Heaven Can Wait

On Thursday, I got a phone call from Adam's school. Adam had been playing during recess, and had been knocked down by a tether ball. According to the school secretary, Adam's teacher saw him pass out and he seemed a little groggy. They asked me if I wanted to come get him and possibly have him checked by a doctor.

Now, since this was third-hand information, I decided to assess Adam on my own. I asked to speak with him. "Hi buddy," I said in my most sympathetic momny voice, "are you okay?" "Um," said Adam, "a wittle okay." "What happened?" I asked. "Mommy," he answered in his most serious and pathetic little boy voice "I almost died."

Trying very hard to suppress my laughter, I asked him a few more questions and determined that he was okay. I asked the secretary to send him back to class with a note for the teacher to please keep an eye on him and to call me if there were any further concerns.

Just to be on the safe side, I phoned Adam's pediatrician, who turned out to be enjoying a day off. In lieu of Dr. Tew, I got to speak with the medical assistant for the other pediatrician in the office (I'm guessing she's close to ten or eleven, maybe eighteen years old). After explaining that Adam had gotten hit by a ball, and that he might have passed out, she said "Oh, you'd better take him to Urgent Care." "Okay," I responded, "I don't mind taking him, but I'm not really sure what they'll be able do." "Oh," she said "well, they can do a brain scan." Brain scan, hmm? Is that the proper medical term for this procedure? I realized I needed to speak with someone who was actually qualified to provide medical advice. In the interim, I decided to have a little fun. "Hmm," I said, "Do they really do that for getting hit with a ball?" "Sometimes," said the M.A. (I'm sure I heard air whooshing through her head). I replied "I'm not really sure an MRI or cat scan would be warranted in this situation, but if it is, wouldn't I want to take him to an ER? I don't think Urgent Care clinics usually have such equipment." "Oh no," she said, "some do." I requested she ask the doctor to call me back.

After speaking with Adam's teacher, I learned that he hadn't necessarily lost consciousness, just that he seemed momentarily groggy. Well, I would too if I took a flying tether ball to the forehead! I was glad we hadn't rushed him off to the E.R. for a night of brain scanning!

Later that night as Adam got out of the bath he slipped and hit his hip. It hurt, and he cried a little. After he stopped, he looked up at me through his crocodile tears. "Mommy," he said very seriously, "I almost died twice today."

Where does he get this dramatic flair? I can't imagine! I'm positive it didn't come from me ;-)

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By the way, the other team forfeited, so there was no soccer game today.

Also, we enjoyed (well, at least Adam did) our first snow of the season.