Bad Owie

We had a serious scare on August 30th. 1 craniatomy, 4 titanium plates & 22+ stitches later our little boy is doing great and you would never know he suffered such a dramatic injury.

With Daddy finishing up a summer of working out of state; Little Rocky and I spent Thursday morning the same way we have been spending most of our summer mornings. We went to our favorite park. Laid under our favorite tree to eat our breakfast and read some books. We then headed down the trail to the stream to pick wild blackberries and throw rocks into the water. Next it was our usual game of chase. I pretend I'm a gorilla and chase him around the park. 

He gave up on the game and started up another trail heading for some picnic benches. I was several steps behind him. He quickly climbed onto the table and stood near the edge. I stopped walking to tell him the usual "We don't climb on tables". Right then he flashed me his famous mischievous come chase me grin. Then he takes a side step and that's when I realize first of all the next step will take him over the edge, second, he obviously has forgotten he is on a table and the last thought was I am never going to reach him in time. My dive puts me a second behind his fall. I watch as he basically tips over exactly sideways onto the side of his head. He is crying and writhing in pain when I pick him up. I'm looking for blood, bruises, bumps anything to tell me what is wrong. He is saying "owie" and grabbing his head above his right ear. I touch the spot expecting a big goose egg to be forming but instead feel a depression in his head. I know its bad but I just don't want to believe it. There was no blood, no wound, he didn't lose consciousness or throw up, he can move every finger and toe, he is even calming down now and talking to me.  

We race to the nearest urgent care only a few miles away (I was hoping they would have an ambulance to get us to the nearest hospital but no such luck). Of course as soon as the paramedic feels his head they send us to the nearest hospital. We are admitted immediately and they send him to get a CT scan. The doctor comes in to tell us that he has a skull fracture that thankfully didn't touch his brain. It sounds like such a miracle to have one without the other. They sent the scans to the top neurosurgeon at another hospital for his opinion. They decided to send Little Rocky to the other hospital to be monitored by the neurosurgeon. We traveled via ambulance.

Rocky hadn't had any pain medication the entire time (I can't even imagine how badly his head must have been hurting). He wasn't happy about being poked and prodded but he was still saying hi to everyone that came into the room. He slept the whole way to the other hospital. Upon arriving we were greeted by the trauma team. Approximately 20 doctors, nurses, etc. Rocky wanted no part of it. As they unstrapped him to examine him, he tries leaping into my arms. So, they let me hold him on the hospital bed while they finished examining him. They got us into a room and the neurosurgeon came in for about 5 minutes and basically said they would need to do surgery to repair his skull.

I was devastated. I know I should have known that would be the only way to repair his poor head but, hearing the words out loud made it so real. I went into a panic thinking of all the risks involved with any surgery let alone on my child's head. I didn't have much time to worry because within 30 minutes they had booked an O.R. and we were heading down the hall in his hospital bed. They gave Rocky something to make the separation a little easier but as for me that might have been the hardest thing I've ever had to do. To let my baby go into the hands of capable strangers. Then the waiting game began. They said it could take up to 2 hours but every moment seemed like hours. I couldn't even talk to Rocky on the phone I would lose it every time. 

An hour and a half later the doctor came out and said everything went beautifully and that he should make a full and complete recovery. As relieved as I was I needed to see him to know that he was ok. He said it would be about 45 minutes in recovery before he started to wake up and then the nurses would come get me. I called Rocky to tell him the news. About 10 minutes later a nurse came to me asking me to come back there. Apparently Little Rock had woken up 5 minutes after arriving in recovery and he was upset. I headed back and as soon as I saw him I couldn't believe how big the incision was. I wasn't expecting it and it was hard to see but, he seemed himself and just wanted me to hold him.  I got to hold him for the 45 minutes while they finished giving him pain medication and antibiotics.  He fell back asleep on my lap.

They then had to get another CT scan to make sure everything still looked ok. He was not having it at all. He didn't want to be put down on the bed. We tried everything to get him to calm down but after almost an hour they had to strap him down to get the scans. Then they took us to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for the night. They wanted him in a crib but he wasn't going for it so I held him most of the night in a rocking chair. Then one of the sweet nurses offered a hospital bed so I could lay next to him. We finally were able to get a little sleep. They monitored him throughout the night and no one could believe his amazing recovery. He wanted to drink and eat right away and he was talking and playing almost immediately. It was the most comforting thing for me that he was exactly himself.

Daddy arrived on the earliest flight he could catch (for Labor Day Weekend). We couldn't have been happier to see him. Little Rocky jumped into his arms and held him so tight for the longest time. I tried to prepare Rocky for how he looked. The swelling had started early Friday morning. I could tell how hard it was for him to see his Little Boy like that. But after a few minutes with him he too was comforted by how energetic and happy Little Rocky was. The doctors and nurses kept saying how amazing he was doing. He was over the hospital bed by Friday afternoon and since the nurses of course fell head over hills for him we had a stack of new toys to play with. Race cars, balloons, coloring books, stuffed animals etc. so he was pretty excited. They still had him hooked up to wires which seemed to be the ONLY thing that bothered him. He would go from the window seat to the chair playing with his new toys. Grandma and Poppa flew in to see him Friday evening. We were so grateful and happy to have them with us.

We were initially told by the doctor that the earliest we could expect to be released was Tuesday but, based on his remarkable recovery they sent us home Saturday morning. What a blessing to have him be ok. We cannot thank our loved ones and family members enough for all the prayers, fasts, and comforting words given on his behalf. Being in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit we realized just how fortunate we were and I cannot even imagine some of the things those families have to go through.