My son got a concussion at school on Monday mid-day. We went and got him and took him to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) because it was obvious to us that he had one - couldn't walk (at all), open his eyes, and couldn't put a sentence together that would impress a 5 year old. He could talk, just real slow and simple sentences. During in-processing, we told Nurse #1,#2, and #3 about the above.

I took about an hour to get a room (several ambulances kept bumping him) and in that time, his speech started to improve.

In comes Dr. #1. Asks the standard how'd it happen, what hurts, etc... and during this time, he's able to fully open his eyes. We're seeing improvement which is good. So the dr leaves and eventually comes back to the room and orders an eye test (i guess to check for blurred vision, cognitive function, etc...). My son passes the test with flying colors.

Dr #1 discharges us at this point and says he can go back to school tomorrow. Diagnosis: Facial injury. Now, at the time, we were relieved that he was improving and we didn't read the prognosis until we got home. It also didn't occur to ask about his ability, or lack thereof, to walk assuming it would come back over night, after all, Dr says he can go to school tomorrow.

Tuesday am - My son can't walk (walks like someone relearning to walk after a TBI). So we call CHOA again and they advise to bring him back. Off we go. Nurse # 3 in-processes us. Nurse #4 interviews us. We explain that we were told to come back in etc... He asks what the diagnosis is, we say we don't know. We give him the paper work and he shakes his head. We also mention that nothing the doctor said to us is on there either. He shakes his head some more. We get a room in about 10 mins. Dr. #2 listens to our explanations, performs several concussion tests, physical and functional tests on his legs. He has full-strength and good reflexes but can't walk. She watches him attempt. Now she's puzzled because she's never seen this. She consults a neurologist. Dr. #3 says, yep, this can be a sign of concussion and has seen it many times. Orders a CT to ensure he isn't presenting a brain bleed in an odd way. CT is clear! During the day several nurses come in and ask similar/same questions (how'd it happen, where does it hurt, how bad?) and a few of them comment "What don't you want to do in school tomorrow, have a test?" and stuff like that. Even Dr. #2 implied he was faking a bit. My son is an athlete and a straight A student. Had to explain this each time. Aggravating.

So diagnosis #2 - facial injury and concussion. Duh! He's out of school until at least Thursday and we're in concussion protocol for the next 2 weeks and all that goes with it.

So this morning we were hoping to see some improvement. Nope, none. He came out of his room at Noon today, no change. Now I'm worried. We've already set-up a follow-up with his GP for tomorrow afternoon if he's not well enough to go to school tomorrow and based on the little improvement today, I highly doubt tomorrow is in his cards.

So what's my rant? Stupid kids doing stupid stuff on the playground (some kid thought it'd be funny to kick a soccer ball at my kid when he wasn't looking), stupid Dr's who just want to get to the next patient, and concussions. Concussions suck. All that goes with it sucks:
* Having to help your son into the car because he can't use his legs sucks.
* Listening to him ask questions like a 2 year old sucks.
* Worrying that it's more than that really sucks.

But please don't tell me to lawyer up, or how bad public schools are, or how stupid kids can be. I hate the process of it, laziness of it, the accusatory tone of it, and the outcomes of it.

But most of all I hate not being able to do anything about it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Shaql,

I'm sorry your son (and family) is having to go through this.

I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do. I will say that I would be seeking medical assistance elsewhere. The medical care you've described doesn't do much to inspire confidence in the medical staff.

My best to your son. I hope tomorrow brings much improvement!

I'm sorry this happened to him, concussions can be very scary. Hopefully he will be back to his normal self ASAP.

quote:

But most of all I hate not being able to do anything about it.

I bet!

I'm glad it wasn't worse. Seeing those you love having problems is tough.

Getting quality heath care seems at best to be hit or miss.
A friend of mine had her elderly father in for an exam at our local hospital. After the symptoms were explained to the Doctor, he said "I will have to google that".
Not jokingly.
Hope your kid fully recovers quickly!

Are there better medical facilities you could take him to? I'm not a doctor, but to me it sounds like he's in pretty bad shape, and with a brain injury I wouldn't hesitate to take him to another hospital.

Another thought, if his school has a football team, maybe you could tell the coach what's going on and get his recommendations.

Similar thought. Contact the Head Trainer at a local College or University and find out what Dr's or Medical Facility they use for concussive issues.

He should see a neurologist and have someone refer him to
Physical Therapy where they have a standard testing for
head injuries. Call the patient care/representative department
that should be on the discharge papers and explain your
dissatisfaction. How old is your son?

quote:

Originally posted by homie:
He should see a neurologist and have someone refer him to
Physical Therapy where they have a standard testing for
head injuries. Call the patient care/representative department
that should be on the discharge papers and explain your
dissatisfaction. How old is your son?

Funny enough they called me today and I unloaded on her. She was very kind and agreed with me on each point I made. She said a report will go to a manager but I'm sure that doesn't mean much.

We see his gp tomorrow and we will get a referral and a 2nd opinion. My son is 9, which I should have mentioned. But we basically said you can't finish fall baseball or start winter basketball like this so I'm sure if he was faking it he would have miraculously recovered today.

Our younger son had a concussion in an MVA his last year of high school. He had post-concussion syndrome, including severe "giddiness", meaning he had to use a cane to walk. He was just in the process of completing college applications; he succeeded in completing one application...there's more to the story. The point is we would have had no idea had we not been referred to a good neurologist. It took six months for the major symptoms to go away.

Get a referral to a sports medicine with experience in concussions, I believe Emory & Gwinnet have such programs. I do know there has been research into blood markers to measure the severity of concussions and studies are continuing.

Fwiw, http://sperokaras.com/

Dr. Karas is the Atlanta Falcons Head Team Physician. Well-versed in concussions.

Best...

What cheese grits and homie said.

And I’m very interested in the last comment about blood markers. I’ve a family member who’s had concussions, and it’s been months in recovery, not days..
Don’t hesitate. I’d be all over my kids GP to get a referral (to a neuro) ASAP. I’d be extremely agressive about this because some things need timely intervention to correct. Best of luck to you and yours.

Thanks for all the input, he appointment is for 2pm today. Last night he made some pretty big strides - he was able to lift his feet instead of just shuffling them.

This morning is showing tremendous improvement. He has a longer stride (9" instead of 3") without shuffling. But he still hobbles on his right side.

Thanks for the link Jehzsa - I will ask about him but his website says he specializes in shoulder and knees, not concussion.

Dr. Karas has been with the Atlanta Falcons team since 2011. In that time he has seen his fair share of concussions.

Most sport-related injuries are of the soft tissue kind or orthopedic. But by being in the position he's in, he's able to recognize symptoms that another practitioner might not. Works like consulting a foot surgeon for a myocardial dysfunction.

And that's Dr. Karas' card. Even if he is not able to see your son, his staff will consult with him. Concussions are second nature to his practice.

Very nice to see him improving today. Still, that needs to be checked out. I've been banged in the head and never experienced symptoms like that.

Please be careful. the person who installs our blinds had a son who had a concussion, but for some reason they did not check for brain swelling, and his son died. tragic, and extreme edge case but his son was diagnosed with a concussion but they did not take it seriously enough.

I'm making him rest for 2 hours for every 30 mins of activity (outside of legos or comic books). He's dying to watch the Cubs game but I won't let him. We agreed to let him listen to it as long as he doesn't get worked up.

Anyone ever heard of the North Gwinnett Medical Center Concussion Institute and have any insite? Mrbill mentions it and they do have a focus on concussions.

How did the appointment go, Shaql?

Diagnosis? Prognosis?

Concussions take months not weeks to heel.

Yes, what's insidious about brain injuries is that it takes weeks for the neurons to die. So a person may be asymptomatic directly after a trauma. But weeks or even months post, medical issues start to pop up that may not have an obvious link back to the original event. Things can even happen later in life, when one moves into their senior years.

They are working on effective field tests that can diagnose the extent and seriousness of head trauma immediately after it happens. Don't know when something like this will be ready, but it could be critical for victims who are unwitting medical time-bombs.