So, maybe I did double my first-aid supplies in response to two boys playing rugby, but there are some things bandaids can't fix - heads and teeth. Remember the broken tooth (Ellis) in preparation for rugby season? Case in point. When this picture was taken, Ellis was at his rugby game while his mouthpiece sat in his bathroom! Honestly, how many teeth will he have left after the season. Needless to say, Forrest had a lot to say about the forgotten mouthpiece.
Forrest, the responsible older brother, returned from his Shanghai rugby tournament seemingly fine. He didn't have gashes in his face or legs, but four days after his return I get a call from the school nurse. He finished PE with a headache that caused his teeth to hurt, so he went looking for help. He loves this nurse. (Of course, she told me that Forrest was her favorite, too!) But, once he got to her office, he started vomitting - three times in all. She asked him if he received a head injury in Shanghai, which he did. Somehow I didn't know that because I didn't board the plane and go to the tournament. Next time!
Of course, I was in Central, not at home, which is only five minutes from the school. I grabbed a taxi and called the friend I always call when I'm at a loss. I asked her to meet me at the school with her car, which she did in a New York minute - she's from the South so we are bound together in that deep southern way.
She got us home to drop off the mass amount of things children are required to carry in a backpack to school, and then she got us to the next taxi stand, so we could be off to the hospital.
So, we waited for the CT scan. By this time, Forrest is fine. He's playing with the scale and we're trying to convert kilos to pounds.
The technician comes to get him for the scan. Do you know they don't let mamas go to the scan room with a 16 year old? I'm thinking, "who's going to hold his hand?"
But, the hospital is great. As long as you are a paying client, they are incredibly efficient. The receptionist even took my phone and recharged it while we were waiting on the doctor to read the scan.
To the doctor we explain how the concussion happened and we promptly got the doctor's thoughts on rugby. After listening intently, we had to tell him we had only two days before Forrest was to board another plane, this time heading to Cambodia to work in service at an Orphanage with his classmates. The neurologist was fine with this. Although I don't think he was really listening because he was too busy trying to convince Forrest to take up tennis.
But, Forrest returned without slurred speech or a limp. Jeff, - also one not to heed advice - promptly took Forrest hiking to Dragon's Back because it was a public holiday and he couldn't enlist anyone else in the family to join him. Forrest can't handle the guilt, so he always says, "yes." He would have been a good Catholic.
Ellis spent the week off from school attending a sailing course, so he can be eligible to sail in the regatta in March. He came home each day with absolutely no injuries. He did, however, get the lovely Chaco tan the boys are always trying to acheive. Check that one off.
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