Oh, what a DAY! Today, being Good Friday, Allen was home from work. Ben, Maddie, and Jon had a school holiday, and Will would have, but his school had to close one day unexpectedly (an armed robber was on the loose near his school) and today was the make-up day. Allen and I were busy this morning getting a head start on weekend chores, and the younger three were playing cheerfully upstairs.
I heard a crash and did what I always do in similar situations -- I wait with my ears straining to figure out what happened. Maddie's crying began instantly, and she came down wailing to tell me she ran into the wall and bumped her head. She sat next to me and I held her to calm her down enough to learn she put a blanket on her head and was being a ghost. Evidently, the Maddie-ghost blindly ran into a wall. She got an icepack and put it on the small egg forming on the top of her forehead. While she sat impatiently, I got back to work. This is how things usually go in our home... almost on a daily basis, so I didn't have any reason to think differently.
Soon, Maddie went back up to play with her brothers. About an hour after the last accident, she came downstairs wailing again. When I asked what happened, she said her head hurt really bad, but she didn't do anything new to it. After a short rest on the couch, she was up and reading a book quietly until she screamed out again about fifteen minutes later that her head hurt so bad. I gave her some Tylenol, and when Allen came in from mowing, I told him we needed to keep an eye on Maddie since she was complaining about her headache.
Around 11:40, I was getting my keys to go get Will from school and Maddie started throwing up. I headed out the door with the boys and called the doctor on my way to get Will. They couldn't fit her in soon enough, and since she was young and throwing up, they insisted we head to the ER immediately. I called Allen to let him know he needed to take Maddie, but when I realized I was the one with the insurance card, I turned the car around. We swapped cars -- he headed for Will, I took Maddie and a bucket to the ER. I was glad I remembered the bucket, because she started throwing up again in the car.
I know I've joked that I know the ER staff on a first-name basis, but the same doctor we had the last three of four times I've been was there again. This time, he knew me, too -- but only because our boys go to the same school and are in drama together. It was nice to see a familiar face again. I tried not to be worried, but I had always heard that throwing up once after a head-hit was bad, but twice meant something really bad could have happened. As I sat keeping Maddie still and awake, I tried to chase away all the fears that I hadn't had since we were in NICU learning about brain bleeds and swelling. They did a CT scan on Maddie's head to check for all that, but ruled out all the super-bad things. I was relieved when the doctor explained that she had a concussion, but then he told me everything we needed to do to make sure her brain rested until it could recover -- no running, jumping, biking, skateboarding, video-games, television, loud noise, bright lights. Maddie leaned over and said to me, "Why doesn't he just say 'no having fun.'? Can I read and color?" She was happy that the answer was yes. Basically, we have to protect her from anything that overstimulates her brain or could cause another head injury. He explained the severe danger of another injury, and I left wondering how much bubble wrap we would need to keep her alive for the next week. Such is the life of a mama... now, all my kids have been to the ER. Though I REALLY hope not to visit again any time soon, I am thankful to have one that takes good care of all of us.
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