Back on February 16th (a Wednesday), I was at work and I got a call from Colin's school. I had just walked into our kitchen after being at our building next door and the call came through on my watch. I saw the name on my watch and ran down the hallway to my office. My stomach always sinks when I see the school calling me. I later found out that they had attempted to call me once already. They also attempted to call Danny AND my mom. That meant the call that I answered was their second attempt to talk to me. When I answered, it was Mrs. Castiglione (the principal) on the other end - she started the call with, "Colin's okay, but he fainted and fell in the classroom." He was with her in the office. I told her either Danny or I would be there to pick him up. Danny was working from home, so he was able to get to the school faster than I could. I told Danny to call me when he got there. In the meantime, I called the pediatrician's office to get their advice on what to do. I didn't know if we should take him there, or to urgent care, or to the ER. When Danny got to the school, the school nurse advised that we take him to the Children's Close to Home ER in Lewis Center. I left work and met them there.
They were in the waiting room when I arrived. It was around 3:00 in the afternoon. Poor Colin was in a wheelchair and looked super tired. His eyes were red. I guess he had been upset once he came to after fainting. Danny said he kept asking the same questions, over and over. And in the same exact way. "Where are we going?" "What happened?" "Did I fall out of my chair?" The principal also told Danny that he kept asking her the same questions. He definitely seemed to be concussed. It made me so nervous to see him like that. I got tears in my eyes at one point because something was not right. He also kept telling me that he couldn't wait to go home and sleep. Danny mentioned that a doctor had come out to the waiting room to see him before I had gotten there. Around 3:45, Colin was taken to an exam room. They checked his temp, his weight, his heartbeat. We spoke to several different nurses and a couple of doctors. We ended up being there around shift change. The doctor was not concerned about brain bleed due to the lump on the back of his head. As time progressed, the frequency of the questions decreased. They ran an EKG on him and that all looked normal. They didn't think he had a seizure or anything.
Colin's teacher called to check up on him while we were there. Danny was also texting with the principal. We learned that he had been to PE in the morning and had just returned from outdoor recess before he fainted. The class had just gotten into the classroom. It was warm out that day, so maybe he had gotten sweaty? The principal told us he was sweaty when she walked him to the office, but she thought it was due to his fainting. Colin's teacher mentioned that she hadn't made it into the classroom in time after recess, but was told that he fell to the ground (and did not hit his head on a desk or anything). We also learned that he had only consumed about half of the water in his water bottle at that point.
They ran a test on Colin that monitored his heart rate and blood pressure while sitting, and then while standing. They were concerned with the way his numbers jumped. They said that this can happen due to dehydration. They had him drink 2 small Gatorade cans and 3 small apple juice boxes. They ran the test again. The doctor was still not happy with his numbers. They mentioned waiting to run the test again. Once we knew he wasn't in immediate danger, Danny left around 7:30 to be with Cadence (she was with my parents at the time). When they ran the test again, they mentioned they'd have to run an IV to get him hydrated. Colin was super nervous and got really worked up. The poor thing had to get stuck twice because they couldn't get the vein in his arm. It took two nurses, and they finally got the IV in his hand. Colin was a trooper. After an hour or so and 7 mL of fluid later, they ran the test again. A while later, the doctor came back and told us his numbers looked MUCH better. She felt assured that dehydration was the culprit that caused him to faint. A month later, I'm still nervous that there's something else that caused him to faint. We've been making sure to keep him hydrated. He's learned the importance of drinking enough water.
The day after, I stayed home with Colin. Since we suspected a concussion, we were told to do simple, screen-free activities (one at a time) for the day. We were supposed to see how he reacted to each activity. He did well sleeping that night and did great during the day. I was busy with work, and he did a good job playing Solitaire with actual cards, working on a puzzle, playing songs on the piano, and playing LEGOS. My mom had the day off from work, so that afternoon, she spent a few hours with him to keep him entertained. I was very thankful for that. That night, after dinner, we watched some TV together. He did so well, he was able to go to school on Friday. He did have to sit out of sports for a week, though, so he missed the basketball tournament games that weekend. He was bummed, but he understood why. He did a good job cheering on his teammates from the sideline.
I'm so thankful he's okay. Between that and the bus accident late last year, the lil' guy has been through a lot!
Guzzling his Gatorade
Danny had a better picture of the ripe bump; Colin wanted me to take a picture of his head after Danny left the hospital so he could see what it looked like.
His poor little hand
The nurses used this tool to numb the area before they stuck him for his IV. I can see why they called it a rocket! It let out a puff of air and a loud noise when it emitted the medicine. It seemed to have worked for the first stick; not so much for the second one.
Here's the sweet text I got from Colin's teacher on Thursday evening. I had texted her to let her know how Colin had been doing. The fact that his classmates were worried about him melts my heart.
