(I'm writing this a year later as we reflect on God's goodness, so hopefully I get all the details right)
It was a Saturday. Luke and Isaac went outside to play soccer. Isaac put on some cleats that were slightly big, and as soon as he began to play with Luke, Luke kicked the ball and then Isaac put his foot on it to stop it, but instead slipped on it and fell smack down on his head so hard that Luke could hear it.
From inside, we heard the worst screaming we'd ever heard from one of our kids. We ran outside, to find Isaac screaming in pain, holding his head. At first we were mad at Luke, thinking he caused Isaac to fall.
Isaac continued to scream in pain for about 30 minutes, so we began thinking he had a concussion. We did the test for concussion by using a flashlight and looking at the pupils of his eyes. It seemed that they would get smaller and then bigger again, so we were a little concerned. When I called the dr, she seemed to think this was unusual, so she said we should bring him in.
At the doctor's office, it was a different doctor than we normally have, and he seemed to think it was crazy that the nurse recommended we come in for his pupils changing size. He said that's completely normal when the light is on the eyes for a few seconds. Anyway, he did a quick check and said he was ok and sent us on our way.
Monday, Isaac got off the bus and wasn't himself. He seemed really sad. i picked him up and kept asking what happened at school, or if kids had been mean to him, to which I got a little smile out of him. Finally, he broke down crying because I wasn't there the first time the bus stopped, and she had to do a loop to drop him off the second time. I felt terrible. I didn't realize at the time, that he was unusually sad for something like this. Also, he said his arm was hurting and he was a little stiff. Max started thinking his shoulder may have been hurt from the fall.
Tuesday morning, Isaac woke up with a stiff neck. We assumed that he was trying to avoid his hurt shoulder all night, and in doing so, slept weird and woke up with a stiff neck. We kept him home from school, because he had very little movement in his head/neck.
Tuesday night, in the middle of the night, Isaac woke up screaming his head off in pain. I was so scared. I couldn't get him to calm down. I finally positioned him in a way that was relatively comfortable with a heating pad that the Rendells let us borrow for his stiff neck. I still just thought it was a stiff neck and wasn't overly concerned, but I couldn't wait until morning so that I could take him to a chiropracter. I still did not connect this to his fall.
Wed morning, the chiropractor's office right around the corner had a sign on it that they wouldn't be open today. I quickly researched and found a place that did walk ins and was highly recommended online. We drove into the borough and down high st. We walked in and the chiropractor took us back right away. He asked some questions, and quickly determined that Isaac had whiplash from his fall. He said whiplash often doesn't affect someone until 2-3 days after an injury and its very painful. He got Isaac feeling much better after adjusting him, and told us to come back as needed. He didn't even charge us! (later I realized this has something to do with the fact that he doesn't usually work on kids because of liability issues, so if he didn't charge us, I guess he wouldn't be liable if something happened?)
I believe Isaac started hurting again that afternoon so we went back, and he adjusted him again. He gave me his cell number since he was off on Thursdays and said to call if he gets worse again.
That night, it felt like Isaac was an old man, getting him into bed. He would slowly walk and maneuver his body to be able to lay down. We had about 4 pillows so that he wouldn't have to lay his head all the way down. It seemed that a neck brace would be helpful but I kept reading that you shouldn't use a neck brace with whiplash because it only makes you more dependent on it.
He would wake up screaming in the middle of the night when he needed to use the bathroom.
Thursday was ok, so I didn't call the chiropractor, but he still wasn't right. We began to notice that he was talking kind of weird and wasn't able to open his mouth all the way while eating. His bottom teeth seemed to be sticking out further than the top ones. I researched this, and it now seemed at though he had TMJ from this injury, a dental issue that might never go away!
This whole time, Isaac just wasn't himself emotionally either. He wasn't as affectionate as he had always been, and seemed sad more than happy. He would cry about what we were eating for dinner, saying "I just want tacos". Although he loves tacos, he was never emotional about it. I began to think that something was altered in his brain chemistry that would cause him to deal with depression as he got older. This was so so sad to me since Isaac was always so joyful and always laughing.
A good night's sleep always seemed to benefit Isaac. He would wake up feeling much better, and even his mouth seemed to be back to normal, but as the day wore on, he would seem to revert back to stiff and in pain. I'm pretty sure we went to the chiropractor two times on Friday. By Friday night, we were all so sad as it seemed he would never get better. We all prayed for him, and cried as we prayed that the Lord would heal him completely.
Saturday was the fall festival at Meadowcroft. Isaac woke up very happy and excited, feeling like he could go to the fall festival (but still walking with his neck tilted toward his shoulder).
It was soon time for the soccer game. As the kids loaded into the car, a fight broke out between Luke and Isaac. Luke pushed Isaac, and all of a sudden he was screaming and his body had gone out of alignment again. It didn't take much, but it was enough to make us angry, sad, etc. I took him to the chiropractor that morning, while the boys went to their soccer game.
He felt good enough to still attend the fall festival later that day.
We were used to Isaac's condition by this point, and since it was a "good day" for him, we thought he looked pretty good. However, several people at church were stunned by how Isaac looked and moved. It was clear to them that something wasn't right. Jean Schild and Jacey Roberts were so helpful, but both were convinced he needed to go to the ER to get an xray. They were afraid he could have a permanent spinal injury if there was something floating in the spinal fluid that could damage the spinal cord. They convinced me to go to the ER. It was about 7pm, and I knew Isaac needed a good night's sleep to feel better the next day, but we headed to the ER. We waited until about 9 pm when we were called back. After about 20 minutes of sitting in the evaluation room, Isaac began screaming, "I just want to go to bed". I know the ER docs were convinced I was the kind of mom who caters to her children's every whim, but I just had to get out of there. I knew it could be much much longer if we had to wait for an xray, so I went home and decided to come back on Monday.
Monday I went to Dr. Becker who gave him a prescription to get an xray. He seemed to think it would just take time to be back to normal, but I was still convinced it was more than this. The things I read online said whiplash could take years to get totally back to normal.
The xray showed up fine.
On Tuesday, I connected with Christine Holdenfelder who Jean Schild and Patty Hicke recommended as a wonderful cranio sacral massage therapist. They thought she could help. As it turned out, Christine had just broken her arm, so she recommended Kim Sherlock, who specializes in concussions and brain injuries.
We went to Kim on Wed. She began listening to the movement in his brain fluid and said he was at a "0". As she brought it up to about 130 or so, he started to get really sad, and crying and saying he wanted to go home. Kim believed this was a release of emotions that can get trapped in your body when the brain fluid isn't circulating your body properly. I now understood why he had been so sad over the last 1 1/2 weeks. He finally calmed down while he was on the massage table, and was like a different person by the end of the appointment.
