‘She’s pretty tough’: SE Oregon toddler in hospital after swallowing tiny battery

(Update: Adding video, comments from grandmother) 

Rushed to Calif. hospital; button-sized lithium batteries can be deadly

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- While a grandmother in Bend waits and worries, a 2-year-old southeast Oregon girl has been rushed to California's Stanford University Hospital, three weeks after swallowing a tiny lithium battery that caused major health issues.

Little Hadley's family believes the battery came from an electric dog collar -- and they were unaware she swallowed it.

She was misdiagnosed twice last month before being rushed to a hospital in Boise for treatment.

Hadley had surgery Tuesday to see how her esophagus and other affected areas are healing.

Doctors say she is stable, but has a long recovery road ahead of her.

"She is a very strong child. She's got a lot of life," Amy Schneider, Hadley's grandmother, told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday.

Dr. Zane Horowitz, assistant medical director at the Oregon Poison Center, says swallowing the small, button-sized batteries can be lethal, as they can burn holes in the esophagus from the electrical current.

"Almost all the time, you cannot see it, because it's deeper than the back of the throat," he said.

Horowitz says these types of injuries can be hard to diagnose, if parents, family members or caregivers don't know a battery was swallowed.

Schneider says each case is different, which means the family takes it day by day.

"When a battery has been ingested and is stuck in the throat, it affects every single person differently," she said. "That part has been the hardest, not knowing - day to day."

Hadley's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses and raise awareness of the big dangers these small batteries can pose.

"I do feel that it's really important that there be more education out there," Schneider said.