It's All in Her Head

It didn't take long.

I've been waiting to get that first call from Ainsley's school; the "your kid is sick and please come get her before she covers the entire school with vomit" call. I didn't even have to wait a month.

Oh, but as always in Cranky Land, things were not as they seemed.

My phone at school rang yesterday right after lunch; we have caller ID, so I knew before I picked up that it was Ainsley's school. The first words out of the secretary's mouth were what no parent wants to hear:

"Ainsley had an accident at school."

It wasn't THAT kind of accident where a simple change of clothes would have sufficed. She fell at morning recess and came down hard on the concrete on her elbow. It took a long time for them to calm her down, and not too long after the accident, she threw up. They thought it was because she had gotten so worked up. After eating nothing at lunch, she burst into tears and threw up again. At that point, they figured either she had a stomach virus on top of everything that had happened, or that her elbow injury was worse than the usual bump and bruise.

I made arrangements to leave and raced to her school. As soon as I saw her, I knew something was up. She was almost gray she was so pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes. When I touched her forehead, she felt cold and clammy. Uh oh.

I ruled out the stomach virus on the way home when she started asking for a snack. I wasn't about to let her eat, in case she had to throw up again, but I figured anyone asking for an ice cream sandwich probably wasn't too queasy. Judging by the hard knot and swelling I found on the bone just below her elbow, I really thought she had some sort of fracture.

I changed her out of her puke clothes, sponged her off, and called her pediatrician. While I was waiting for a doctor to return my call, she started nodding off in the middle of our living room floor. She had been so lethargic and sleepy-eyed that I wasn't surprised.

Her doctor's office got back to us, and after the nurse asking, "Are you sure she didn't bump her head?", we were advised to go directly to the ER at Children's Hospital.

We hadn't been on the road 2 minutes when Ainsley threw up again. Not a good sign. It seemed my argument for a fracture was becoming more sound; she was fine until we had put her in the car and jostled her arm around. I was already picturing a cast from wrist to shoulder.

We got to the hospital, and every nurse that looked at her while we were waiting for a doctor asked the same thing after hearing her symptoms: "Are you sure she didn't hit her head?" Ainsley kept saying she didn't, and I didn't see any bumps or bruises. I would know if she had hit her head, right?

Wrong. The first thing the doctor did when he came into our room was to push back a little of her hair. And there it was: a bloody scrape and small bump, just above her temple on the same side as the elbow wound. She DID hit her head. Darnit.

The doctor explained that vomiting and chills after a fall were warning signs of a concussion, and motion worsened the vomiting (thus the throwing-up in the car). It also explained her lethargy and how quickly she fell asleep after we got home (and don't I feel like a horse's ass for letting her go to sleep with a concussion.) He seemed relieved to find the bump, because after a quick look at her arm he could rule out a fracture and thought a concussion made the most sense. He said even if he hadn't found the bump, he would have been thinking she had a head injury based on how closely her symptoms seemed to match.

It was pretty scary. The doctor told us that we might notice some cognitive deficits for the next 3 or 4 days, things like forgetfulness and an inability to do things or remember things she normally has no problem with. He also said she would be very tired and need more sleep.

She's home with her Mamaw today so that she can get some rest. I have felt the need to pamper her since we got the diagnosis, and it kills me a little that I couldn't be off today to be with her (my assitant is out all week, so it's just me in the library.) But I am sure Mamaw is doing an adequate job of spoiling her with donuts and kids' TV.

In a few days her little brain bruise will be just a memory and things will be back to normal in the Cranky house. As normal as they ever are, anyway.