Wow, it's been a long couple of days. I originally had another post planned, but then life happened and that post is being put on the back burner for now.
Sunday night Brent and B went for a bike ride while I fed Baby M. They returned shortly after the ride began because B fell off of his bike. As Brent carried him into the house B seemed to be very calm, which I thought was slightly odd.
Brent cleaned him up and they both changed clothes. B scraped his nose, chin, and knee. He had a fat lip and chipped one of his teeth. The kid has 2 adult teeth and of course he would have to chip 1 of the 2 adult teeth!
After everyone was cleaned up, calmed down, and fed we were sitting on the porch, as we do some evenings. We discovered through conversation that something seemed to be off with B. His memory appeared to have some gaps. For example, he wasn't able to recall that we had been at the pool earlier in the day. He also didn't remember how a new chair (G bought it from a garage sale on Saturday) made its way onto the porch.
Now, sometimes B likes to play the 'I forgot game' so it was tricky trying to distinguish between his playing and reality. Eventually, I called the pediatricians office. They encouraged me to watch for vomiting, dizziness, and headaches. B did not complain about any of these symptoms. I had B sleep on the floor in our room for the night just to be sure he didn't vomit during the night.
On Monday morning he woke up and seemed to be himself. I noticed that he was limping a little so I asked him why he was walking funny. He told me it was because he had a scratch on his knee. I paused for a few moments trying to see if he would elaborate about the scratch or not. He went on to tell me that he had a scratch on his chin, lip, and nose.
Finally, I said, "You fell off of your bike yesterday. Do you remember this?" He said, "Oh that's where I got all of these scratches from then." I became worried at this point because it was very obvious that he had no clue where the scratches came from.
Again, I called the pediatricians office. I was encouraged to take him to the ER. Brent met us at home and all 5 of us traveled to the ER. Before leaving I did manage to pack snacks, drinks, and toys. Brent, G, and Baby M stayed in the waiting room. B and I went to another waiting room and were eventually taken to a small room to . . . wait.
After reading 2 books, playing both War and Go Fish 2 times, and playing 1 round of a picture game we were on our way. The ER doctor agreed that he had a pretty nasty fall, but explained that having him go through a head scan would expose him to radiation and could cause damage to his corneas. Basically, the bad outweighed the good. He also told us that some short term memory loss after a head injury is normal. B may not remember the injury, ever. Other missing pieces of information such as his birthday and the months of the year should return. If they don't I'm to contact the doctor again.
So after waiting for 2 1/2 hours, forking out $150.00 for the co-pay, and $30.00 for a new helmet (the old helmet had a chunk taken out of it during the fall) we all went home to rest! These kids should come with some kind of warranty or owner’s manual or something!
