical, who immediately called pediatrician Dr. Kristin Veneman. After examining Makenna, Veneman called for a life flight to Missoula Community Medical Center.

"She explained that little babies can only labor like that for so long," Monica recalled. "It was a matter of life and death."

She was told that another Flathead child had died as a result of aspirating a pea. Monica was shocked to find out that the Flathead Valley has no pediatric surgeon.

"I was scared to death," she said.

ALERT arrived in a short time to take Monica and Makenna to Missoula. Upon landing, Makenna was checked in and sent to surgery within 20 minutes where Dr. Anne Mankelow, a pediatric surgeon, removed the seeds.

Monica said it took just a little while for her to recover.

"Within an hour, she was back in ICU being pulled around in a wagon, blowing kisses to the nurses," Monica said with a laugh. "It was cute."

In about a day and a half, the two headed back to the Flathead to put the bad experience behind them. Makenna remains in the pink of health but the bills keep piling up.

Monica said they came from various clinics and hospitals. She estimates the total will reach $50,000.

This medical emergency couldn't have come at a worse time. Jeff had just quit his construction job to go to work for Nomad Tech in Kalispell but hadn't been on the job long enough for medical insurance coverage to start.

To help them out, family and friends organized a benefit beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Moose Lodge in Whitefish. The event includes dinner and a live and silent auction, pie auction, bake sale, door prizes and music for a ticket price of $10 for adults and $5 for children.

Anyone interested in donating for the auction or sale may drop off items at the Moose Lodge Monday, Wednesday or Friday or call 862-2669 for a drop off time. People who want to help should call Carla Neughbauer at 862-0374 or 253-3887.

Monica, who was born and raised in Whitefish, had her faith renewed in the goodness of the people of Whitefish. More than 100 businesses and individuals donated items to help out.

"It's overwhelming what the community has contributed to the benefit," Monica said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com