Football, Trauma Center, Traumatic Brain Injury and House Bound

Our week-end was anything but dull.  At this point we all wish it had been dull and uneventful and unremarkable.  It was not.

Lucas and Eli's football playoff game was Saturday morning.  With four minutes left in the game Lucas was running the football when he was caught by two opponents....I say caught and not tackled as he was dragging the two kids behind him....he doesn't quit easily....then he was hit by a third from the side.  The kid grabbed his face mask and with the combined weight of all three took Lucas to the ground....first thing to hit the ground was his helmet/head.

This all took place near our sidelines a short distance from us, his coaches and team mates.  At first we thought he had the wind knocked out of him, he stood up and went to the sidelines.  We saw his coach take a look and he called Mike over to take a look.

I have to say that we were extremely blessed that we had a large contingency of family which included two of our daughters (one of which was Alison who is a nurse) 2 of their boyfriends, my sister and at least 4 other mothers who are also nurses.

Alison evaluated him and called me out of the stands, by the time I got to him he was on his knees, eyes shut and in obvious trouble.  We immediately suspected a concussion.  We headed to the nearest hospital, with the help of many to get Eli gathered up, our stuff located and extra vehicles driven home.

We didn't make it to the hospital before he developed further complications and we stopped at a fire station for help.  He was transported to a trauma center and after a CT and exam it was concluded that he has a minor traumatic brain injury (guess this is the new way of scaring the crud out of parents for saying concussion).

With the standard protocol for concussion rehab under our belt he was released and all day Sunday he rested and seemed to be doing fairly well.  Then came this morning.  We were to take him into the doctor as a follow up.  I woke him up late, he was very quiet (not normally a morning person so I didn't worry too much).  Then came the road trip to the doctor.  I looked over at him and he had the most bewildered look on his face....just totally lost.  Scared the crud out of me.  I started out by asking him if he remembered things from yesterday.  Nope.  Then I asked where we were going.  Nothing.  I said Lucas can you tell me your brother's name.  He looked at me, glanced sideways, looked back and I could see him visibly swallow and then something that I will never forget came out, "I have a brother?"

That had to be one of the longest drives into Omaha I have ever taken.  Our appointment with the doctor and referral to a doctor specializing in sport related traumatic brain injuries was both reassuring and has given us a general idea of what to expect.  Barring complications he's on the slow boat to recovery and a frequent participant in naps, boredom and quiet time.

In my previous post I said that I thought age has helped us in being prepared to adopt...yep that came back and kicked me hard.   I've aged 5 years in 3 days and pretty sure that my blood pressure is a little high.  I'm so grateful for the fantastic medical care he's been given but if I don't see the inside of a rescue squad, trauma unit or CT room I'll be forever thankful.

There is a lot of debate on kids playing contact sports.  It really is a talk that I'd encourage every parent to have with one another and their child.  Will he play football in the future?  We'll see what next season brings and whether he has any interest.  In the mean time I'll leave you with a photo from this last game that gives you a little glimpse of his love of the game.