It happened last Wednesday, just over a week ago. And it was the scariest moment Matt and I have experienced to date as parents. Matt was going for a run, pushing Blake in the jogging stroller, and Wyatt wanted to go with on his bike. So the boys took off while Sadie and I made dinner. About half an hour later, Wyatt comes in the door crying with blood on his hand and shirt and Matt quickly follows behind. The amount of blood wasn't overwhelming, so I wasn't too concerned at that point, although I still didn't know where it was coming from. I saw a few scrapes on his knee, ankle and elbow but nothing major.......and then Matt said, "He hit his head."
I looked and saw Wyatt's head bleeding on the top/back corner on his left side. It was bleeding a decent amount, but with Wyatt longer hair (he decided to grow it out this summer again) it was getting caught up in the hair and not much was on his shirt or elsewhere. I got an ice pack and had him sit on the couch, Sadie grabbed his blankie for him and we proceeded to try and calm him down. He was pretty hysterical, although I attributed that (1) to his personality and (2) to his exhaustion level--he was so tired even before the bike ride and it was pretty hot out.
I tried to get him to take deep breaths while Matt told me what had happened. They were coming up the hill right by our house and Wyatt was complaining of being tired, so Matt tried to encourage him to push through it and also gave him a push on his back to try and help him out. Wyatt, being utterly fatigued, just took the push and fell right off the side of his bike, landing on his head-----with no helmet. Thankfully they were close enough to walk home and came right inside.
By the time Matt finished telling me the entire story, Wyatt was still crying and complaining that his head was hurting. Our attempts to calm him down were in vain and then he asked, "Why does my head hurt so bad?"
"Because you fell honey" we told him
"Where did I fall?".......Matt and I looked at each other with concerned looks but continued to talk to Wyatt in attempts to get an answer that would remove our worst fears.......
"On your bike, remember?"
"No.......when was I on my bike?" Wyatt asked.....
Matt immediately looked at me and said, "You've got to take him in to the ER"
We both were thinking the same things but neither of us dared mention it.....no memory....closed head injury....internal bleeding...and our minds continued the race.
I got in the car with Wyatt and drove as fast as I could while trying to remain safe and calm. I began asking Wyatt questions on the way there to try and assess how much of his memory was affected.
"Wyatt, do you remember going for a bike ride with Dad while he ran?"
"no."
"Do you remember what you were doing this afternoon?"
"no."
"Do you remember what day it is?"
"no."
At this point, all his answers just droves my thoughts farther and farther into worst case scenarios......so I rationalized in my mind that he wouldn't know what day it was anyways because we had just gotten back from a holiday weekend and it's the summer....what kid knows what day it is in the summer anyways?
"Do you know your name?"
"Wyatt"
PHEW!!
"Wyatt who?"
"Wyatt Sorensen" he answered, but he was still quite groggy and out of it......at this point he was getting annoyed with the relentless questioning but I wasn't about to stop
"Can you count to ten?"
"yes" he answered
"Show me...."
"1...2...3...4..5..6..7..8..9..10"
Praise the Lord!
Then he said, "Mom, I can count higher than 10" which brought a smile to my face...the first time I had smiled in several minutes. I continued asking him questions about where he lived, who his siblings were, etc. All of which he remembered. But any details from earlier in the day were fuzzy and he still had no memory of the bike ride or the fall.
Periodically throughout our trip to the ER, however, he would ask the same questions over and over.
"Why does my head hurt?" "Where are we going?" "When can I go to bed?"
Matt called me on our way there and asked how Wyatt was doing....I filled him in on the details and then pulled in to the ER. And this was the first time I had ever had to take one of my kids in to the ER (which is a huge blessing, ,6 1/2 years in!). Thankfully there was only one person ahead of us and we were quickly assigned a Child Life Specialist (CLS)--let me just say that I had never heard of this position before but am so thankful they have them at our hospital (you will see why). The woman brought Wyatt a few books to read while we waited.
They brought us back to a room and we waited for less than 5 minutes before the CLS returned with DVDs and video games for Wyatt if he wanted them. He declined at this point, just wanting to go to sleep, but she persisted in asking him questions about himself, his favorite sports, if he liked the Twins (he had a Twins t-shirt on), etc. The pediatrician then assessed Wyatt and ordered a CT scan to verify that nothing was going on internally. She said he was exhibiting classic concussion symptoms but wanted to make sure everything else was okay. She also said he would need a couple stitches and said she would check back in with us in a little while.
The CLS then returned a few minutes later with a mini CT scan model and a stuffed lizard. She showed Wyatt what a CT scan was by having the lizard go through the little model, showed Wyatt pictures of some other kids in the CT scan, and explained that it would just take pictures of his brain and wouldn't touch him. She asked if he had any questions and reassured Wyatt that I would be in the room with him and he could keep his blankie with him. The nurse came in and put some numbing cream on Wyatt's head with a bandage to hold it in place, so that by the time the CT scan was complete, he would be fully numbed up and ready for stitches. (Another change since I was a kid.....no needles for numbing up an area that needs stitches!)
Matt called again and I updated him on what was happening.....and then he lost it. He felt completely responsible and was utterly helpless to do anything. We just said we would continue to pray and I tried to encourage him to hold it together for Sadie and Blake, at least until his brother Ty got home from work and then he could come over.
About 10 min. later, Matt and Sadie showed up to see how Wyatt was doing. Matt spoke with the doctor briefly, but then I noticed Sadie's discomfort with seeing Wyatt in the hospital with a bandaged head and Matt's emotions beginning to take over again, so I told Matt they should probably leave. They headed out to get a bite to eat and then ended up going home. It was great to have them there, but I really didn't want Wyatt to see the looks on either of their faces and then have him freaking out because of it.
The radiology tech came shortly after to wheel Wyatt down to get his CT scan. I was quite nervous that he would freak out and not lie still, but he surprised me and did amazingly well. (For a kid that doesn't like when the dentist chair moves up and down, he did remarkably!) They allowed to me stand at the end of the table and Wyatt looked right at me the entire time. It was quite odd, but in that moment I actually enjoyed being able to be the one to comfort and help ease my child's anxiety---one of the joys of being a mother! I was so proud of him and we went back to our room to wait on the results.
When we got back to our room, the CLS woman greeted us again and this time she had the same lizard with her but he now had a bandage on his head that looked just like Wyatt's. She proceeded to open a suture kit and show Wyatt exactly what they would be doing to wash out the wound and stitch it back up. It was amazing!! And she brought the video games back with her, this time much to Wyatt's excitement! He saw the Nintendo DS and asked if he could play it. Crazy enough, despite the fact that we don't have video games in our house, he knew exactly how to turn it on and quickly figured out how to play the game that was in it...and of course, it was a race car game!!
That DS was a lifesaver....he sat perfectly still the entire time he was getting the stitches, engrossed in his game (the exact reason why we don't have them in our house, but boy did it come in handy in the ER!) And when the pediatrician came in to stitch him up, she told me that the CT scan was clear and the memory loss was due only to the concussion and nothing more.
It left like someone had lifted a 100 lb-weight off my shoulders and I couldn't get on the phone to Matt fast enough. Tears of joy rolled down my face and I was thankful for the Lord's protective hand on Wyatt. She explained that he would probably be pretty tired over the next few days and also have some bad headaches, but that everything looked like it was going to be just fine. And then she looked at Wyatt and said, "Wyatt, do you have a helmet in your garage at home?" to which he answered yes. "Do you know what I am going to tell you?" she asked as she looked at me and smiled.
"I need to wear it" Wyatt answered. By this point he was already starting to perk up and even asked to stay a bit longer in the ER so he could play on the DS more, which I promptly said 'no' to!
As I was gathering our things, the CLS woman came back in to the room one last time with a certificate of bravery for Wyatt, 2 stickers (Hot Wheels, of course) and the giant water syringe they had used to wash out his wound. (He was most excited about bringing that home to use in the bathtub with Sadie and Blake).
2 comments:
Wow! Glad Wyatt was ok. Helmets helmets! I have 2 friends that are cls. They do such a great job with helping kids!
Wyatt and Pops both were in minor accidents at age 6, with stitches and minor concussions. He remembers his head hurting when it happened too. And his dad feeling like it was his fault - which of course it wasn't just like Matt and Wyatt. Praises that all is well!
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