Not so Merry Christmas

As you may or may not have heard, we did not have a fabulous Christmas day. Zachary was sitting on the kitchen countertop Christmas Eve when he fell off the side, landed on his bottom and hit the back of his head on the tile.

He was sick overnight and in the morning as we were getting ready to go downstairs we noticed he seemed disoriented. When he tried to stand up, he fell over. When he tried to lift his head he got sick. So we headed over to the Cape Coral Emergency Room.

We were admitted, they did a CAT scan of his head and found nothing, a CT scan of his neck and found nothing. Consulted a pediatrician and decided it may be a viral infection, not a concussion. Called over to Health Park to get us a pediatric neurologist and found they were all on vacation. So they began to try to find a place to transfer us. By around 4 pm we were lying in a gurney in the hall and were told that we were headed to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg via ambulance. At this point Zachary still could not lift his head and had continued vomiting. By 6 pm we were on our way.

The ambulance ride to All Children's was the longest two hours of my life. Zachary slept the entire way. Rick and his dad followed in our car.

We arrived there around 8 pm on Christmas. Met the Dougie Howser team (the doctors were so young looking), did a round of tests for various viruses and was promised a consultation with the neurologist in the morning. So at 11 pm, we slept (kind
of).

The next morning woke up an got poked and prodded by a few more youthful doctors and met the neurologist. He ordered an MRI - of course the nurse had ordered breakfast so we then had to wait 4 hours before Zachary could have any anesthesia so he could be knocked out and completely still for the MRI. The test was at 1 pm, we heard nothing more the rest of the day (Tuesday, I think).

We woke up Wednesday morning, ate three bites of breakfast and were told by an intern that the MRI was negative. 20 minutes later the neurologist came in and said he saw something that may be a clot and would like to do further testing. But of course we had to wait 4 more hours as Zachary had eaten something and would need to be knocked out. We made the doc promise results that day and hurried up and waited. Zachary was in better spirits and could lean against us while sitting without falling over. We watched a lot of Blue's Clue's videos.

We did the CT scan at 1pm and at 5pm the neurologist told us the good news. The spot was not a clot but a subdural contusion. Basically an area of blood just under the skin (dura) around his brain that just happened to be pushing on his cerebellum in the area that controls balance. Now we knew what we were dealing with and felt better. The cure? Hurry up and wait. Apparently, the blood will seep back into his body and quit pressing on his brain. No medication, no magic wand, nothing. Huge sigh of relief. It also helped that Zachary could now sit up and prop himself up on his arms to hold himself steady.

We were told by the neurologist on Thursday morning at 8:15 am that we would be released. Zachary was now trying to take a few steps on his own (he still fell over) and could crawl a few feet along the floor. Met up with the Dougie Howser team again around 10:30 am and got our walking papers at around 1 pm. Just a little scary to be sent home with a weeble-wobble baby, but definitely better than staying in the hospital.

So it's Friday and we are home. We opened Christmas presents this morning and Zachary is getting around pretty well on his hands and knees. We feel very sure that he will be himself very soon. The doctors said it could take as long as a month for him to fully regain all function, but that the damage is in no way permanent.

THANK YOU all for your prayers, well wishes and phone calls.

I would also like to thank Rick's parents, Rich and Nanci, who were with us the entire time. My father Bill and his wife Cathy were with us for a time as well, and my mom Betty was a huge help in the ER. I know they will all continue to keep us sane in the coming weeks. Thank God for family. We are truly blessed.

Bottom line, we are ok. We have been on an emotional rollercoaster and are looking forward to resuming a normal pattern.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We are looking forward to a great new year.