Concussion

I just had the most awful, awful day yesterday.

I was going to go out with some girl friends and DH was going to babysit. As I was just about ready to go out, DH & I were standing in the kitchen chatting, when we heard a loud THUD THUD THUD, followed by a piercing scream. My heart sank & I knew exactly what had happened. I sprinted to the stairs (with DH in tow) where Reuben had climbed up and then fell down to the bottom, hitting his head on the wall. I picked him up and the side of his head where he fell, was facing away from me. Before I even saw it, DH looked at his head where he hit it and I was just so frightened by the expression on DH's face. I've only ever seen his face like this a few times in my life - it was clear that he was absolutely shaken & shocked to his core!! When I turned Reuben around, there was immediately a HUGE blue bump on his head with an artery that kind of went over it. It was clearly visible in the middle of the big blue bump.

Reuben screamed & screamed, with his little eyes as wide is they could go. A mother knows her child's cries - and this was a "this is serious" kind of cry. I tried to console him and, with my heart racing, I went to stand with him outside for some fresh air & to hopefully distract him a bit. But as soon as we were outside, he threw up over and over again. His pupils seemed dilated & I said to DH to get our coats, we're going to A&E (Accident & Emergency). On the way to the hospital, he calmed down completely & seemed so docile & quiet ... and completely blanked out.

At A&E the nurse saw us in triarge & said to sit & wait to see the paed. While we were sitting there, he really seemed to perk up quite a bit. We must've waited for about 45 minutes and, by the time we went in to see the paed, Reuben had chatted up quite a few little girls in the waiting room (he's his dad's son, that boy!). Anyway, the paed said that he looked OK, but that we did the right thing to bring him in to be checked over, especially as he had vomited & appeared to blank out for a while. But apparently it was a good sign that he screamed immediately after falling. I assume that he then wanted to check if Reuben's skull was cracked or something, but he then wanted to feel the bump & pressed on it VERY hard with his fingers. Needless to say, Reuben was in a state again, crying in much the same way as he did just after he fell. I just cuddled him & said, "toemaar skat, Mamma gaan Oom Dokter bl**sem as hy klaar is, OK?". (translation: "don't worry Darling, Mommy's going to hit the the doctor when he's finished, OK?) DH just laughed at me. So the paed gave us some painkillers and sent us home, with a leaflet explaining everything about concussion. He said to just look out for different behaviour & other symptoms for the next 24 hours.

Anyway, I'm really pleased to say that everything is OK. We've been watching him like hawks for any funny symptoms, but he's completely fine. It was just such a scare. We had been meaning to get a stairgate to put up at the bottom of the stairs (we already have one at the top) for quite a while now - and were planning to get one this weekend. It's really something that should obviously have been done a very long time ago. I feel rubbish about it all. I'm not saying that I feel like a useless & awful mother so that you ladies will tell me "these things happen". But I honestly just feel so very very bad about it all. It could've been so much worse. Thank you God - my child is not seriously hurt.

OH MY WORD!!!! VEnus, that is horrendous, I;m so sorry for you guys!!! But am soooo glad that Reuben is just fine now.
Shame, that is such a scare!! It;s impossible to be everywhere at every time. Toddlers are just so quick, u have to have eyes at the back of your head! Sjoe...well, just glad you have everything under control now...

Shame Venus, glad Reuben is ok, I can just imagine the shock for that little man and his mommy and daddy.

can you please put up the signs that we must look out for.

My word, i can't imagine how frightening it must've been! I'm so happy that he is ok now!!!! what a brave boy!
it's so super scary having to go through something like this!

good idea EM, venus, can you share the signs of what to look out for in the case of a concussion?

Thanks Ladies

2TA, my leaflet says:

If your child is:

• Under 6 months of age
  
• Unconscious, even briefly
  
• Crying for longer than 10 minutes
  
• Vomiting repeatedly
  
• Bleeding or clear liquid from the ears or nose
  
• Rapid swelling just above the ear
  
• Unable to walk or talk normally
  
• Unequal pupil size
  
• Severe, worsening headache </A>(or irritability before a child can talk)
  
• Neck pain
  
• Seizures
  
• Skull indentation or large bump
  
• Great force of injury (car accident, long fall, baseball bat, etc.)
  
• Changes in behaviour, such as being sleepy and difficult to arouse
  

If any of these symptoms or situations is present, call your physician right away. Your child may be fine but you should be in touch with an expert. If your child is unable to get up by himself immediately after the head injury, there may also be a neck injury. It might be best not to move him. Call 999 and wait for emergency help to arrive.

poor boy!thank God it's not too serious.i hope he get better soon.

venus...i am so glad that reuben is ok!
must say that i do not agree with your translation!!!

SEH wrote:venus...i am so glad that reuben is ok!
must say that i do not agree with your translation!!!

Well it's a tamed down version.

Shew that must've been scary!! Glad all is well :)

Sjoe! That must have been a huge scare!! I'm glad Reuben is ok

Oh Venus I'm really glad he is ok!! Must have been a terrible experience!!
I love our moedertaal so expressive can come in quite handy in a foreign country!! :lol1:

Ag shame, thats terrible! I am so glad that he is ok though!

Jissie that's terrible!! I'm just so glad he's ok...poor lil lamb.

Glad to hear he is ok.
Rushing of to the emergency room, part and parcel of being the mother of a little boy...I can't even begin to tell you how many times we've had to rush Andre to the dr.....

oh my word Venus, every mothers nightmare, how horrible for you! so glad Reubs is fine, and 'these things do happen" :) god you must have been frightened out of your mind. they really are risilient little buggers arent they -sounds like he'll make a good rugby player one day :)

Oh, my goodness. That's so scary. I also had an incident on Saturday night where Leschel pulled Jasmine by her top and she fell on her head. I got such a big fright and googled signs of concussions and she was fine.
I'm so glad Reuben is fine. I would have been hysterical. Well done on your part for acting so quickly.

I really Sympathise with you, its never easy seeing your LO's in pain!
Bell landed on her face AGAIN but I wont even go there now (trying to forget) Really glad Reuben is fine :)

that is sooo scary! glad all is well tho.

Ag shame Venus. I'm happy that he is better now.

I believe that little children are surrounded by Angles who absorb each fall/bump/cut,ect..

I really did enjoy your exspression in Afrikaans - just think how akward it would have been if the doc could understand Afrikaans....

Poor Reuben. Glad he's better.
How's the bump? Simoné had a huge bump at one stage-she fell out of her pram. I didn't take het anywhere for a few weeks-was too ashamed...

Venus

When Matthew was in hospital in September 2007 for Bronchial Pneumonia, Daddy came to visit after work so I slipped down stairs quick. We had his little scooter at the hospital to keep him busy, so he was riding up and down the passage and decided to turn the handle bar and then go forward. His head connected with the hospital floor and he had this huge egg on his head, it was terrible, but luckily being in the hospital i made them take X-Rays to make sure that he was ok.

I know exactly what you went through, it is the worst feeling when your little one gets hurt.

Glad that Reuben is doing better!

Shame, poor little man (and mommy and daddy who got the fright of their lives!)
But you're right, it could've been a lot worse, at least he's ok and the lesson was learnt

ooohhhh no shame man, poor little guy and poor mum and dad! you guys must have had the shock of a life time! sooo glad he is alright and everything has calmed down to a panic

JM, don't even joke about that! Since DH plays rugby, it's pretty much a given that Reuben will play too. That's one battle I'm not even going to try to fight - it's in the blood! I'd much rather he played another less dangerous, yet rewarding sport that could let us retire at 45 - like golf, maybe?


Lalla, I've fallen into that trap before, so I guess I should watch what I say. There are a lot more people in London who understand Afrikaans than you'd think!


HB, it's incredible to see how this humongous, blue bump went down overnight! Of course you can still clearly see it, but it doesn't look half as bad as it did yesterday.


Ag thanks again for all your nice comments, Guys.

Shame, I'm glad Reuben is allright! We may even see some remnants of the blue bump on Sunday?

I can't even remember the number of times I thought... why didn't I do this/that BEFORE it was necessary! I know it's normal, but it doesn't really reduce our guilt, now does it? We can just try to forgive ourselves and thank their little guardian angels for looking after them.

You're so right, Essie. I've said little thank you prayers over and over and over again since he fell.

At the rate he's healing up, there probably won't be a lot left by Sunday - perhaps a bit of green or yellow as the bruise fades away.

I cant believe the hospital made you wait!! Jamie fell off the bed a couple of months age and landed awkwardly so I took him to casualty. The waiting area was FULL but they said a baby with a possible head injury gets priority and rushed him straight through and they certainly didnt POKE the bump! He seemed ok but they still insisted on doing neck and skull x-rays to be sure.
It was at Roseacres hospital, I know one of the other moms had a bad experience there but they have always been very good to us.

The doctor even gave me her cell number to call if something seemed wrong!!!!

Alison_L wrote:I cant believe the hospital made you wait!!

You're right, the paed probably should've seen us sooner. But in all fairness, the nurse did see us in triarge within a minute or two of us arriving - and did not suspect serious concussion because Reuben was all bright & perky by that time! So he said we should be OK to wait a bit.

Shame, you must have been scared out of your wits!! So glad he is OK.

I can't even remember how many times I have forgotten the bottom stair gate open!! Will be super careful from now on.

Venus, can you put that signs for concussion up in the health section, please? Then we don't have to search for this post when neccessary. Thank you!

Yup, was thinking to move this thread to Children's Health.