Our son, Jarron, is a sports fanatic. He'll literally play any and every sport introduced to him, so naturally at recess he's usually involved in some sort of game. This time it was kickball. He was diving for a catch and lost his balance, falling to his knees. That's all he remembers, the rest of the story came from Bryce who happened to also be playing.
Another boy was trying to catch the same ball and landed on Jarron's back forcing Jarron's head to the concrete pavement. Hard. Like bouncing off the pavement hard. Bryce rushed over and tried to lift him up (but according to Bryce, he weighs 6,000 pounds).
Eventually Jarron made it to his feet and Bryce helped him to the nurse's office. The nurse, not knowing about the bouncing of the head, took one look at the huge busted and swollen lip and called me at work. I rushed to the school, loaded him up, and headed to the ER. On the way there I began asking, "what happened?", the scary response? "I don't remember-one minute I was playing kickball, the next I was in the nurse's office." Yikes. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with a nasty lip injury and mild concussion. Keep an eye on him, and bring him back if he starts acting weird, they said. Okay. This is what he looked like that day:
That is not his Elvis impersonation, his lip was THAT swollen.
Fast forward to that Sunday, Jarron starts acting kind of weird-one minute he's playing like a crazy person, the next he's staring off into space. Then as we are leaving for church, he falls head first down the stairs. That doesn't seem good, but he insists he's okay. So off we go. At church that evening, The Ball Brothers, were there for a concert (side note: they were awesome!!) and I kept looking over at Jarron and asking if he was okay. He seemed sort of glassy eyed and I was worried the music was hurting his head. At of the corner of my eye, I saw him slump forward and caught him just before his head hit the pew. He had blacked out. Ummmkay. I rushed him out of church and back to our nursery area, where thankfully, our friend Brian, who is a firefighter, was taking care of some little ones. He checked him over and recommended we take him to the ER immediately. His pupils were dialated and he was having trouble answering questions. So, we headed back to Children's. The doctors and nurses at Children's were great, they took us back and did some neurological tests and CT scans.
Apparently, when you get a concussion, there is some lingering effects like dizziness and disorientation. So, they sent us home with orders to keep Jarron from sports and recess for a week. No more head injuries for at least a month, the doctor said.
Have you ever tried to keep an eight year old from being active? It is quite the experience!
By Friday of that week, he seemed much better, so we headed to an outing with our Sunday school class at church. Game night. The boys had a ton of kids their age to play with. We told Jarron to take it easy and be careful. We thought he was headed into a room to draw or color, nope, not so much. Instead, he was playing around on tables, standing on them!
I bet you can't guess what happened next? That's right! He fell off the table and landed on the un-injured side of his face. Hard. So hard that there was blood gushing from the gash in his face. That moment, when he came out, hands covering his mouth, blood running down his arms, was literally one of the scariest of my life.
I have always believed God puts people in places and situations for a reason. And God put us there that night, and He put our wonderful friend, Brittany, there as well. Brittany is studying to be a pediatric nurse (she's also one of the sweetest, nicest people you will meet). While, we were freaking out and panicking, Brittany was calm and in control. She cleaned him up and butterflied the gash to stop the bleeding until we could get him to a hospital. I am so very thankful that Brittany was there. She is an amazing nurse!
So, back we headed to Children's Hospital. And wouldn't you know it? The same doctor and nurses were on call and they remembered us! Sigh. But that was actually a good thing, because I think they took extra good care of Jarron. The gash ended up being so deep, it went all the way through, like a hole in his upper lip. He got four stitches and strict orders to take it easy and avoid physical activity for awhile.
I'd like to say he listened and laid on the couch for the rest of the week, but that would be a lie. He is taking it easier and he had the stitches removed today. The first thing he asked the doctor? "Does this means I can play basketball when I get home?"
So, yup, we've been a little busy. I'm really hoping April brings some peace and quiet.
No comments:
Post a Comment