As we were finishing lunch, Charlie was a little fussy, but I thought it was because he missed his morning nap. I scooped him up and kissed his head, preparing to take him downstairs for his nap. When I kissed him, his head was mushy. Boggy. Fluctuant. Just above his right ear, about three fingers wide, extending from his temple to his crown. I got Travis's mom to feel and she agreed. Since Charlie had fallen off the bed Tuesday, I was worried. I called the doctor's office, but they were already closed for the weekend. I called Trav, and we decided to go to the ER.
I drove Charlie to Ann and Robert H. Lurie (Northwestern) Children's Hospital of Chicago. Someone valet parked the car for us. He was evaluated, and the team really didn't think anything was wrong since his activity and behavior were great. But since there was the boggy spot, and there had been a fall, they got an X-ray series of his skull to look for a fracture.
There was a fracture where the boggy area is. So then they decided to do a CT scan to check for bleeding/underlying damage. The CT scan showed the same fracture in the boggy area and another large, impressive fracture on the occipital lobe, where he actually hit his head when he fell. There is bleeding on the right side, where the fullness is. In the basal ganglia there are two questionable areas of brain injury.
They consulted neurosurgery and trauma teams and the social worker. They assured us that the social worker was their standard of care when an infant who can't speak for himself has a skull fracture or any head injury of that magnitude. Even still, it broke my heart. Travis and I were interviewed separately for about 20 minutes each, and it was fine. She was very comforting and reassuring.
The trauma team came and got the story. Neurosurgery came and got the story. Everyone decided to admit Charlie for observation and get a repeat scan in the morning.
Once we got to a room, the attending neurosurgeon came by and asked me the story herself. The neurosurgeon was so confused by the huge fracture in such a thick bone. She asked if he hit carpet or wood floor, I told her he hit a dresser. "Oooooooh! That makes much more sense! Yes. Ok. They did not tell me that." Evidently, the residents kept forgetting to tell their attendings that Charlie hit a huge, sharp dresser edge. She confirmed that she wanted an MRI this morning to look again, and she ordered continuous monitoring. She was very sweet and assured me that since his behavior is so wonderful, there is very little worry for any complications at all.
So Charlie got hooked up to the monitor, and I attempted to get him to sleep. He had only slept on the way to the hospital and for about ten minutes between the ER and his room. Well, the monitor didn't help. He kept kicking off his leads and crying so hard his sats read 70. I nursed him 100 times. I put him in his own clothes. He ate veggies and had a sippy cup of milk. We downed a bag of goldfish. Another cup of milk. He finally fell asleep in my arms at 10:30. He slept through the midnight vitals. He awoke with the 4:00 vitals and didn't go back to sleep until 6:15.
And now he's snoring. I'm not sure when his MRI will be. Thankfully, he doesn't have to be sedated. I'm hoping and feeling pretty sure they'll let him go home today. Please pray for my little bug.
1 comment:
Goodness! Y'all have had quite a go of it since getting to Chi-town. Sounds like Charlie is going to be FINE! Getting the thyroid stuff taken care of and his activity being normal even with the fracture...should be fine. The SW would be protocol anywhere, so no worries about that! Hope the scan goes well and that you get to go home. :-) Glad you had extra family around...God does provide even when we don't know what we need!
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