Emergency Room

Well, we had another first. We spent a very LONG evening in the emergency room last night with Logan. Having children is definitely an adventure!

It all started Sunday evening. We had our home teacher and his wife over and Logan was being silly and bouncing across the living room on his bouncy ball. At one point we were asking him questions while he was bouncing, and I think he turned his head while bouncing to look at us, and all of a sudden stopped and grabbed his head with both hands and cried. We of course assumed he had probably gotten a kinked neck, but he was holding his head and saying his head hurt. He wanted Tony to hold him and squeeze his head. So, after checking him over and rubbing his neck and shoulders, and looking over his head as much as possible with Tony holding and squeezing it, I gave Logan some Motrin and we layed him on the couch. Not much longer, he was sound asleep. I tried to carefully pick him up to take him up to bed, and when I did he grabbed his head and cried out again that it hurt. He managed to sleep fairly well, but would cry out in the night on occasion, probably when trying to roll over or something.

All day yesterday, he basically layed on the couch watching tv. I had to pick him up to carry him to the bathroom, and when I did that he would grab his head and cry.He felt better when laying down, but as soon as we tried to get him upright, he would scream and grab his head. I called his pediatrician, and they told me to bring him in. His appointment was at 4:20, so I called Tony and he came home at 4 so he could help me take Logan to the doctor. I dropped Avery off at my friend's house, and away we went. Tony had to carry Logan around, all the while Logan was holding his head and whimpering. Throughout the day, the location of where he said it hurt on his head changed too. First it was kind of behind his ear, then above his ear, then on his temple, then it was his ears that hurt, and then back to his temple. This was all so weird to us. He never once said his neck hurt at all, only his head. The doctor was perplexed as well about this, and of course suggested we take him to get a CT scan just to be safe. She really didn't think it was anything, but it is always better safe than sorry. It was almost 5 p.m. by this point, and the place that was near that did the CT scans closed at 4:30.Children's Mercy in Overland Park didn't do them in the evenings either, so we had to go downtown.

Wouldn't you know it that after we got to the ER, Logan started acting much better. He was able to sit up without screaming, and only occasionally grabbed his head, or cried out if he moved funny. He was even riding in the little wagons they had, and climbing in and out of them. The doctors there also checked him out and heard the story, and thought it was probably torticullis, which I guess is basically a strained neck, but felt he should get the CT scan due to his complaining of head pain. That was an experience! It took us at least 15-20 minutes to get him calmed down enough to hold still to do the scan. He was freaking out! It was crazy! The nurse told me that if he didn't calm down and hold still, they were going to have to give him an IV to sedate him. I told Logan quick that he better stop crying and hold still or else they were going to give him a shot to put him to sleep. He calmed down really fast and did great! They had a box of prizes that he got to choose from for being so good. He chose a yo-yo. Back in the room while we were waiting for the results, Tony was playing with the yo yo and broke it. When the nurse came back in, Logan told her daddy broke his yo yo, so she let him go choose another prize. He came back with another yo yo.Of course the results were normal, and by the time we left the hospital Logan was acting just fine. Isn't that the way it goes? By the time we got back to pick up AVery it was 9:30 p.m.! What a long evening! The doctor prescribed a few valium for Logan to help him sleep and to relax his neck, but he was acting so much better, that we didn't get the prescription filled.

Today he has been playing outside, on the swings, riding his tricycle and running around with his little friends!He dd try to bounce on his bouncy ball again, and I told him to be careful. After the first jump or two, he started saying "ow! Ow! ow!" so I told him he better get off! Crazy kid! I am very grateful that nothing was seriosuly wrong,even though I do feel a bit silly for taking him to the ER. Better safe than sorry I say! Tony was getting really annoyed and saying that he was fine and that we should leave the hospital before they even did anything. I just feel like you can never be too careful with the health and well-being of your children.The extra expense and inconvenience is worth it for my little buddy. It's so hard being a parent, and feeling so helpless about taking care of these little people! I just feel much better and more reassured that professionals were able to tell me that he was fine. It is a relief, and any small relief like that is a weight lifted off my shoulders. I love my children so much! I am very grateful that they are healthy and well. Hopefully we won't have another ER visit, and if so, I hope it is only a precaution and not due to a serious emergency.