Yesterday as I was sitting down at circle time with the preschoolers, my worst nightmare came true. The moment my colleague started walking over to me with the phone in her hand I knew it was Scarlett's school. My mind went into overdrive.
On the other end of the line I heard Scarlett's principal telling me Scarlett was on her way to the office, she hit her head. The aide was bringing her with a quarter size hematoma that started forming immediately and they would call me again once she got to the office. Somehow while she was walking around with her aide in the quad at recess, she managed to turn around and hit her head on a pole. By the time the principal called me back I was in my car and heading to her school. I told her to calm her down and keep ice on her until I got there.
Flying down the road to the neighboring town where Scarlett goes to school, felt like it took forever. I was trying to convince myself this wasn't going to be a bad one and that the they were just running on the cautious side. The minute I ran into the office I knew something was wrong. I recognized the look of panic on the office members that all seemed to be waiting for my arrival. As I approached the nurses office both the principal and the office manager had her surrounded and I couldn't really see her head. . . but then as I got closer and pulled her into my arms I saw the enormous goose egg that was already starting to form. It had been about 20 minutes since the school called me and her quarter size lump was already the size of a golf ball.
Scarlett was noticeably upset, but more so about what she was missing in class and the fear of taking her medicine. She broke down and begged to be able to come back to school for Fun Friday and still wanted to go on her first play date that was planned for the following afternoon after school. I promised her we would figure something out and worst case scenario she would have to plan another play date.
I gave her stimate spray to her, sat with her while she calmed down and we headed home. By the time we got home the lump was now the size of a baseball. My husband met me at the door and I could tell by the look on his face, this lump was alarming to him too.
I called her hematologist and they recommended we go to the ER immediately and get a CAT Scan, they would call the ER and let them know we were on our way. I packed up Scarlett and headed to the Kaiser hospital in Santa Rosa. Walking into the ER I figured this was going to take awhile but the first staff member I saw confirmed she was Scarlett and rushed us off to our first of 4 rooms. It was obvious they were waiting for us and had all her info pulled up before we even got there. She was seen by a Dr. within 15 minutes of walking in the door and she had a CAT scan within an hour. We had to wait a really long time after to actually talk to a Dr. again and get released but the timing it took to check in and get the CT seemed pretty fast considering it was the ER.
Scarlett's CT came back clear. . . THANK GOD and we got to go home after a few hours. I was told to keep a close eye on her for at least 24 hours and to keep her from doing any physical activities that could possibly re-injure her head for the next week or so. After talking to her hematologist once we returned home, they recommended the same thing and to take another dose of her stimate on Saturday (2 days later).
This was our biggest scare with Scarlett since she was diagnosed with Platelet Storage Pool Disorder. I surprisingly stayed very strong through the whole experience, convincing Scarlett she would be OK and keeping my brave face on for her. I feel like we are all coming out of this knowing this was a good "bleeder drill" and feel very confident everyone worked quickly and efficiently to ensure Scarlett was getting the care she needed ASAP. I commend her school, her hematologist, and Kaiser Santa Rosa for taking her bleeding disorder seriously and following all the correct protocol to assure us she was getting the best care possible.
I'm trying to have her come out of this experience un affected as much as possible, (besides learning to walk safely in the hall ways at school.) I know missing out on school and missing her play date was a major concern for her. . . so I've decided to let her go to school for the second half of the day, accompanied by me and that she could go on her play date. I refuse to let her bleeding disorder make her feel like she's missing out and will do everything in my power to make her feel like she's living a "normal life" with or without traumatic injuries. She has to learn to deal with situations like this in the safest way possible and then move on. This was a big learning experience for everyone involved and I am confident it's just another lesson on how to help her in the future. She's going to get hurt no matter how much we try and protect her, we just need to make sure everyone involved takes the proper steps and they all proved themselves yesterday!!!
On the other end of the line I heard Scarlett's principal telling me Scarlett was on her way to the office, she hit her head. The aide was bringing her with a quarter size hematoma that started forming immediately and they would call me again once she got to the office. Somehow while she was walking around with her aide in the quad at recess, she managed to turn around and hit her head on a pole. By the time the principal called me back I was in my car and heading to her school. I told her to calm her down and keep ice on her until I got there.
Flying down the road to the neighboring town where Scarlett goes to school, felt like it took forever. I was trying to convince myself this wasn't going to be a bad one and that the they were just running on the cautious side. The minute I ran into the office I knew something was wrong. I recognized the look of panic on the office members that all seemed to be waiting for my arrival. As I approached the nurses office both the principal and the office manager had her surrounded and I couldn't really see her head. . . but then as I got closer and pulled her into my arms I saw the enormous goose egg that was already starting to form. It had been about 20 minutes since the school called me and her quarter size lump was already the size of a golf ball.
Scarlett was noticeably upset, but more so about what she was missing in class and the fear of taking her medicine. She broke down and begged to be able to come back to school for Fun Friday and still wanted to go on her first play date that was planned for the following afternoon after school. I promised her we would figure something out and worst case scenario she would have to plan another play date.
I gave her stimate spray to her, sat with her while she calmed down and we headed home. By the time we got home the lump was now the size of a baseball. My husband met me at the door and I could tell by the look on his face, this lump was alarming to him too.
Scarlett's CT came back clear. . . THANK GOD and we got to go home after a few hours. I was told to keep a close eye on her for at least 24 hours and to keep her from doing any physical activities that could possibly re-injure her head for the next week or so. After talking to her hematologist once we returned home, they recommended the same thing and to take another dose of her stimate on Saturday (2 days later).
This was our biggest scare with Scarlett since she was diagnosed with Platelet Storage Pool Disorder. I surprisingly stayed very strong through the whole experience, convincing Scarlett she would be OK and keeping my brave face on for her. I feel like we are all coming out of this knowing this was a good "bleeder drill" and feel very confident everyone worked quickly and efficiently to ensure Scarlett was getting the care she needed ASAP. I commend her school, her hematologist, and Kaiser Santa Rosa for taking her bleeding disorder seriously and following all the correct protocol to assure us she was getting the best care possible.
 |
| Scarletts bruise covered half her forehead. |
Written by,
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
For more of my blog entries about our life in elementary school check out:
- College or Kinderten-Enrolling Scarlett in Elementary School: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-kindergarten-nightmare.html
- Scarlett's 504 plan-Kinder: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/section-504-to-play-no-more.html
- Scarlett's Kinder year comes to a close: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/05/ode-to-teenager.html
- Scarlett's first week of 1st grade: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/07/scarletts-first-week-of-1st-grade.html
- A Family Camp for Bleeding Disorders gave Scarlett the confidence to speak up for what she wanted at school-1st grade: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-piece-i-wrote-for-hfa-s-infusing-love_17.html
- 2nd grade, We've got it made: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/09/2nd-grade-weve-got-it-made.html?view=timeslide
For more stories about getting Scarlett tested, injuries and her health please check out:
- Like a Needle to my Heart: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/09/like-needle-to-my-heart.html
- Scarlett bumps her her chin going down the slide: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-another-day-at-park.html
- Birthday party, Play date, etc: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/birthday-parties-play-dates-and.html
- Losing baby teeth: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/bye-bye-baby-teeth.html
- Scarlett's little brother takes a bite: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
For more of my blog entries about our life in elementary school check out:
- College or Kinderten-Enrolling Scarlett in Elementary School: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-kindergarten-nightmare.html
- Scarlett's 504 plan-Kinder: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/section-504-to-play-no-more.html
- Scarlett's Kinder year comes to a close: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/05/ode-to-teenager.html
- Scarlett's first week of 1st grade: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/07/scarletts-first-week-of-1st-grade.html
- A Family Camp for Bleeding Disorders gave Scarlett the confidence to speak up for what she wanted at school-1st grade: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-piece-i-wrote-for-hfa-s-infusing-love_17.html
- 2nd grade, We've got it made: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/09/2nd-grade-weve-got-it-made.html?view=timeslide
For more stories about getting Scarlett tested, injuries and her health please check out:
- Like a Needle to my Heart: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/09/like-needle-to-my-heart.html
- Scarlett bumps her her chin going down the slide: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-another-day-at-park.html
- Birthday party, Play date, etc: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/birthday-parties-play-dates-and.html
- Losing baby teeth: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/bye-bye-baby-teeth.html
- Scarlett's little brother takes a bite: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
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