Glenn's (Swollen) Head

About two and a half weeks ago, Glenn and I were at the neighborhood park.  He was climbing up the steps to the tall slide.  I was talking with a friend, watching him from a few steps away because he had climbed them hundreds of times.  All of a sudden, he fell straight back.  He fell from two or three steps up and just smacked his head pretty hard on the landing.  He was pretty shaken up, but he was consolable.  We went home, I comforted him and he seemed okay.  

A couple of days later while brushing his teeth before bed I asked Paul if Glenn's head looked lopsided.  It did.  We then realized that he had a huge swollen area on his head.  We were shocked!  We were scared.  Paul gave him a blessing.  We thought it was strange that we hadn't noticed it before.  It must not have started swelling until two days later.  And Glenn didn't act any different at all, so we didn't have any cause for alarm.  But when it didn't go down and everyone who saw it said that we should probably take him to the doctor, we started to worry even more. You remember that Paul lost his job...so we weren't insured anymore.  And COBRA coverage is expensive!  So we weren't sure what to do.  

Finally last Thursday we decided to bite the bullet.  We signed him up for COBRA and took him to the doctor on Friday.  The doctor suspected that he got a fracture on his skull, causing some bleeding in one layer, which then caused swelling in another one.  He said there wasn't much we could do for him--just make sure he didn't hit his head again.  

After the appointment we headed north for my brother's graduation and Easter.  Saturday it was still big and swollen.  But then we noticed that on Sunday it looked smaller.  And it has eventually gotten smaller and smaller--to the point that you can't tell at all.  We are so grateful that it has finally gone down.  The doctor said that it could take several weeks--I guess it had been about 2 weeks of swelling when we finally took him in.  He then mentioned that it could get a weird crunchy feeling when it did go down--calcium build-up that could happen.  And he said it could even take years for it to go back to normal.  But with the progress that he has made just in this week, it is very encouraging to know that that time line won't be as long as he said.  I have always thought he had the most perfectly shaped head.  I was so sad that it wasn't going to be like that anymore.  And anywhere I went while his head was still swollen, I felt like I had to explain it because he looked so lopsided.  But I don't have to do that anymore.  And the doctor said that the most important thing is that inside his head is still perfect.  And that is so true.  I am so grateful that that is the case.  I would've not been able to forgive myself if it wasn't.  

Anyway, enjoy this pictures!  Thankfully they are only a memory now.

 

 

 

(We did get x-rays of his head on Tuesday of this week and they confirmed that there was a fracture on his skull.  The technicians doing the x-rays said that he did great!  He just laid there and it was easy.  That's my boy!)