Katelyn's Fall

Most of you already know by now that we had a scare with Katelyn this week. For those who have not heard or do not know the whole story, here it is. On Wednesday afternoon around 4:00, I had just given Katelyn a bath and was taking her into her room to get her dressed when she squirmed out of my arms and landed, head first, onto the floor. I immediately called 911 and she was rushed to the ER. On the way, I called Daniel and he met us there. Once we got to the ER they took a couple of X-Rays and then decided to do a CT Scan. During the wait I had a peace that Katelyn would be fine. She was acting normal and eating fine.

After a long time of suspenseful waiting the results were in and they were not good - a skull fracture and bleeding. She would have to be sent to Macon or Atlanta to see a neurologist. This was all we were told - no prognosis whatsoever. Not having been through this before, I immediately starting expecting the worst. After the doctor left the room I broke down briefly. A nurse did finally come in to check on me and gave me some reassurance. We found out that Macon would not take Katelyn, but we were not told why - I am assuming either they do not have a neurologist anymore or they would not take infants - so we were going to be transported to Egleston in Atlanta for further observation and testing to see if she would need surgery. In my mind I could only think the worst. Right away we started preparing for another ambulance ride. Daniel ran home to quickly throw some things for an overnight stay in a bag and I stayed with Katelyn while the nurses attempted to get an IV in her. This was very difficult and stressful.

We arrived at Egleston around 12:30 AM on Thursday. My confidence level rose immediately upon stepping insdie the ER at Egleston. By God's providence, the neurologist on duty was already on the floor checking other babies with head injuries, so he was available as soon as we walked in the door to check Katelyn out. He was very reassuring. All of Katelyn's reflexes were good and she was not showing any signs of a concussion. He told us that he had some other patients to check on in the other hospital and then he would read the CT scan and then let us know if they would need to admit Katelyn to the hospital.

Several hours later the ER doctor came in and told us that the radiologist could not find anything on the CT scan and that she was free to go home. My first reaction was "Praise the Lord, she is healed!" My second thought was why did one doctor see something and another doctor see nothing? I had to believe that it was a miracle. We knew that so many people were praying - even people who don't know us.

At 3:30 in the morning we started the trip home. We stopped about halfway home to get a room and sleep a couple of hours before driving the rest of the way. Right about 5 minutes from home we get a call from Egleston asking us to come back for another CT scan. Another radiologist had looked at her scan from Americus and did find a small fracture in her skull and possible bleeding and wanted us to return for another scan. Daniel told the patient rep that we 3 hours away and she said not to come back. She would call our Pediatrician and have him order an outpatient CT scan. Well, after talking with our Pediatrician he told us that he preferred us to return to Egleston so they could get the scans that they needed. Soooo, at 3:00 yesterday afternoon we headed back to Atlanta.

The roller coaster continues...Upon arriving back at Egleston the new ER doctor checks Katelyn out and tells us that basically we returned for no reason. He confirmed what the second radiologist had said - that there was a small fracture and what looked to be a slight amount of bleeding. But he did not think it was necessary to get another CT scan. He did order some more X-Rays to be sure that she did not have any other broken bones, but he did not want to expose her to anymore radiation. The X-Rays came out clean. The fracture on her skull was more visible on the X-Ray and it was very small. The spot that they thought was blood could not be confirmed as such and was insignificant. He told us that we should have stayed for observation the night before instead of being released and then having to return. We also got to talk with a neurosurgeon who confirmed the same thing the ER doc told us. So, basically we returned for a follow-up visit. At least what we got was more peace of mind.

So, the final update is that Katelyn does have a small skull fracture and possibly some bleeding (which is clinically insignificant) but she will be just fine. We have felt all of your prayers for us and for Katelyn. We believe that God heard them and has answered. We are so thankful for Katelyn's health and glad to finally be back home for good. We are overwhelmed by all of the people who were praying for us, both those we know and love dearly and those who we have never met. I am so thankful to those who got the word out for us. We were not in a position to send out updates, but again, God places His people to do the things that we cannot do. Thank you for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. We love you all!