Noah's trip to the E.R.

UEA weekend is suppose to be a time for vacation, or relaxation. Well, since we are broke, we decided to stay home and just take it easy. Gabe and Noah were playing video games Friday, when an accident occurred. So much for rest and relaxation!

Noah tried getting on my bed while playing xbox and fell smacking his head against the foot board. He actually BROKE the foot board with his coconut. Gabe asked me to call the Dr. to see if we should bring him. While I was on the phone, Gabe decided we are taking him NOW! Noah could not see the bottom part of Gabe's face, and he said he felt 'blacky'. We assumed that meant he was going to pass out. I left work and headed to Primary Children's to meet them there. Luckily Nikki had stopped by the office to see me, so she drove me up there. What a sick feeling....trying to reach your hurt child and not knowing what is happening. I arrived at the hospital before Gabe, so I checked Noah in so everything moved along faster. I went outside to wait for his car to pull up. Pacing back and forth...I just lost it. The 'what if's' were circling through my head and I could not stop thinking. When Gabe's truck finally arrived at the emergency drop-off....I lost it even more. Gabe mouthed 'calm down...it is OK' to me through the window. I whipped the truck door open and saw Noah there trying to calm ME down. He said he could see better and his head just hurt. I walked him into the E.R. while Gabe parked the truck and let them know he was there. He had his vitals checked, explained what happened and we took a seat waiting for a room to open. Out of nowhere, Noah grabbed on to me, screamed that his head hurt and he broke out in a cold sweat. I helped him to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. As soon as we opened the door, he collapsed to the floor, and went out of it. I opened the door and told them someone needed to come help him. I picked him up and brought him back to the waiting room, where he began vomiting and losing it again. They sat him in a wheelchair and rushed him to the Trauma Room. I myself, began to lose it. There has only been one other time we had been in that room, and it was when Noah went into heart failure at 6 weeks old. I felt like someone had punched me in the gut and removed my soul. Watching him out of consciousness on the bed, then vomiting, then going out of it again scared me to death. As much as we have been through with him, I still could never get use to the fear of something really bad happening.

The Dr's. worked on him for awhile, then tried to reassure us that head traumas often result in lethargy and vomiting. They did not like his color though, and were worried about how out of it he was. They did a CT Scan....and we waited. The good news came that his the tests all looked normal. He was diagnosed with severe concussion. The Dr. said she did not like his color and how listless he still was, so she ordered him an i.v. with medicine to stop him from throwing up, restore his fluids and help with pain. They started the i.v., and Gabe and I just waited next to the hospital bed and worried. After about an hour, he began to talk and started to perk up. They gave him some Gatorade, which he was excited to drink if it meant he would be leaving sooner. He kept it down, and 5 1/2 hours later we were out of there, with clear instructions of what to watch for and to limit any activity he does for 2 weeks.

I am more than happy to say he is doing great. It took me 2 full days to recover from it. Gabe and I were exhausted from fear, but he has bounced back much quicker than either one of us.