Pool Time = ER Time

We got summer passes to our regional (public) pool so we’ve been trying to log some pool time.  One of the features the kids love at Upton Hill is the “Dumping Bucket”.

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This tube slide was a huge hit with Wendy & Sam – they went down it over and over and over on Saturday.

Unfortunately for Wendy, it was  huge hit in the literal sense too.  After she went down and was still sitting on the “landing pad”, the next kid came hurtling down, head first. I watched as he collided with Wendy head-to-head and cringed.  She came up crying – so we took a little break and tried to recover.   After a few minutes, she was back to having fun and playing in the pool.

We left at 7pm when the pool closed and then hurried home to throw dinner together.  Wendy was still complaining about her head and went upstairs to lie down while we worked on dinner.  When I went to check on her she had fallen asleep.  Around 9pm, she came down crying, upset that she had missed dinner.  I put a plate together for her and she sat down to eat.  After a  few bites, she turned green and before I could grab the barf bucket, she puked everywhere.  She was still complaining about her head hurting, so I figured we were in for a trip to the ER.  We drove to Fairfax Inova, because they have a pediatric ER.  Unless we have serious trauma where timing is critical, I think we will always elect to drive to Fairfax instead of the closer Virginia Hospital Center.

It was around 10:30 when we got taken back and seen by the triage nurse.  After explaining the sequence of events, the nurse offered Zofran to prevent future vomiting.  We declined as Wendy said her stomach felt fine and I thought we were probably past it.

But of course, right before the doc showed up, she got sick again (after that, we took the Zofran).  The doctor spoke with us and performed a series of neurological tests. She passed everything, but because of the vomiting and extreme fatigue, ordered a CAT scan.  We were quickly wheeled down to radiology to visit the “big donut”.

Wen did a great job throughout everything and thoroughly enjoyed her bed ride through the halls of the hospital.

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After the scan, we had to wait for the films to be reviewed and a report to be sent back to the doc.  Wendy ended up falling asleep around 11:30pm and we finally got the all clear around 12:30am.  Her scan looked normal and the advice was to take it easy and not engage in high risk behavior.  Her official diagnosis was “concussion with no LOC – loss of consciousness”.

After nice long sleep (til 10:30!) she woke Sunday morning feeling much better.  I am thankful  everything turned out fine.  I’m also happy that we made it six years before an ER visit — neither brother made it past the age of two!