My Probably Concussed Child
Wednesday afternoon Maggie was rolling around the living room when her little forehead collided with the corner of the entertainment center. It was clear that she was going to have a decent sized bruise, but she didn’t cry for more than a few minutes, and even then, mostly because she was angry about our clumsy attempt to ice the little goose egg with a freezer pop. As sad as the little bruise was, I had to grit my teeth and accept that this was going to be the first of many. Newfound mobility brings with it all sorts of scars and superficial trauma and you just gotta deal. There were many times I looked at Jonas’ battered body and thought for sure someone was going to call CPS on me for beating the tar out of him. The thing is, I don’t need to beat him. He beats himself, but he is growing and healthy. So I didn’t dwell too much on Maggie’s first boo-boo.
Two hours later, while she was taking a long nap, I heard her start to sputter and choke and watched baby oatmeal shoot out of her little mouth and splatter over the length of the couch, projected in a way that only an infant can projectile vomit. Once she regained her breath, she began to scream, but was calmed very quickly. I worried that she had caught a virus, when almost immediately she snapped back to her usually cheerful self. A few minutes later she vomited again and I remembered that when people have a head injury and start vomiting a little bit later on it is usually because they have a concussion. And concussions, although usually not a big deal, can be accompanied with bleeding on the brain or full blown hemorrhaging*, which can be accompanied with death. I wrote a quick note for Chris, shoved Maggie into her car seat, dropped Jonas off at a friend’s house and drove to the ER.
I was not emotionally prepared to be taking Maggie to the ER. Jonas I had planned on taking in simply because he was such a daredevil. Even our doctor remarked once that she fully expected to see him in the cast clinic within six months. Had it been Jonas, I would have hardly been phased.
Our ER usually has a very, very long wait, but Maggie vomited shortly after we arrived and a man who was waiting picked up the phone to the triage nurse and said there was a baby out here who needed to be seen immediately. Amazingly, we were in triage in less than a minute. Maggie was acting completely normal, perky, and flirting with the nurses. She just had to stop being Little Miss Charming every few minutes to dry heave, then she would be right as rain again. After the doctor saw us he explained that since she was so little he didn’t want to give her a CT scan unless she really needed it because it involved a lot of x-rays, and a lot of x-rays can cause cancer. CANCER, people. Do not say the word cancer to someone in relation to her six month old. Just don’t. We decided to just “observe” her for awhile. I fed her to see if anything would stay down, which it didn’t. After about a half an hour of this the doctor decided a CT scan was probably a good idea. Great, I thought, she’s going to have bleeding on the brain and cancer now.
We walked into the scan room and I placed my tiny, sleeping baby onto the headrest of a massive machine. The technician gave me a forty pound lead vest to wear and turned the lights off. I had a weird flashback to a Mystery Science Theater episode. Surely, aliens would be arriving shortly. It was over quickly, and then we went to our room and found Chris there. We waited for the results together.
I really hate waiting. I had had a knot in my stomach since the minute Maggie started to vomit and it was just getting worse. Thinking that something could be wrong with your child is a really bad feeling. I was nervous and frightened. That doctor was taking a long time checking scan results he said would be ready shortly. The longer it took the more my thoughts spiraled out of control. What if there was bleeding on the brain? What if I should have brought her in hours ago, but was just too stupid to realize something was wrong? What if the reason things were taking so long was because there wasn’t any bleeding on the brain, but she had a brain tumor and was going to die and that was causing the unexplained puking? (Hey, the doctor is the one who got me thinking about cancer.) What if, what if, what if.
Finally, the doctor came back and said the scans were clear. His best guess about Maggie was a possible mild concussion. Since she was happy and hadn’t vomited for awhile, he let us go. We’d been there for five hours. I was emotionally exhausted from worry and starving because I hadn’t eaten since lunch, but I was fine, because Maggie was fine.
*Isn’t hemorrhage a freaky word? Bleeding is one thing. Bleeding you do when you get a paper cut, but HEMORRHAGE, that’s what happens in movies right before the heroine dies. “I’m sorry sir, your wife didn’t make it, she hemorrhaged after childbirth and we just couldn’t save her.” “Cause of death, massive internal hemorrhage.” Hemorrhage is just plain scary.
Glad your little one is okay. Yes doctors are funny and so are ER rooms. Glad they got you in quickly though and got to the root of the problem.
Comment by Moody Mom — July 11, 2005 @ 2:49 am
Found you through Blog Explosion.
You story had me on the edge of my seat! So glad everything is okay.
Comment by Barbara — July 11, 2005 @ 2:50 am
Phew. Glad to hear Maggie is A-OK.
Comment by Lauren — July 11, 2005 @ 3:06 am
Glad your kids ok. I guess I have all this worrying about kid to come in a few years time :S…
PS good game, you kicked my ass, i saw that one coming lol
Comment by Altaf — July 11, 2005 @ 3:07 am
Wow that story had me worried ..lol I know what that worry feels like though ..When your mind starts racing and every possible thing goes wrong in it ..My friend and I call it our paranoid dillusions ..I am glad she is ok .I know that was scary …Thanks for stopping by my site
Comment by Presentstorm — July 11, 2005 @ 3:45 am
Okay, you and I need to go out on the town or something b/c our children our freaking us out!
From your sweet Maggie’s concussion and vomit, to my sweet Kenny’s diarrhea and seizures, surely we need to see a girlie flick or have a pedicure.
It took me 2 days to feel safe enough to leave Kenny’s side. That was 2 days after the overnight stay in the hospital.
Hugs to you momma. Hugs to you.
Comment by heather — July 11, 2005 @ 4:11 am
Whew! I read as quickly as possible, in order to get to the good news that Maggie is okay. You really know how to tell a story!
Comment by Suzi — July 11, 2005 @ 4:26 am
I think you could have a million kids and still experience the sheer terror that comes with your child not being 100%.
I’m glad she’s okay and I’ve spent enough time in ER’s with my kids to understand your fright.
I suggest protective gear the next time she’s walking around!
Comment by Deb — July 11, 2005 @ 6:43 am
Oh my gosh, Lou! I’m SO glad to hear she’s OK! Man oh man… you handled that a MILLION times better than I would have! LOL I completely turn to goo whenever something serious like that happens. Now that I’m on my fourth kid, I’m sure to end up having a heart attack or something! LOL Nah… I’m just never going to let her out of her exersaucer.
Hugs to you and li’l Bruiser-Girl.
Comment by Lisa — July 11, 2005 @ 6:59 am
I am so glad that the CT was clear! Sending you big (((hugs))) and prayers that everything continues to be good.
Comment by Rachel — July 11, 2005 @ 10:20 am
Glad your little girl is ok, its amazing how small they can look in those big machines. I work in childcare and can ansolutly relate to them crying more at the treatment than the injury putting ice on a child is one of the hardest things in the universe.
Comment by Carolyn — July 11, 2005 @ 1:41 pm
I’m so glad she is ok. ((((HUGS))))
Comment by Nicole — July 11, 2005 @ 2:08 pm
I’m so glad everything worked out! I hope everything is back to normal now!
Comment by drama mama — July 11, 2005 @ 4:26 pm
Glad to hear she is okay, Warren scared me more than a few times when he was little, and still does on occassion. When he was 9 he rode his bike full speed into a moving car. He was fine other than some bumps and bruises but scared me to death and beyond.
Comment by Holly — July 11, 2005 @ 5:55 pm
I think if we lived near you, we’d see each other regularly at the emergency room!
(Have you heard about the blogging women convention in california end july?- Neen knows the details).
Glad M is ok.
Comment by scott — July 11, 2005 @ 6:08 pm
oh, I have had concussions as an adult and its UNPLEASANT! Poor lil’ gal! I sure hope she’s feeling better very soon.
Comment by brandy101 — July 11, 2005 @ 7:07 pm
how scary!
Comment by Dawn — July 11, 2005 @ 9:37 pm
I am so glad Maggie is ok! Poor baby. Jonas sounds like my oldest, Ethan, he had 3 concussions by the time he was 4 and I was certain that someone was going to call CPS. Boys! Ugh! You are so right though, you just don’t expect it from the girls. My 10 year old has not had an emergency room visit - not once (knock on wood) - she’s just a girl with common sense. My son on the other hand…
Comment by Amy — July 12, 2005 @ 12:35 am
The vomiting would have worried me enought to go to the Er, too, and I am an RN. You did the right thing. I am glad she is okay.
Comment by Heather — July 12, 2005 @ 2:18 am
We’ve had only one ER visit, and that’s ‘cause the tards at pre-school didn’t know what to do for a bloody nose!
Happy to hear she’s ok!
Comment by tj — July 12, 2005 @ 2:23 pm
LOL, I thought you were writting about my daughter, she is going to be 3 in a couple of weeks, and has been to the er 3 times. They are crazy. My husband took her for a bump on the head and the grilled him and her. I say she is probably going to break more limbs and get more stiches before she learns.
Comment by Beth — July 12, 2005 @ 8:05 pm
What a day for you! I’m glad to know she is doing OK.
Comment by Kitty — July 12, 2005 @ 11:12 pm
Glad your daughter was OK, but I’ve got to say your story just drew me in. Evidence of great writing; I feel like I’ve just gone through the experience, myself!
Comment by Stephanie — July 12, 2005 @ 11:35 pm
Having anything wrong with your little ones is ALWAYS scarry. So glad to hear she is ok.
Comment by Irish Breen — July 14, 2005 @ 1:53 am