But this time I had my first overnight hospital stay with one of my boys and I certainly hope it is my last. i really wish they would not scare me like this! I was putting the younger two to bed and the older two were playing around in the carpeted room in the basement and H. landed backwards on the back of his head very hard. I checked him out and did not feel right about it. At the least he had a concussion, I figured, so trying to keep him awake on the way to the hospital, I took him in. The ER triage nurse thought I was a little bit of a overprotective parent or something as he barely escaped rolling his eyes at us when he sent us to the waiting room. After a short time though, H. vomited fairly violently and they got us quickly. The doctor examined him and sent him up for a CT scan pretty much right away. They determined he had fractured his skull along with a serious concussion. They were worried about bleeding as it was fractured in a dangerous spot and they proceeded to tell me all the things that could happen. They began an IV to keep him hydrated, which freaked H. out more than the head injury, but he did good. They had to check him every two hours to make sure there was no bleeding and determined after a second CT scan, that everything looked like it would be fine, as long as….and this was the catch, he sticks to a severely restricted activity for the next 6 weeks! So, any ideas of how to keep a active 9 year old happy and occupied would be appreciated! <p> It was hard for me! The tales the doctor told me of rushing to Portland on a airplane, did not sound fun to me, especially…I had been canning all day, my feet and hair was filthy, I was dressed in work clothes and had black cherry stains all over my fingers along with cuts and burns to my hands from dropping boiling jam on my thumb and I am still not sure how I cut the finger….
Thankfully they found me a nice bed and I passed out and was so thankful to have someone taking care of him! He is having some headaches still, which is normal, but I think the nausea is going away for now!
We have another doctors appt on Tuesday, so we will see how that goes! <p> Sometimes I don’t understand, but i am very thankful it was not that just little bit worse where we would have been on a plane to Portland with life and death hanging in the balance!
Oh Boy! This scares me because our boys have taken the worst falls already. Twice Myles has passed out after falling and hitting his head. It is mostly because when he cries really hard he can't take a breath. I am glad your little guy is ok. I have no idea how to keep him still for 6 weeks. Movies work for a little bit but they just seem to make kids really grouchy also. ~Diana
How scary! So glad he is okay. I hope you can get him to a quiet schedule. What a challenge.
I am so thankful that the worst we have had is a few stitches on a thumb and a knee! I am sorry you had such a rough day! I am glad he is feeling better. Restricted activity for a 9yo boy….hmmm, now that's a tough one! Well, school is starting up! You could start early! Does he like to read? Maybe many trips to the library? Activity books, blocks, puzzles, cooking….
How scary that must have been for you! I'm glad he's ok…and glad that you didn't ignore that "feeling" that something wasn't right. When in doubt, follow that feeling. As for how to keep him calm, the only idea I can come up with is video games; either a handheld one or one that hooks up to the tv. As kids, we used to spend hours on our Nintendo. Or, maybe an educational computer game. Otherwise, is there the option of him wearing some sort of protective helmet to keep his head safe from bumps?
I'll say a prayer for him…and you!
Angie
How frightful! Did he have a followup appointment this week already? How did it go?
Praise the Lord he's okay!