Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Kale...oh the medical fun.

This was posted in Kale's blog, which is specifically about him and his medical adventures (hey, I am trying to find a positive word for it!). Anyway, here is the post....and a few additions afterwards...

Ok, well, I have some news to share. Its about Kale. I didn't post anything last night because I didn't know what to say. Kale is fine now...I want to assure everyone of that. However, Kale scared us pretty good last night.

He was playing in his room with me and Ep. Kale fell against the glider and hit the side of his face pretty hard. He really hasn't learned to brace himself when he starts to fall. It all happened so fast that neither Ep nor I could grab him. What all happened next is somewhat of a blur for both of us. I grabbed Kale because I was already on the floor. I brought him to my body and he was kind of hunched up. He had cried out, but then not made another noise. He gulped in a huge amount of air, but never blew it out. I pulled him away from my body and laid him down. He was very rigid and non-responsive. His eyes were partially open, but it was really like he wasn't 'there'. I tried to move his arms, which were frozen mid-air and could not move them. He was that rigid. Ep was with me in the floor and moved in on Kale. I jumped up to run for the phone. As I grabbed my phone, I could hear Ep telling Kale to breathe and then I heard Kale wail. Let me tell you...when Kale was born, I couldn't see him but I knew I would be able to hear him...and I never knew I could be as equally relieved to hear him wail as I was the day he was born. But last night, I was equally relieved. He was crying pretty good when I got back into the room. We watched him really closely and made sure that he was ok and decided not to visit the ER. He was walking around, playing, and following directions. His heart rate was fine and his eyes were normal and responsive. The only indication that anything had happened was the small bruise that was already forming on his jaw line.

We got a 9:10am appt to see his pediatrician this morning and that went well. He checked out Kale's cough as well. He just has a small cold, minus the runny nose, etc. The pediatrician said that what happened with Kale is more common than folks realize. Basically, he is responding to pain by holding his breath and he held it long enough to make himself pass out. He said that usually this behavior stops by 2 years old and the most valid theory is that it stops because at that point the child is able to verbalize the pain better. This has happened before with Kale at least a couple times, but none were as rough as this experience. The previous times he bounced back before we could really grasp what was happening.

Can what happened last night happen again. The answer is yes. We need your prayers to ask that it doesn't. Its an extremely scary experience for everyone and not healthy for Kale. There is not a way to keep Kale from knocking his noggin, which is the only time this type of thing occurs with him. So...now you know what we know....and now you know what we need for you to pray for...so please lift a quick Kale prayer up!

Here is what that post didn't say:
  1. Ep's parents informed me that when Ep was little, he pulled the same kind of stunts on them when he would have to get shots. Well, great! At least THAT attribute is not my fault! (unlike the temper, stubbornness, etc)
  2. Kale is doing fine. He is his normal, whiney, playful little self...all is well in his world. His parents, however, are just now finally returning to their levels of stress and are constantly trying to keep a clear path for Kale so he doesn't stumble (and yes, we know this will be impossible...but we can try!).

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