concussions in children
Posts: 116
Does anyone know anything about concussions?
I know that I will need to call my daughters doctor again, but I was just wondering if any of you had children that suffered a concussion.
On Thursday my 5 year old fell off of some bars that were very high on the playground at school. She fell backwards and of course landed head first on thick ice. The teachers on the playground saw this happen, but are not sure if she lost conciousness or not as they waited for her to come to them. Nurse called, by the time I got there 15 minutes later, my daughter could not stay awake. The nurse had the gall to ask if maybe she was just tired. We rushed to the ER and did a CT, dr. said nothing to worry about. If she throws up more that 2 times, come back. She can sleep as long as she wants, she will be fine. So we leave, and she throws up all over the parking lot. I take her in to clean up, to talk to the nurse that helped us and I am told to go home, if she throws up again, come back.
I go home, call my doctor and my daughter proceeds to continuosly throw up and pass out. Terrifying. We rush back to the hospital to wait in a room for 2 hours to be seen. They do 2nd CT and say she has a severe concussion and needs an iv to help with the dehydration and to get meds into her. They also decide at that time it's so bad that they are going to admit her. We spend the night and she comes up with a fever in the morning. We got released about 4 Friday p.m. Get home and she still has fever. Wakes next morning to continue vomiting. Call Dr. she says she thinks she has stomach flu on top of concussion now.
Now it is 3 1/2 days after fall and my daughter is waking up crying in pain from headache. I am worried about her because she has never said her head hurt. She is on a Motrin, Tylenol rotation, but once she goes to sleep and it wears off her head is killing her. The first dr. said she could go to school the next day. The second dr. said Monday, I say Tuesday or Wednesday. That I don't want her to go back until headache is gone since she is so young and won't take it easy. Any suggestions moms? I am little stressed and very concerened. I watched my baby lay there for almost 14 hours to wake only to throw up and now I am scared of making the wrong decision. Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!
I'm so sorry your daughter
Posts: 80
I'm so sorry your daughter had a concussion. I went through the same thing with my 17 month old son less than a month ago. It was awful. He was walking in the kitchen and just fell, hitting his head on the hardwood floor. He started seizing then turned blue around the lips. We took him to the ER, and thank God he was just fine. As far as your daughter goes, try not to be upset with the nurse asking if your daughter could have just been tired. That is actually part of her assessment skills, trying to determine if she could possible be tired (naptime in younger kids) or if she is lethargic because of the fall. Nurses are trained to ask that.
Usually the doctors are worried about continuous vomiting, which sounds like a concern for your daughter. The part that bothers me is that you waited for 2 hours for them to see you again. After a head injury, and progressive vomiting, they should have seen you right away. I don't know how old your daughter is, but kids dehydrate rather quickly, so the IV fluids was a good thing for her. When kids get dehydrated, they tend to become very lethargic making it difficult to determine if she is lethargic from her head injury or her dehydration. Sometimes the symptoms of a concussion can last for several days, so you should keep an eye on her for a while. Take note of any further changes such as, slurred speech, not making sense, forgetfulness, etc. There are several websites you can Google and read up on concussions in children. I know they say she can sleep through the night as long as she wants, but for your own piece of mind you may consider waking her up at least once a night for a few more days to see how she is. Probably unnecessary, but if it makes you feel better, than it's all worth it. She may or may not have the flu, but you should just continue treating her the way you are, and I'm sure over time she will be fine. It is very understandable that her head hurts. She took a big blow to the head. If it were you or I, we would be complaining of a headache too. That's completely normal. As far as school goes, YOU are her mother. If you are not comfortable letting her go back to school yet, keep her home. I completely understand your stress and concerns for your daughter, but after a few more days (which feels like a life time!) she should be feeling a bit better. Good luck!
Kim
wow!
Posts: 1960
What a scary weekend you had! As far as sending her to school, who cares what the dr. says...keep her home as long as you are comfortable! Especially if she is still vomiting or in pain from headaches. For your own peace of mind (in wondering whether the school would keep a close eye on her), better to keep her home where you can monitor her! I know nothing about concussions, however with one CT scan being normal and another saying concussion, then having to revisit the ER and wait another 2 hours while she is throwing up, I would almost just get another opinion altogether! I would be worried sick! I hope your daughter feels better soon!
Jessica
~ Mommy to Luke and Shawn
Keep calling the dr. Does
Posts: 130
Keep calling the dr. Does she see a Peds dr? With her having a headache now she may need to go to a nurologist. I would for sure keep her home from school. The vomiting is sadly part of it. . Kids only need a teaspoon of water every half hour to stay hydrated. All in all keep calling for any change. Ask for another ct/mri, another dr to see her.
scary mom moments
Posts: 116
So Tuesday morning, 5 days after the concussion, I hear a weird noise coming from the kids bathroom. I get out of bed to find my daughter vomiting all over the place and then going back to sleep. I call the dr. they say they can't get me in until 2, but I could if I wanted to, take her back to the er. I told them that I would rather get into the dr. because I feel like at the er they will just brush me off. So every 1/2 hour I call to see if something else opens, as my daughter continues to throw up/go back to sleep.
We get to the dr. office 30 minutes before the appointment, and she is still getting sick there, so they take us right in. The dr. walks in, takes one look at her, and calls a medic to come transport her right to the peds unit. She went from 40.1 lbs to 33 lbs in 5 days. Almost 20% of her body weight. They do another CT, one regular and one with contrast. They find that she has sever bruising that is all soft tissue and it goes from the outer cranium to the inner. She has a bruise on the back of her brain, and is suffering from major whiplash. She was admitted all week long. Took 11 or 12 iv bags before the iv came out. They did an mri to make sure there was no small bleeds that ct missed. They all came back clear, but she is suffering from post concussion syndrome. She could have symptoms for up to 2 months. She has not slept in 2 nights because the fluids from the bruise are shifting down into her neck and she it is all swollen. You can see the lymphnodes on the back of neck they are so swollen. I had the dr. paged today and they said she needs to be in a collar, which I felt they should have done before we left, but they didn't. You can not buy such a collar on a Sunday afternoon anywhere. All of the pharmacies that sell them are closed. They will not give her anything stronger than a tylenol/motrin 3 hour swap because of the trauma to her head. So I give her lots of warm baths so she can put her neck in the warm water. We do heating pads, etc.. but nothing really relieves the pain. I am tired of seeing her suffer, and so sad that it could go on for a long time. I didn't take her back to the er today because when I mentioned it, it sent her into such a panic that I felt it would do more damage than good. So I will be setting my alarm for early so that I can demand a first thing in the morning appointment. They need to see her because it looks like there is a golf ball on the muscle from all of the fluid. I know they say it will be okay, but really she is 5 and has suffered terribly for the last week. Hard to be a mommy and watch your children suffer so much. I wish I could take her pain awaya and let her be happy and carefree again. She will not be able to go to school for at least a week maybe 2. Then no gym or recess for 2 2 weeks after that. Makes me so sad for her.
I just wanted to share, because it has been so hard and frustrating watching my child suffer and as much as I love my husband, he just doesn't get it. I need to vent, and will eventually need to cry for all the suffering she has been through. Any advice???
Sorry.....
Posts: 149
Sorry I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say I read your original post the other day and just read the update and it made me cry. I can't even imagine how awful that must be for her at 5 and how hard that is for you as a mom to be in that situation.
My thoughts & prayers are with you both.
Violet
**Katie's mom & new baby girl due April (no name yet)**
wow I am so sorry. I feel
Posts: 130
wow I am so sorry. I feel your pain, and kinda knew what was coming due to you first post. My daughter was sick for 2 months before we got answers.
Are you seeing a neurosurgon??? you should be due to the head injury. If your not, ask for ref. in town and then for one for peds whigh will be out of town seeing that I dont think there is a pediatric neurosurgon in town. Great ones for adults is Dr Yount. She might have been seen by one in the hospital.
Hang in there and keep pushing. I know that even though she does not want to go to er, you might end up there again if you get nowhere with reg dr. Er is better than at home with this head injury.
We just got our answers on our 2 year old and she has been sick since Nov. So I sooooooooo know how you feel getting tossed around. I one day called her peds dr and said I am five min. away and you are seeing her. hmmmmm took so long to just get anything done, like they were not listening. My daughter had 2 bulging disk in her back. hmmmm yep ndr need to listen to the mommies.
I hope things get better.